Album Cover Hall of Fame’s News Update and Link Summary for May, 2022
Posted May 1, 2022 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
Wow, what a month. Busy with so many things, and “the hits keep on coming”. You’d have thought that everyone’s attention would be focused on truly important things happening in and to our world – war, a refugee crisis, the world economy zig-zagging with every bit of news and several people who think that it is more important to legislate to remove vague references about some of the sad truths about U.S./World history than to address the ongoing issues head on – and yet those in the visual and musical arts continue to produce works that inspire us and make us think and smile. This month’s summary is my valiant attempt to share coverage of those efforts with all of you, so I do hope that you’ll spend a little time digging through the sections and sharing things you find interesting with others as well. We all need to learn how to share better, no?
You’re familiar by now with the format – items about new and ongoing exhibitions, news about the ongoing efforts and output of some of the top talents working in music packaging, new items available for sale (including several new books and some interesting new prints) or at auction and scores of other items on our favorite topics. You’ll find links to the work of some of the dedicated writers who work hard to produce articles that share the stories of some of your favorite album covers along with many other interesting examples of great/interesting work being done all over the world. In addition, you’ll find news about some of the recently announced winners in the album art categories at the recent Grammy Awards presentations and a link to my recently-published interview with a designer who looks at album cover art through a LEGO-ized lens.
So, without further delay, let’s begin our look at the most-recent goings-on on our favorite topic – album cover makers and their always-intriguing output. Enjoy the read:
Exhibitions and Gallery Show Info (new and upcoming soon) –
a) Toronto’s Brian Liss Gallery is staging a showing of the works of Canadian rock photographer Richard Beland May 7th thru the 31st. A highlight of this show will be an in-person appearance of Mr. Beland on May 14th, by invitation only, from 6-8 pm.
A photographer who has been shooting live music events all over the world for more than 30 years (over 3000 shows!) including U2, David Bowie, Lady Gaga, Kiss, Dolly Parton and The Rolling Stones, among others. He was nominated for a Juno Award for his photographic contribution to Gord Downie’s solo album, Battle of the Nudes and for two Canadian Country Music Award for his shots used in the packaging of Jason McCoy’s Greatest Hits CD and Johnny Reid’s album Kickin’ Stones. HIs photos have appeared in Rolling Stone, SPIN, Mojo, Kerrang, People and McLean’s magazines. He also shares his passion for photography with students while working as a tenured professor of photography for the program he developed at Lambton College.
You can preview some of the shots that will be on display (and for sale) on the gallery’s website at http://www.lissgallery.com/richard-beland and https://richardbelandphotography.pixieset.com/lissgallery/
I found an interesting photo-centric interview about his career that you might like as well – https://blog.hahnemuehle.com/en/richard-beland-dreams-and-challenges-of-being-a-festival-photographer/
b) Selections from photographer James Fortune’s huge archive of work are now on display in a gallery show at the C. Parker Gallery in Greenwich, CT https://www.broadwayworld.com/connecticut/article/C-Parker-Gallery-to-Welcome-James-Fortune-for-Photographic-Journey-Through-the-Late-60s-and-70s-Rock-Music-Scene-20220425
James Fortune will appear at the gallery on the opening weekend (Thursday, May 19 from 5pm to 8pm, Friday, May 20 from 11am – 6pm and Saturday, May 21 from 11am – 6pm) and showcase a specially curated collection of his photographs through Sunday, May 29. According to the gallery’s advanced PR – “This event is part of an ongoing series by C. Parker Gallery that focuses on the intimate connection between music and art worlds, as well as providing family events that connects individuals of all ages to art. The exhibit is free and all works are available to purchase”.
Read more on the gallery’s site at – https://www.cparkergallery.com/music-lovers
Fortune’s “Life, Death, Love and Hate” is a photograph chosen for use on the cover of California Bleeding, a CD of 1973-74 live concert recordings of Iggy Pop & The Stooges released in 1997 on Bomp Records. It shows Iggy clutching a mic in one hand, a knife in the other, with blood is running down his chest from several self-inflicted cuts. In this 2007 interview, I had the good fortune (pardon the pun) of being able to do with the talented Mr. Fortune, James told me what it was like to be there to take this disturbing-yet-fascinating photograph https://rockpopgallery.typepad.com/rockpop_gallery_news/2007/07/cover-story—i.html
c) There’s a 50th anniversary photo show featuring over 30 vintage photos selected from Norman Seeff’s Exile On Main Street photo portfolio coming soon to LA’s Rock Photography Museum Special Exhibition Space (in Glendale) that’s also using it’s opening night reception as a fund-raising event – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artist-reception-norman-seeff-fifty-years-in-exile-tickets-323523687057
Here are the advance details from the PR release I received – “Legendary photographer Norman Seeff is set to unveil rare and unseen vintage photographs from his 1972 session with the Rolling Stones, staged prior to the release of the group’s masterpiece, Exile on Main St. The exhibition opens Saturday, May 14 and will run through Sunday, June 12, 2022 at the Rock Photography Museum Special Exhibition Space located at 123 Artsakh, in Glendale, California. Tickets for the opening night artist reception are now available here for $25, with proceeds to go to Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. Along with over 30 vintage 16×20 photographs, the show will feature the original paste-up layout used to produce a set of postcards which were included with the original pressing of the album, originally released on May 12, 1972 – 50 years ago”. More can be found on the museum’s website at https://www.rockphotographymuseum.com/norman-seeff-50-years-in-exile/
On a related note – when designer John Van Hamersveld, who’d established his industry cred via his poster and package designs for Hendrix, The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane and others, was approached by the Rolling Stones (who in 1972 were in a studio in LA putting the finishing touches on an album called Exile On Main Street) to work on the graphics and packaging for a songbook project the band wanted to release, he joined in on an interesting series of events on the day of their initial meeting had a profound impact on the course of album art history. Here’s my 2008 interview with JVH who, along with Mr. Seeff crafted one of rock music’s most-talked-about album packages – https://rockpopgallery.typepad.com/rockpop_gallery_news/2008/04/index.html
d) Writer Marc Ang sure saved me a lot of work this month, sharing his coverage of the new Markus Klinko photo/NFT show and offering on display in the West Hollywood neighborhood in Los Angeles – https://www.mnialive.com/articles/markus-klinko-s-recalling-bowie-beyonce-beyond-nft-showcase-marries-gen-z-with-nostalgia-components/
With notable album cover credits that include David Bowie’s Heathen, Beyonce’s Dangerously In Love and The Emancipation of Mimi for songstress Mariah Carey, Klinko is one of the most sought-after portrait photographers currently working. His editorial clients include publications such as Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, and Interview magazines, and the list of celebrities who’ve entrusted their public personas to him (musicians Mary J. Blige, David Bowie, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears and Kanye West; actors Anne Hathaway, Eva Mendes, Kate Winslet and Will Smith, along with style icons Naomi Campbell, Iman and Kim Kardashian) insure that his photo prints and NFT offerings will always be attractive to collectors world-wide. More on the gallery’s site at https://allgorithim.com/collections/markus-klinko
e) Opening May 5th at the Fahey-Klein Gallery in Los Angeles is an exhibition of the works of noted rock photographer Janette Beckman they’ve titled “Rebels”, surely due to the fact that the talented Ms. Beckman has a portfolio that includes images of many of the best-known rabble-rousers in the worlds of music, fashion and pop culture. According to the gallery’s pre-show press, “Janette Beckman began her career at the dawn of punk rock in London, working for publications like The Face & Melody Maker. She shot bands from The Clash to Boy George as well as documenting the rebellious youth culture fans and emblematic moments for iconoclasts like Blondie and the Police. Relocating to New York in 1983, Beckman was immediately drawn to the burgeoning hip-hop scene where she photographed trailblazers of the movement like Salt-N-Pepa, Run DMC, Grand Master Flash, Slick Rick, and LL Cool J.” Ms. Beckman was also on hand to photograph the “Black Lives Matter” protests that took place in 2020, showing us that, even today, she dedicates herself to giving acts of “rebellion” their due.
