Cassettes may have already overtaken records as the biggest selling format by 1980. They didn’t sound as good, but they were portable and convenient, and that’s always more important. There was rarely an effort to duplicate the full art of a record album on the relatively tiny insert, though.
![The insert of the Canadian edition of the cassette version of the "Times Square" soundtrack, including the front cover, spine, and outer flap. Text: [FRONT:] 2LP DOUBLE RS4 2-4203 RSO Original Motion Picture Soundtrack A Robert Stigwood Production TIMES SQUARE Featuring Music Of: SUZI QUATRQ, THE PRETENDERS, R0XY MUSIC, GARY NUMAN, MARCY LEVY & ROBIN GIBB, TALKING HEADS, OE JACKSON, XTC, THE RAMONES, ROBIN JOHNSON & TRINI ALVARADO, THE RUTS, D.L. BYRON. LOU REED, DESMOND CHILD &, ROUGE, GARLAND JEFFREYS, THE CURE, PATTT SMITH GROUP, DAVID JOHANSEN. STEREO DOLBY SYSTEM [SPINE:] THE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK TIMES SQUARE RS4 2 4203 [OUTER FLAP:] SIDE 1 - ROCK HARD -Suzi Quatro / TALK OF THE TOWN - The Pretenders / SAME OLD SCENE - Roxy Music /DOWN IN THE PARK - Gary Numan / HELP ME - Maroy Levy & Robin Gibb / LIFE DURING WARTIME - Talking Heads / PRETTY BOYS - Joe Jackson / TAKE THIS TOWN - XTC / I WANNA BE SEDATED - The Ramones / DAMN DOG - Robin Johnson SIDE 2 - YOUR DAUGHTER IS ONE - Robin Johnson & Trini Alvarado / BABYLON'S BURNING - The Ruts / YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVE - D.L. Byron / WALK ON THE WILD SIDE - Lou Reed / THE NIGHT WAS NOT - Desmond Child & Rouge / INNOCENT, NOT GUILTY - Garland Jeffreys / GRINDING HALT-The Cure/PISSING IN THE RIVER-Patti Smith Group / FLOWERS IN THE CITY - David Johansen & Robin Johnson / DAMN DOG - Robin Johnson (Reprise - The Cleo Club) ℗1980 MULTIPLIER N.V. ©1980 BUTTERFLY VALLEY N.V. MANUFACTURED BY POLYGRAM INC. AND DISTRIBUTED BY POLYGRAM DISTRIBUTION INC. 6000 COTE DE LIESSE. ST LAURENT, QUEBEC H4T 1E3 Stereo also playable mono.](https://storage.googleapis.com/rjnet-wordpress/2015/10/Cassette-Canada-RS4-2-4203-1980-cover_1080px.jpg)
We get the front cover, scaled way down to fit on the rectangular insert, and partly obscured by the assurance that both records are on the tape. We lose the inner gatefold, and especially the beautiful glamour photo of Robin by Mick Rock from the back of the album.
This is a Canadian edition. I doubt the U.S. version is significantly different, other than the lack of French copyright warnings and mentions of Multiplier N.V. as owner of the RSO recordings. In fact, Nicky’s Johnny badge is back instead of the blank red circle that appears on the Canadian record cover. They were so cheap in assembling the cassette art that they just used the U.S. cover image instead of their own.