Album Cover Hall of Fame’s Latest News Update and Link Summary, posted July 1, 2023 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
The Summer season is now upon us and, if you’re like me, you’re looking for something interesting to do to occupy your free time. If you’re also like me in that you sit in a stupor while trying to figure out just what you really want to take the time to do from the seemingly-limitless list of possibilities – walk into town for a coffee, take a trip to the grocery store, catch the train for a trip into the city, tend to the herb garden, make a spreadsheet of all of the concert tix you’ve saved since the mid-1970s, etc. – maybe it’d simply make more sense to spend a little time reading through your favorite monthly newsletter to see what your favorite album cover artists might be doing to make the world a bit more interesting and beautiful…that’s it!
I’ve done almost nothing in my efforts to launch a newer, cleaner album cover artist-focused web site, as that would take time away from my research and writing (and the aforementioned leisure-time activities), but I have made some headway in adding more bios to the site, so it’s not been a total under-application of my resources (and, I got to see the new Van Gogh exhibit at the Art Institute ON THE SAME DAY that I attended the annual Chicago Blues Fest – see photos, below).
I am also working on a couple of new articles for you that I hope to post in the near future. While you’re waiting patiently for me to get by rear in gear, I would like to remind you that there are scores of interviews available on the ACHOF site, all which have been neatly categorized and reached via the ACHOF Interviews Main page – https://albumcoverhalloffame.wordpress.com/album-cover-hall-of-fame-interviews-main-page/ Why not take a moment to take a look there, with interviews going back to 2006 with some of your favorite album art-makers. But first, here’s this month’s newsletter…
Special Award Show updates
Making Vinyl Packaging Awards winners announced – In a series of social media postings made beginning on May 30th and in to early June, the group that puts on the Making Vinyl events around the world shared the results of the voting for the 2023 Making Vinyl Packaging Awards, with this year’s “Best In Show” award given to the team from the iam8bit record label responsible for the wonderfully goofy, colorful and ingenious package for composer Brad Breeck’s soundtrack album of music recorded for the late/great animated Disney series Gravity Falls – (https://www.iam8bit.com/products/gravity-falls-soundtrack-2xlp). Featuring illustrations and artwork by Ghostshrimp (AKA Dan Brandt – “ADHD Since 1980”), customers were able to use the specially-made “Decoder Red” vinyl discs to see the secret messages incorporated into the album’s artwork.
Other category winners included – “Best Vinyl LP Cover (Illustration)”: Omnium Gatherum by Australian rockers King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard (Virgin Music Group – artwork by Jason Galea); “Best Vinyl LP Cover (Photograph)”: On Grace And Dignity by the UK-based The Golden Dregs (4AD/Beggars Group, with the HO-scale fictional model town (which includes with a viaduct, an estuary, a supermarket, homes and industrial buildings, with every song on the album referencing a place in that town) featured on the cover photo crafted by Bristol-based model maker Edie Lawrence; the “Best Vinyl Deluxe Set” award going to Key Production’s Profound Mysteries, by Norwegian electronic music duo Royksopp; and “Best Record Art” being awarded to the Warner Music Group release of the Cracker Island (Limited Edition 7” Collector’s Boxset) by the award-winning virtual band Gorillaz, built around artwork/characters created by Jamie Hewlett.
Among the submitters, iam8bit won three awards, including “Best in Show”, while Warner Music Group and Key Production each won two. You can click through an illustrated offering showing the winners in each of the 12 categories on the group’s Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/makingvinyl/ and see a summary of winners/runner-ups on the Making Vinyl site – https://makingvinyl.com/packaging-awards-finalist/
The Making Vinyl show took place in Minneapolis, MN this past June 7th and 8th and includes a special session on the morning of the 8th about packaging featuring several of today’s top creatives, including session host (and multiple Grammy winner) Gail Marowitz along with Christopher Kornmann, Nina Palmer and Rick Gasparini – https://makingvinyl.com/minneapolis-2023-program/ I’ve been told that I’ll be able to review a video of this session soon and will give you a synopsis of it soon after. Congratulations once again all of the participants and award winners for jobs well done.