The show is scheduled to run through the 18th of June, with copies of Janette’s new monograph titled Rebels: From Punk to Dior (the 240 page hardcover book published by DRAGO; $75) made available for purchase at the gallery while supplies last. Janette will be on hand at the gallery for a book signing and talk on May 7th, with more information on this show is available online at http://www.faheykleingallery.com/exhibitions/janette-beckman2
UPCOMING EXHIBITION) – One of the better-known photographers working with clients in the music business is Nick Knight, the U.K.-based shooter whose album credits include shots for the Rolling Stones, Squeeze, David Bowie, Gwen Stefani and Lady Gaga (among many others) has been selected to receive one of the country’s top honors, that being the prestigious “Photo London Master of Photography Award”, presented every year “to a living artist who has made an exceptional contribution to photography”. The ceremony will be held this coming May, along with an exhibition of his work at London’s Somerset House studio space during Photo London’s run from the 12th to the 15th of that month.
In addition to his music-industry work, Knight has worked on both commercial and editorial projects for clients including Audi, British Vogue, Dazed & Confused, Christian Dior, Tom Ford, i-D Magazine, Calvin Klein, Alexander McQueen, Mercedes Benz, Paris Vogue, Royal Opera House, Yves Saint Lauren, Jil Sander, Levi Strauss, Swarovski, Louis Vuitton and W Magazine, just to name a few.
More about this upcoming show and award can be found in this article on the ArtDaily site – https://artdaily.cc/news/144217/Photo-London-lines-up-a-strong-seventh-edition–Nick-Knight-announced-as-this-year-s-Master-of-Photography#.Yh0AX-jMI7M
https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/photo-london-2022
Ongoing and Upcoming Exhibitions:
ONGOING) ACHOF inductee and all-around talented artist Larry Vigon’s Serious Play gallery show at the Silo 118 Gallery in Santa Barbara, CA is about to wrap up its run, but recently the gallery used its unique architecture (a large wall of its silo) to stage a beautiful multi-media showing of selections from Larry’s portfolio of art that’s included in the sale. They recorded the show and have posted the video for all to enjoy – https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gQjOem3QrLA&feature=youtu.be It’s so cool to be able to see these works projected on the silo wall at many times their original size – take a look and I think you’ll agree!
As I mentioned previously, there’s a great selection of his fine art prints and painting on display and for sale, and here’s a link to the gallery site, where you’ll also find a link to a recent 2-part interview/podcast with Larry in which he discusses his new book, with each part dedicated to the subject material found in one of the two books (Commercial and Personal works)
ONGOING) Continuing now through June 12th at The Photographer’s Gallery in London (nearest Tube stop – Oxford Station) is the show For the Record: Photography & The Art of The Album Cover, which is curated and presented in collaboration with collector and exhibition originator, Antoine de Beaupre’ whose collection of 15,000+ albums form the basis of the display.
The show’s site provides us with this introduction – “For the Record brings together over 200 album covers, highlighting the central role photography plays in defining artists and bands, and showcasing some of the most iconic album covers of our times. While many of the ‘artistes on the covers will be instantly recognizable, the exhibition illuminates the often overlooked and multifaceted contributions of photographers and other visual artists to the identity of the ‘stars’ and the labels themselves.
Featuring work from such photographic and artistic luminaries as Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, David Bailey, David LaChapelle, Ed Ruscha, Elliott Erwitt, Guy Bourdin, Helen Levitt, Irving Penn, Jeff Wall, Joseph Beuys, Juergen Teller, Lee Friedlander, Nan Goldin, Richard Avedon, William Eggleston and more, many of whom had their careers launched through their cover images, the exhibition also looks at the contribution of a range of equally visionary, though perhaps lesser-known artists, photographers, graphic designers and creatives.”
https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/whats-on/record-photography-art-album-cover
This show is getting a HUGE amount of editorial coverage, so it’s got to be good…Here’s a link to an Intro article about the show that I found on the Digital Camera World site – https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/legendary-album-covers-on-display-in-for-the-record-at-the-photographers-gallery
as well as an article on the Creative Review (UK) site from writer Aimee McLaughlin titled “What Makes An Album Cover Iconic” – https://www.creativereview.co.uk/for-record-album-art-photographers-gallery/
I’ve also found some additional coverage in new articles on both the Amateur Photography site – https://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/latest/photo-news/tpg-exhibition-celebrates-the-art-of-the-album-cover-163654 and on the ArtDaily site – https://artdaily.cc/news/145385/The-Photographers–Gallery-opens–For-the-Record–Photography—the-Art-of-the-Album-Cover-#.YlSGOsjMI7M
ONGOING) Opened in late April at the West Chelsea Contemporary gallery location in NYC is a show titled “Icons & Vandals” that includes images shot by several photographers with long lists of album cover credits. An article on the ArtDaily site gives us an intro – https://artdaily.cc/news/145880/West-Chelsea-Contemporary-announces-its-newest-exhibition–Icons-and-Vandals , with more information available on the gallery’s site at – https://wcc.art/exhibition/icons-vandals-new-york/
ONGOING) – Famed photographer Marcia Resnick’s show continues on display at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Brunswick, Maine now thru June 5, 2022 in the Bernard and Barbro Osher Gallery and the Halford Gallery, travelling later to the Minneapolis Institute of Art and to the George Eastman Museum, in Rochester, NY. The show’s called “Marcia Resnick: As It Is or Could Be” and focuses on her portfolio of portrait photography. As described by the museum’s pre-show press, “Marcia Resnick was one of the most ambitious and innovative American photographers of the 1970s. Combining social critique with poignant, often humorous performance, her photographs explore—in a conceptual vernacular—aesthetic, social, and political issues at once timely and timeless. A part of the now-mythic creative community in Downtown New York, she created work that challenged traditional ideas about what a photograph could be. This exhibition brings together for the first time her extraordinary photographs from this period.”
Album art fans will know Marcia’s work well, as it is found on the covers and in record packages for many trend-setting musical acts, including the Talking Heads, The Psychedelic Furs, Bad Brains, Laurie Anderson, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, Suicide, Iggy Pop and many others.
Show info can be found on the museum’s site at https://www.bowdoin.edu/art-museum/exhibitions/2022/marcia-resnick.html
ONGOING) – On view now through the 26th of June at the Downtown Campus of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, FL is an intriguing display of photos and poetry of the famed creative couple of Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith, set among the greenery of some specially-produced horticultural displays. The show is titled Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith: Flowers, Poetry, and Light and, according to the venue’s press, provides visitors with “an immersive, multisensory experience, that features several of Mapplethorpe’s exquisite photographs of flowers, Smith’s haunting lyrics and poetry about flowers and nature, and stunning new horticultural vignettes in our Tropical Conservatory and Gardens that reflect their intertwined work through living art.” The duo made several serious contributions to the world of album cover art over the years, with Mapplethorpe’s photos featured on the covers of Smith’s Horses, Wave and The Patti Smith Masters: The Collective Works; Laurie Anderson’s Strange Angels; Paul Simon’s Negotiations and Love Songs 1971-1986; Television’s Marquee Moon; Peter Gabriel’s Shaking The Tree and others for musical acts including The Swans, Scissor Sisters, the Philip Glass Ensemble and the Kronos Quartet, among others.
Writing for the YourObserver.com site, Spencer Fordin shares his overview of the show at https://www.yourobserver.com/photo-gallery/selby-honors-legacies-of-photographer-and-rock-star-in-flowers-poetry-and-light
COMING LATER THIS SUMMER) – Recently-deceased designer Virgil Abloh’s career will be given the star treatment later this year with a show at the Brooklyn Museum. ArtNet News site contributor Caroline Goldstein (no relation) provides us with a bit of an intro in this recent article – https://news.artnet.com/art-world/brooklyn-museum-virgil-abloh-2069386? where she describes the show thusly – “This summer, the Brooklyn Museum will stage a version of the first institutional survey dedicated to the late fashion designer and creative visionary Virgil Abloh. The show, titled “Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech,” will build on an earlier exhibition of the same name that originated at the MCA Chicago in 2019, and then traveled to ICA Boston, the High Museum in Atlanta, and Qatar Museums”. As I wrote soon after Abloh’s untimely passing last December from cancer at the age of 41, Abloh was a major name in the fashion industry who was famous in hip-hop circles for his “Off-White” brand of clothing and accessories and had previously served in the position of Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton’s Men’s collections.
He met and befriended rapper Kanye West in the early 2000s after having worked at the Fendi fashion house and then launched his own space – the RSVP Gallery in his hometown of Chicago – while also taking on the role of Creative Director for Kanye’s DONDA design agency. His thorough understanding of his audience and his unique fashion sense found him applying his talents to a number of memorable album covers, too, a retrospective of that work being found on the XXL Magazine site at https://www.xxlmag.com/virgil-abloh-album-covers/?
Artist News and Interviews –
a) Designer Peter Saville brings an adaptation of what is perhaps his best-known design – the one found on the cover of Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division – to a new series of street/athletic wear items by Adidas they’re labeling the Pulsebeat Collection (launched April 18th) – https://versus.uk.com/2022/04/manchester-united-adidas-partner-peter-saville-pulsebeat-collection/
“The cover’s pulse is switched up using heart-rate data taken from Manchester United’s men’s and women’s teams during competitive matches, with a pulse graphic running along the other sides of tops and bottoms, with Adidas’ three stripes sitting on the other side.” http://adidas.co.uk/
b) Rolling Stone Magazine recently republished an interview done with the late great John Lennon about the backlash suffered – both legally and commercially – from the decision to include nude shots of John and wife Yoko on the cover of Two Virgins – https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/john-lennon-two-virgins-cover-court-case-1319452/ Also in Rolling Stone, you’ll find a very nice illustrated tribute by David Browne to one of rock music’s best known photographers – the late Mick Rock, who departed from this dimension late last year, leaving behind a portfolio of work that included scores of instantly-recognizable album cover images for Queen, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Ramones and many others. This coverage provides advance notice of a new book of Rock’s work set to be released this Summer titled Shot! By Rock which, according to the article, “features photos selected by Rock just before his death, with subjects ranging from classic-rock gods to Miley Cyrus, Janelle Monae, and Snoop Dogg — all worthy heirs to rock & roll fashion and charisma”. Click here to take a look at this – https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-pictures/mick-rock-book-1342539/ – with more info on the upcoming book available on the publisher’s site at https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/SHOT!-by-Rock/Mick-Rock/9781681887975
Brief bits:
c) Here’s a chance to spend a few minutes with artist George Condo, whose works have been added to the impressive collection at The Morgan Library – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlPXNTolWUE&t=325s Condos works have also made quite a splash in the album art world, with his art found on album covers for Phish (Story of the Ghost), Kanye West (five different covers for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy) and composer/Oingo Boingo frontman Danny Elfman – Serenada Schizophrenia and The Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Box Set
d) Grammy Award-winning art director Masaki Koike just announced his involvement in a new album package project (Jazz Dispensary: Super Skunk, a Soul-Jazz-funk compilation for Record Store Day 2022) that is a real stunner – https://www.behance.net/gallery/140639027/Super-Skunk
e) Writing for the GRUNGE site, Anna Robinson recently posted a Sgt. Pepper’s-related article that shared some interesting information on one of the people that helped create the band’s unique and memorable quasi-military-style costumes seen in some of the record’s sleeve photography – designer Noel Howard – https://www.grunge.com/847207/the-designer-behind-the-beatles-iconic-sgt-peppers-lonely-hearts-club-band-costumes/ Those touring “The Beatles Story” exhibition in Liverpool can see re-creations Howard made of those togs 20 years ago when the show first launched, with the band members each keeping their own originals.
f) Here’s a brief update and overview on Lynn Goldsmith’s counter-suit to the one initiated by the Warhol Foundation (to be reviewed by the Supreme Court) – https://medium.com/@nturkewitz_56674/never-mind-the-bollocks-here-comes-the-second-circuit-feat-foucault-fair-use-67d8816ef3c4 written by Neil Turkewitz, a 30+ year veteran of the music industry having spent nearly 30 years with the RIAA, most-recently as their Head of International Affairs.
g) The Muse By Clio editorial team enlisted Ogilvy Canada’s Tom Kenny for their latest “Art of the Album” entry. Like many of us bitten by the album art bug, he admits that he’s bought some albums solely for their great cover artwork – https://musebycl.io/art-album/10-great-album-covers-chosen-tom-kenny-ogilvy-canada
Items for Sale and/or at Auction –
a) A newly-revised and updated version of author Paul Gorman’s book on the art of the late great designer known as Barney Bubbles will be hitting the shelves in the UK in late June (late July here in the US). This new edition of The Wild World of Barney Bubbles features, according to the publisher’s site, “hundreds of rare and previously unpublished photographs, working sketches, notebooks, and original artwork. It includes new essays and sixteen extra pages of rare ephemera painstakingly collected by the author over the years”.
I contacted Paul to ask a bit more about what was new and exciting in this update, and he told me “You’ll see from the Thames & Hudson blurb that one addition is the excellent essay by designer/podcaster Clarita Hinojosa. It’s pretty wide-ranging and there are sections where Clarita and Seattle musician Bryan Standridge discuss the impact of the packaging and designs for X In Search Of Space, New Boots & Panties!! and the limited edition ‘mistake’ cover of Damned Damned Damned (Editor’s notes – these are records by Hawkwind, Ian Dury and The Damned, respectively. On a related note, the original sketches done by BB for the aforementioned record by The Damned are currently for sale as a lot in Bonham’s latest rock & roll-related auction – https://www.bonhams.com/auction/27387/lot/114/barney-bubbles-british-1942-1983-original-cover-artwork-for-the-damneds-debut-album-damned-damned-damned-1977/)”
Paul continues – “In the new The M!ss!ng L!nks section I provide anecdotes about designs not previously featured, including Big Star’s Third album which, you’ll remember features a model swathed in a Tennessee flag. Barney’s friend, the record executive Cynthia Lole (now a prominent promo video commissioner), gave me information not in the previous editions: she had stayed up all night sewing the flag for Bubbles because he needed it for the cover shoot which involved him setting fire to it for stills for the “Kizza Me” single cover. She also recalls that there is a possibility he filmed the process for a potential promo but this footage has, to my knowledge, never emerged….”
To give us all an even deeper dive into the subject of this new book and the art/career of Barney Bubbles, I’d invite you to listen to an early episode of Professor Hinojosa’s 2018 Design Freaks podcast on the topic, featuring Echoes Studios’ Bryan Standridge – https://www.designfreakspodcast.com/early-episodes/2018/12/1/tgbdllhf67ctc3d208ojjzkdmuk0go
You can pre-order your copy of Paul’s book at –
b) While I did call out the fact that one item from the Barney Bubbles archives related to Paul’s book is slated to be auctioned off at Bonham’s in London in early May, I need to expand upon that a bit with a “wait, there’s more!” update – in fact, there are a number of record/recording artist-related art items included in the “Rock, Pop & Film Online (Including The Gary Moore Collection Part 3) auction now open for bids at https://www.bonhams.com/auction/27387/rock-pop-and-film-online-including-the-gary-moore-collection-part-iii/ (last bids accepted ending May 4th at 12:00 GMT+1).
In addition to the aforementioned cover drawings from The Damned, there are some other highly-desirable examples of BB’s production artwork for clients including Elvis Costello, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Nick Lowe and Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers, all which can be found via this link – https://www.bonhams.com/auction/27387/rock-pop-and-film-online-including-the-gary-moore-collection-part-iii/?query=bubbles
Kind enough to share some of the details of some of what else is included in this auction that might be of interest to ACHOF readers was Claire Tole-Moir (Head of Department – Collectors & Popular Culture at Bonhams), who told me that “we then also have Lots 137 & 138, which are two sketchbooks from Clash artist Ray Lowry, filled with illustrations done on their USA tour. As you know other Ray Lowry artwork has had immense results with us…Lot 207 is some original concept artwork done for a Bob Marley poster at Crystal Palace in the UK in 1980 – his last UK show! Lovely artwork”. Looking a bit closer at these items, the Bob Marley-related artwork, done in ink and collage, is particularly appealing (with a pre-auction estimate of £1,500 – £2,000), while the Ray Lowry sketchbooks are absolute treasure troves of pre-production imagery that would be impressive additions to any design fan’s collection.
Fans of the work of the late Mr. Lowry might recall that Bonham’s sold an original watercolor comp he’d created for The Clash’s London Calling album cover in an auction last summer for nearly $40,000 (https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/26708/lot/205/) , so I’m very eager to see what the notebooks sell for – I’m going to guess that it’ll be more than the £4000 – £6,000 pre-auction estimate!
c) Marvin Gaye’s 1976 album I Want You was graced with a cover image done by artist Ernie Barnes, who died in 2009 and who’s career, for a while, suffered the same fate as many talented African-American artists did 50+ years ago – that of relative obscurity (except to those viewers of the hit Norman Lear comedy “Good Times”, which also featured a pan of the same painting in its opening credits sequence).
Over the past couple of years, Barnes’ works have finally found a respectful place in the mid-to-upper echelons (based on auction results) of the fine art world, with one work selling last year for nearly 500% more than the pre-auction estimates. Now, for the first time, the artist’s most-famous work – titled The Sugar Shack – will be put up for auction by Christie’s in New York as part of their May 12th 20th Century Evening Auction – https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6368793 – with a pre-auction estimate of $150 – 200,000. Writing for the Culture Type site, Victoria L. Valentine provides us with all the details of the life and work of this North Carolina-born artist, one who spent most of his life working in Los Angeles – https://www.culturetype.com/2022/04/28/famed-sugar-shack-painting-by-ernie-barnes-headed-to-auction-at-christies/
d) Earlier in the month of April, I’d published a Breaking News item about an auction at Bonham’s (Hip-Hop Online) that was curated by the extremely-knowledgeable Howard Kramer, the former chief curator at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum and, after following the proceedings (including a very short time as a bidder myself!) that concluded on April 21st, I want to give you a bit of an update as this was one of the first dedicated Hip-Hop-related auctions I’ve had the chance to cover.
I’m pleased to report that there was a lot of interest in the works of many of the best-known photographers who have contributed to some of the genre’s best-known album covers – Jonathan Mannion, Mark Seliger, Jesse Frohman, Clay Patrick McBride, David Corio, Sunny Bak and many others. Two of Mannion’s prints – one of Aaliyah and another of the seemingly-everywhere Snoop Dogg – sold in the $3-4,000 range, while prints by Frohman, Seliger and Bak each were purchased for $2-3,000 – all respectable sums for works in this category. The top money-maker in the collection was a truly-unique item – a work from artist Lyle Owerko’s “Boombox Project” that features a plexiglass print of a gold boombox set in its own custom-made lightbox, which I’m assuming looks quite cool when illuminating a dark room! The Canadian artist’s works can be found in many collections around the world including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, who, according to the lot’s description, “possess part of his Boombox collection in their permanent archive of 20th century historically significant objects’. Someone took this home for $12,750.00, and you can peruse this and the rest of the auction results via this link https://www.bonhams.com/auction/27550/hip-hop-online/?sortBy=lots_sort_price_desc
ON A SOMEWHAT-RELATED NOTE – I recently heard from designer Shawn Brauch of Pen & Pixel design fame that he, too, had created a multi-media art object that was recently (late March) sold at Sotheby’s during their ‘The Art and Influence of Hip Hop’ Auction for a hair over $5000…https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/hip-hop/custom-made-gilded-gangsta-style-frame This custom-made, giant gilded ‘Gangsta’ frame – built around a work he’d conceived of a number of years ago for Snoop Dogg – came to life after ShawnI had a chance to chat with Monica Lynch (Tommy Boys Records) and Cassandra Hatton (Senior VP at Sotheby’s) and was motivated to move forward and create this for the show…in 17 days (“Needless to say, it was a whirlwind of activity around the studio” he told me).
The plyboard frame was embellished with over 230 items including 18 24k gold plated $100 gold embossed hi-res bank notes, champagne and cognac bottles, some gold-plated playing cards and other poker-related items, several gun and ammo replicas, lots of bling (watches, diamonds, gold chains, etc.) and much, much more. A complete working sound system (amp, subwoofer, mid-range and high-frequency speakers) and a Bluetooth-controlled lighting system were also added, all surrounding a high-res 36” square photo print of the album cover for Da Game Is to be Sold, Not to Be Told by Snoop Dogg.
Shawn promises to share the complete story behind “the making of” this one-of-a-kind work of art sometime soon but, in the meantime, he was kind enough to share several photos of the project (see below, and thanks, Shawn!)
UPDATE) Also in April, I’d turned you on to another interesting auction, this one staged by the Gotta Have Rock & Roll auction house on April 13th (with final bids taken on April 29th) that included a number of album art-related items. Here’s an update of the results on the items I’d featured:
Lot 189 – Herb Worthington’s Fleetwood Mac shot that was featured on the back cover of Rumours – failed to find a new home, but a precious photo of Stevie Nicks (Lot 192) that was shot to look as though she was a silent movie star was snapped up for $700. Of the three KISS-related production art items up for sale, Lot 661, which is Ace Frehley’s original 1973 KISS logo artwork that was offered with a starting bid of $50,000 (with a pre-auction estimate of $75-$100,000) went unsold, but the two Love Gun album art comps (lots 511 and 512) drawn by fantasy artist Ken Kelly sold for $11,000 (above the $7,500 – $10,000 pre-auction estimate) and $1,500 respectively. Bids for a Beatles-signed and inscribed Abbey Road record – one of only four known to exist – smashed through its $50-75,000 pre-auction estimate to achieve a final sales price of $221,000, illustrating that deep-pocketed collectors are still willing to shell out the cash for the rarest of items. Over 1200 items were included in this auction, and you can see what these items sold for back on the GHR&R site at – https://www.gottahaverockandroll.com/catalog.aspx
e) Our friends at the UK’s Hypergallery announced that the album cover artist Ioannis has teamed up with rockers Styx to produce their 50th anniversary tour imagery and is now offering a series of limited-edition signed (by both the artist and the band) prints of his cover artwork for the band. Released in editions of 100, these exclusive fine art prints were signed by Styx when they came together for their residency at the Venetian Theatre in Las Vegas, and can be purchased via the Hypergallery (UK) at https://hypergallery.com/collections/ioannis
Priced at £96.00, both Styx and singer/guitarist Nancy Wilson signed the poster when they come together for their residency at the Venetian Theatre in Las Vegas in January 2022.
f) Artist Chris Kysor was more than happy to license one of his paintings to childhood chum David Berman for use on the cover for the Silver Jews’ (Berman’s band) 1998 album American Water, which would go on to become a classic release from the group. In late April, Kysor released a limited-edition print of the cover art for sale via the Cluster Wall Gallery site, and fans immediately snapped them all up. However, the original paintings (same/similar images done in different sizes in oil on canvas) are still available, so if you’d like one I’d suggest a quick trip over to https://www.cluster-wall.com/collections/frontpage/products/american-water before those are gone as well.
g) Elliott Landy’s book of Janis Joplin photos (including the one found on the back side of Big Brother & The Holding Company’s Cheap Thrills) is now available at retail – “Featuring 129 beautifully reproduced photographs of Janis, nearly 100 of which have never been published before. Accompanied by Janis’ candid thoughts taken from conversations and interviews recorded by David Dalton. The 10” x 10”, 196 page hardcover book includes 129 photos and is now available via all of the usual retail channels. The project was originally funded by a Kickstarter program back in December, 2021.
Elliott was interviewed late last year for the “Rock & Roll Heaven” podcast about the making of this book – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-very-special-episode-photographer-elliot-landy/id1450730862?i=1000545555814
UPDATE – Last month I’d shared some info about a collaboration between the talented model-makers at KnuckleBonz and New York’s Great South Bay Brewery who together released some special edition brews featuring artwork from the hard rock powerhouse AC/DC. Well, I’m pleased to report that this team has also produced a new, similarly-inspired brew, this one featuring one of the album covers included on Rolling Stone Magazine’s “Top 10 Metal Albums of All Time” list – that being Pantera’s Vulgar Display of Power (a real knockout, I’m told).
According to the product’s PR release, “To brew a beer in tribute to this monumental metal achievement, Great South Bay selected nothing but the finest of ingredients and adhered strictly to the Reinheitsgebot brewing method, a “beer purity” approach dating back to a 1516 Bavarian law. The result is quite a “Vulgar Display of Lager” with a complex flavor profile that is cold fermented for the crisp and refreshing experience you’d expect from a world class German Lager”. The first 500 customers get a limited-edition poster with their purchase, so take a trip over to – https://halftimebeverage.com/pantera-vulgar-display-of-lager-35343 to nab yours before they’re gone.
Of course, any proper party room would have steins of this beer sitting alongside the matching KnuckleBonz 3D sculpture – https://knucklebonz.com/product/pantera-vulgar-display-of-power-3d-vinyl-2/
Brief bits:
h) Influential jazz record label Blue Note Records and fashion retailer Uniqlo have teamed up to deliver classic BN album art on a line of t-shirts – https://www.rollingstone.com/product-recommendations/lifestyle/blue-note-records-uniqlo-collection-t-shirts-1333796/ The Rolling Stone article by John Lonsdale provides the basics.
i) Guido Harari’s Wall of Sound Gallery adds prints of photos by Mick Rock to their offering – https://wallofsoundgallery.com/en/mick-rock-f31
j) Photographer Neil Zlozower, a mainstay in the rock photo business who has produced a great deal of the best-known shots of rockers such as Zakk Wylde, Black Label Society, Steve Vai, Alice Cooper, David Lee Roth, Slipknot and many others, has announced that he’s got a new NFT/print collection on sale/bid thru Julien’s Auction house known as “The FU Collection” which, as you might figure, shows all of its famous subjects “flipping the bird” in their own unique ways – https://www.julienslive.com/auctions/catalog/id/425
I found further coverage of the sale/collection in Popular Photography that I invite you to read yourself – https://www.popphoto.com/news/neil-zlozower-rock-portrait-auction/
k) The Australian postal service has issued a new postage stamp collection to celebrate what would have been David Bowie’s 75th birthday – https://auspost.com.au/shop/product/bowie-75-stamp-pack-1515572 The set contains twelve $1.10 “MyStamps” that feature cover art images from throughout the late singer/songwriter/actor/tastemaker’s career (see the image below to see the entire collection).
UPDATE) Just a reminder – there’s some early info on the upcoming (May 20-22 at the Hard Rock Café in NYC) Julien’s auction featuring an item well-known by (in the dreams of young men from the 1980s, at least) fans of classic album cover art – that being a t-shirt that adorned the voluptuous curves of a local model whose image was used on the somewhat-banned Slippery When Wet album cover image for rockers Bon Jovi – is available for your review on the Julien’s web site – https://www.juliensauctions.com/about-auction?id=380 The auction includes over 1000 collectible items, with another lot including something that made a fashion statement in its own right – the dress worn by Madonna during the making of her “Material Girl” music video (interestingly, the dress was a rental, having been made originally for a 1980 television movie (Norma Jean) about another “blond bombshell”, Marilyn Monroe.
Special Award Show updates –
The 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards® have been handed out and the Grammy Award winners in the Packaging Categories were announced April 3rd during the web-cast Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony. For those who may have missed my Breaking News item that day, I’m pleased to share the info on who the winners were one more time:
In the “Best Recording Package” category, the nominees were:
American Jackpot / American Girls for Reckless Kelly – Sarah Dodds & Shauna Dodds, art directors:
Carnage by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis – Nick Cave & Tom Hingston, art directors;
2nd Generation Falangao Singing Group & The Chairman Crossover Big Band’s Pakelang – Li Jheng Han & Yu, Wei, art directors;
Serpentine Prison by Matt Berninger – Dayle Doyle, art director, and
Zeta by Soul Of Ears – Xiao Qing Yang, art director
And the winner was 2nd Generation Falangao Singing Group & The Chairman Crossover Big Band – Pakelang – Li Jheng Han & Yu, Wei, art directors
The next day, two Taiwanese publications sung their fellow countrymen’s praises –
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2022/04/05/2003776032
https://focustaiwan.tw/culture/202204040004
In the “Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package” category, the nominees were:
All Things Must Pass: 50th Anniversary Edition by George Harrison – Darren Evans, Dhani Harrison & Olivia Harrison, art directors;
Soccer Mommy’s Color Theory – Lordess Foudre & Christopher Leckie, art directors;
The Future Bites (Limited Edition Box Set) for Steven Wilson – Simon Moore, art director;
77-81 by Gang of Four -Dan Calderwood & Jon King, art directors, and
Swimming In Circles by Mac Miller – Ramón Coronado & Marshall Rake, art directors
And the Grammy was awarded to All Things Must Pass: 50th Anniversary Edition by George Harrison – Darren Evans, Dhani Harrison & Olivia Harrison, art directors
I’ve reached out to Darren and the Harrisons for some details I hope to share with you soon, so please stay tuned to this site.
And while we don’t “officially” cover this category, here are the details from the “Best Album Notes” category:
Beethoven: The Last Three Sonatas by Sunwook Kim – Ann-Katrin Zimmermann, album notes writer;
The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia And RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-1966 featuring Louis Armstrong – Ricky Riccardi, album notes writer;
Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies: The Willie Dunn Anthology featuring Willie Dunn – Kevin Howes, album notes writer;
Etching The Voice: Emile Berliner And The First Commercial Gramophone Discs, 1889-1895 – David Giovannoni, Richard Martin & Stephan Puille, album notes writers, and
The King Of Gospel Music: The Life And Music Of Reverend James Cleveland – Robert Marovich, album notes writer
With Ricky Riccardi being awarded this year’s Grammy Award for The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia And RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-1966 featuring Louis Armstrong
Congratulations to all of the winners (and nominees). Of course, I’m going to work hard to follow up with each one of the winners to see if I can bring you their stories and, when I do, you’ll get the story right here on the ACHOF Breaking News site.
To see the list of all of this year’s Grammy winners, please visit the Grammy.com site – https://www.grammy.com/
Limited bonus trivia – To those of you who may be wondering who the Art Directors were who’ve received the most Grammy Awards in the “Best Recording Package” category, your album cover nerd here at the ACHOF is pleased to share a brief summary of the names of these talented individuals and the number of Grammy Awards they’ve earned over the years – Robert M. Jones has won six Grammy Awards; John Berg won five; Kevin Reagan and Marvin Schwartz have each won three, while Jeff Ament, Sarah & Shauna Dodds, Buddy Jackson, Bill Johnson, John Kosh, Ron Larson and Joe Spix have each won two. I know that several others have won Grammys in the “Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package’, such as Susan Archie, Lawrence Azerrad, Hugh Brown, Arnold Levine, Masaki Koike and Jack White have each won at least two, but I haven’t had the chance to finish this research, so if any of you would care to share the complete list with me/us sometime soon, it’d be appreciated.
Miscellaneous Items and other Brief Bits –
As always, I’m going to have to keep these short-and-sweet (well, most of them, anyway):
OBITS) 2 noted photographers whose images made an impact on the album art world died this past month:
Patrick Demarchellier, whose notable album cover credits include works for Billy Joel – Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 & 2 and The Essential Billy Joel; Quincy Jones – Q: The Musical Biography of Quincy Jones and Listen Up Now; Celine Dion – A New Day Has Come; Britney Spears – In The Zone; Madonna – I’m Breathless and Janet Jackson – Janet, died on March 31st at the age of 78.
He was born in August, 1943 in Le Havre, France and, after receiving the gift of a camera from his step-father on his 17th birthday, Demarchelier’s career path as a photographer began just a few years later when he moved to Paris. Via a series of jobs as an assistant, he improved his photo lab skills and techniques as well as his portfolio (mostly portraits of friends and wedding photos) and, by the end of the 1960s, his works were published in magazines including Elle, Marie-Claire and 20 Ans. His work also impressed one Alexander Liberman, Vogue Magazine‘s creative director and, by 1974, Patrick was working on assignments for American Vogue.
Moving to New York in 1975 and working freelance alongside top fashion photographers in the area, he accepted a broad range of assignments that has resulted in his shooting covers and spreads for nearly every major U.S. and International fashion and lifestyle magazine, including Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, Mademoiselle, Vanity Fair and three Vogues – American, British and Paris. Outside of fashion, Patrick has produced striking cover images for Life, Newsweek and Rolling Stone Magazine as well as two coveted Pirelli Calendars in 2005 and 2007. Since 2004, he had been under contract with Conde Nast.
Commercial photo clients from many industries fill his portfolio – Fashion and household brands including Ann Taylor, Elizabeth Arden, Armani, BCBG, Chanel, H&M, Carolina Herrera, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Lancel, Ralph Lauren, Tag-Heuer, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Harry Winston, YSL and Zara; Cosmetic/fragrance brands such as Chanel, Dior, Guerlain, Lancome, L’Oréal, Maybelline and Revlon. He has a long list of film credits, as well, shooting publicity and promo poster images for films such as Blow Out, Blue Lagoon, James Bond: Die Another Day, Bullworth, Bugsy, Coyote Ugly, Dick Tracy, Endless Love, Mystic Pizza, Reds, Sex and the City, Something Wild and Staying Alive. Music industry clients have included Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Janet Jackson, Billy Joel, Elton John, Quincy Jones, Madonna and Britney Spears. In 1989, Britain’s Princess Diana requested that Patrick become her official photographer – this first non-Brit to receive such an honor. Shooting many family portraits of “The Peoples’ Princess”, this relationship lasted until her death in 1997.
Patrick’s keen eye and subject matter (celebrities, nudes, sumo wrestlers, world landmarks, wild animals, etc.) made him a popular and collectible fine art photographer as well. He held his first one-man show in 1996 at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in NYC, going on to exhibit his works in gallery and museum shows in Mexico, Italy, Belgium and the U.S.. Books featuring Patrick’s work include: Patrick Demarchelier: Forms, (published in 1998 by Rizzoli) , Patrick Demarchelier: Photographs (1995, Bulfinch), Patrick Demarchelier: Exposing Elegance, by Demarchelier & Martin Harrison (1998, by Tony Shafrazi Gallery) and Patrick Demarchelier by Patrick Demarchelier , (published by Steidl in 2008); He was also the primary photographer for On Your Own, a young women’s beauty & lifestyle guide written by Brooke Shields in 1985.
In 2007, the French Ministry of Culture honored Demarchelier as an Officer in l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Literature). Patrick resided in New York with his wife Mia until his death in March of 2022. He had three sons – Gustaf, Arthur and Victor – and had three grandchildren. Among those paying tribute to Demarchelier after his passing was designer Vera Wang, models including Bella Hadid, Cindy Crawford and Hailey Bieber, actress Kate Hudson and hair stylist Sam McKnight, among others.
More information on this artist is available on his website at http://demarchelier.com/
OBIT) Jerry Uelsmann’s photo manipulation talents – pre-dating Photoshop by decades – produced memorable album cover images for musical acts including Mike Oldfield, Dream Theater and Bon Jovi. Uelsmann died at the age of 87 at his home in Gainesville, Florida. I’d seen several museum and gallery shows that included his work and was thoroughly amazed with his abilities. There are a couple of well-done obits that provide proper tributes to this talented artist – https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/13/arts/jerry-uelsmann-dead.html
https://artdaily.cc/news/145503/Jerry-Uelsmann–surreal-image-maker–dies-at-87#.YlnoZ9rMI7N
OBIT-related) One glaring omission from the 2022 Grammy Awards telecast’s “In Memoriam” segment was any mention of the passing of photographer Mick Rock – https://loudwire.com/joey-jordison-left-out-2022-grammy-in-memoriam-segment-apology/ I know that the people who have to make the decisions about who to include in this often-moving presentation have a tough job to do, but this one was a no-brainer (in that it seemed that no one with a brain was involved in this maddening oversight). Pay attention, people!
a) I’d written about a Brooklyn, NY-based artist named Adnan Lotia and his album cover-inspired works using Legos last November, but friend of the ACHOF Lyle Waisman (www.icongallery.com) sent me a link to an updated article he found on the Moss & Fog art and design site that contains a lot of nice photos of Lotia’s efforts – https://mossandfog.com/impressively-detailed-album-covers-recreated-entirely-using-legos/ Since my initial coverage, the artist – who calls himself a “plastics manufacturer” on his Instagram page – https://www.instagram.com/uvupv/ – has done dozens more of them, featuring covers from the 1960s to the present, so I figured that it was time that I contact him and learn a bit more about him and his impressive undertaking. Here’s a link to that interview on the ACHOF site – https://albumcoverhalloffame.wordpress.com/2022/04/27/achof-interview-with-adnan-lotia-about-his-lego-ized-album-cover-art-project/
b) Over on the uDiscoverMusic.com site, contributor Jim Bell offers up his take on “10 Of The Best West Coast Rap Album Covers” and, kindly, includes a bit of the story behind each of his selections – https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/best-west-coast-rap-hip-hop-album-covers/ While the East Coast/West Coast which-is-better/more-influential debate will always be a topic for heated discussion, this selection of notable album images does certainly make a strong case that there were strong creatives working on both coasts while the genre began it’s path down the road to music industry dominance.
c) Student-written articles about album cover art have mostly been, to this point, rather pedestrian efforts, picking popular covers and making profound statements about their value. However, in this recent article I found on the Study Breaks site written by Aly Walters at Michigan State University (go Spartans!) titled “Why You Shouldn’t Judge An Album By Its Cover” to be pretty well-thought-out and detailed so here ya go – https://studybreaks.com/culture/music/album-covers/
UPDATE – In the “Good Things Happen To Good People” news category, I’d like to update my story from last month about thesuccessful GoFundMe campaign to raise enough money for a Boston-area rock photographer – Charles Daniels – to process the 2500+ rolls of undeveloped film he has that will ultimately allow him to share thousands of photos of the 60s-70s rock acts that played in the area during that period (some of whom invited Daniels, the son of cotton field workers in segregated rural Alabama, to join their tours as a photographer). With an original target of $30,000, I’m happ to report that the campaign has received (as of this date) over $63,000 from 1100 different contributors.
Daniels, who also served as the emcee for a South End venue known as The Boston Tea Party (using the moniker “Master Blaster”), has shown parts of his collection previously at area galleries, but Time and Life (not the magazines) pushed Daniels to simply save roll after roll of film wherever he could until he could afford to develop them. The team working with the 80-year-old photographer (who is currently undergoing chemo therapy) will use the funds to scan and archive the estimated 40,000 photos with the hope of sharing them in several ways once the hard work’s been done.
Read more about this effort to preserve part of rock and roll history at https://www.gofundme.com/f/2500-rolls-Charles-Daniels
The team also reports that the treatments Daniels has been receiving to up his blood counts have been working well, but they’d appreciate any positive vibes you can send his way.
d) As a follow-up to last month’s entry in Far Out Magazine’s “The Cover Uncovered” series of articles, Jordan Potter returns with a new article on the making of the cover for British “trip-hop” giants Massive Attack’s 1998 opus Mezzanine – https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/massive-attack-album-artwork-mezzanine/ The album cover was the result of the first collaboration between Robert Del Naja (AKA 3D), art director Tom Hingston and the photographer Nick Knight and features an extreme close-up of a stag beetle that Knight had shot at the Natural History Museum in London.
e) Hot Wax in Milwaukee is a concept restaurant that offers locals a chance to enjoy their Nashville-style fried chicken and smash burgers while taking in the music and album art of their favorite bands – https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/hotwax-opens-at-crossroads-collective
Per this recent article found on the On Milwaukee.com site, owner Ben Crevensten says that HotWax is “a reference to the pressing of vinyl record albums will sport a record store themed stall featuring albums and album cover art, a television that plays old cartoons and a record player with headphones that guests can use to listen to vinyl records while they wait for their food.”
There’s a mural of album covers at the stall, which opened in late April as part of a multi-vendor food hall called the Crossroads Collective.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-crevensten-6109a2b7/
f) Ukrainian musical act features album cover art done by displaced artist depicting the atrocities inflicted upon them – https://www.stripes.com/theaters/europe/2022-04-17/displaced-artists-in-lviv-create-antiwar-anti-russian-works-5717549.html
g) How’d you like to take a tour of one of rock music’s greatest venues with a couple of the both best-and-least-known people in the world? We all asked ourselves “who are those people?” when we bought our copies of the soundtrack album from the original Woodstock film and, over the years, their identities were slowly revealed (Nick and Bobbi Ercoline, still a couple all these years AND both tour guides at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts). Now, as part of the Center’s top-notch presentations about festival that took place there back in 1969, they’ve enlisted Nick and Bobbi to act as virtual tour guides for your visit there (the “Augmented Reality Tour”) – https://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/augmented-reality-tour
h) Now’s your chance to live in an album cover! Battersea Power Station, site of one of rock music’s best-known album covers – that being for Pink Floyd’s Animals, with art and photography by Hipgnosis and featuring the appearance of a large inflatable pig flying overhead – is now offering apartments for sale or lease – https://batterseapowerstation.co.uk/live-at-battersea
The site, located on the River Thames less than a mile from Buckingham Palace and designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the same architect that both built the famed Liverpool Cathedral and designed London’s memorable red phone booths (or “boxes”, in the Queen’s English), has been part of the scenery in London for over 85 years, responsible for generating over 20% of London’s electricity since it opened in 1935. Recently renovated to be part of an enormous 42-acre redevelopment that includes parks, schools, offices and loads of retail and eating/entertainment establishments, along with easy access to the rest of the city via the village’s brand-new Tube station. As with all of London’s real estate, the apartments are for the well-heeled, with units priced well over £1,000,000, but they have reserved several hundred units that will be offered at a discount to qualified residents who aren’t in the top 1% of wage earners. There are studio and 1-4 BR apartments also available for rent, with lease rates beginning at £525 per week for a 450 sq. ft. studio.
The developers have acknowledged the influence of Pink Floyd’s record as helping establish this local icon’s world-wide fame via a page on their website – https://batterseapowerstation.co.uk/about/heritage-history?filter=1977
That’s all for now – stay tuned and be on the lookout for timely news alerts on our news feeds (sign up below to get an automatic email every time there’s something new on the ACHOF site). I’ll be returning right around the first of next month with another news summary for you. Until then, enjoy the first buds of Spring (unless you’ve smoked them already – ha!), with Peace and Love and wishes of Good Health to you all (and the ending of the hostilities in Ukraine).
Unless otherwise noted, all text and images included in this article are Copyright 2022 Mike Goldstein and AlbumCoverHallofFame.com – All Rights Reserved. All of the trade names mentioned in these summaries are the properties of their respective owners and are used for reference only.
Album Cover Hall of Fame.com 