Whatever is old is new again, particularly when you didn’t know about it in the first place – Well, this proves that I don’t know all there is to know about album package design award shows! I recently learned that a 60 year-old graphic arts/design organization – GDUSA – has been reviewing submissions via their annual GDUSA Package Design Awards competition – featuring design projects in the “Music + Entertainment” category – and awarding the best of those projects an “American Package Design Award”. The 2023 winners in the Music + Entertainment category were the design firms of a) John Kallio Graphic Design (lead by designer John Kallio) for the work done for their client Tom Guerra (who also served as creative director on the project) on the album Sentimental Junk ; b) Little Lady Studio (featuring designer Jessey Jansen) for their work on Voice of Masai’s MamAfrica album and c) Spit + Image (featuring the design work of the previously-noted Christopher Kornmann and Rachel Sage, with photography by Tom Moore and Mark Anton Smith) for the package they created for their client Poetica/Mpress Records on their Poetica CD package – https://gdusa.com/2023-package-design-awards-gallery?c=11 Congratulations to all of those talented people recognized for their great work, and I promise to follow the yearly ceremonies more closely going forward. More at https://gdusa.com/competitions/package-design/2023-apda-awards
Exhibitions and Gallery Show Info (new and upcoming soon)
a) OPENED JUNE 7, 2023 – There’s a new show built around works done by famed illustrator Drew Struzan that launched in early June (and running through December 30th) at the Cinéma et Miniature museum in Lyon, France – “Magnifying Pop Culture – The Art of Drew Struzan” – https://www.museeminiatureetcinema.fr/
After attending school at the prestigious Art Center College of Design in West Los Angeles, CA, a trip to an employment agency found the artist a job as a staff artist for Pacific Eye and Ear, a local design studio that had a number of music industry clients. There, he began designing album covers, enjoying the creative challenges of a 12″ square canvas, and over the next 5 years, he would create album cover artwork for a long line of musical artists, including The Beach Boys, Bee Gees, Black Sabbath, Earth Wind & Fire, Iron Butterfly, Alice Cooper and Tony Orlando & Dawn.
Striking out on his own in 1975 and becoming a master of airbrush techniques, Struzan took on commissions doing promotional posters for films and, since then, has established a reputation as “the go-to guy” for movie studios large and small. His impressive portfolio of work includes posters for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Blade Runner, Risky Business, Hook, Hellboy and the Harry Potter series, among many others.
In a note I received from the show’s curator Julien Dumont, I’ve learned that Mr. Dumont (also a noted multi-media producer) and his team at the museum created this exhibition in honor of Drew’s work, with a special emphasis on his film posters. “In the exhibition, we have a dozen originals: composition, preparatory sketches, color comps, final art, supplemented with other imagery and screen used props from our collection related to the films of the posters.”
While they don’t have any music-related key art created by Drew, they do have one unique item – an original sketch done for Michael Jackson’s 1995 History package, which would ultimately feature an image of a sculpture crafted by artist Diana Walczak (https://dianawithheart.com/), so it’ll be a treat to see Drew’s alt version of what the package might have looked like under his direction.
For a nice video intro to Drew’s career, watch Erik Sharkey’s documentary, DREW: THE MAN BEHIND THE POSTER, which is available on several streaming platforms – and check out this video I found on Instagram of the museum team prepping the space for the exhibition – https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtG2Z3VoSCA/
While he’s officially retired, you can still find his work for sale via Ben Stevens at the Galactic Gallery – https://galacticgallery.com/drew-struzan-art
b) With a list of noted album cover/package credits that includes notable album cover credits include – The Police – Police; Midge Ure – No Regrets; Paul McCartney – Give My Regards to Broad Street; The Who – Who Are You and Elton John’s Greatest Hits – along with an incredible portfolio of work for clients in the film, TV, fashion and editorial publishing, the work of the late photographer Terry O’Neill has long been a source of inspiration for many an exhibition, so it’d make sense for folks in the NYC area to take the time to venture on over to the beautiful Fotografiska museum/gallery from now thru September 16th to view the Terry O’Neill: Stars show currently on display.
As promoted on the gallery’s site, “Rock legends, Hollywood stars and sports heroes. Mention a global celebrity from the second half of the 20th century and that person probably posed for Terry O’Neill’s camera. This Summer, Fotografiska New York is opening its doors to Stars – featuring iconic portraits of Brigitte Bardot, Mick Jagger, Audrey Hepburn, Frank Sinatra, David Bowie, The Beatles, Kate Moss and many more.”
An early assignment shooting pix of celebrities arriving at London’s Heathrow airport gave him access to the music business elite at the time, with his portfolio including shots of The Beatles, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Elton John, the Rolling Stones, The Who, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and many others. His photographs of Bridget Bardot, Audrey Hepburn, Sir Laurence Olivier and super-model Jean Shrimpton beautifully captured each in their prime. O’Neill was also invited to shoot portraits of civic and world leaders, as well as the British Royal Family, and his reputation because of these sessions grew accordingly.
Some of O’Neill’s best-known images are from a series of shots showing actress Faye Dunaway (his girlfriend at the time – later, his wife) at dawn on March 29, 1977, lounging with her Oscar statue near the pool at the Beverly Hills Hotel the morning after her Academy Award win for “Best Actress” for her work in the film Network. One image from the series now hangs in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London.
O’Neill’s work are included in the collections of national galleries and private collectors worldwide. He has produced cover images for many publications, including for Newsweek, Paris Match, Stern, The Sunday Times Magazine, Time Magazine, Vanity Fair and many others. Books featuring his photographs include Legends (1985), Celebrity: The Photographs of Terry O’Neill (2003), Sinatra: Frank & Friendly (2007), All About Bond (2012) and Terry O’Neill (by O’Neill and Dylan Jones), released in 2013. A selection of his photographs of Elton John also appeared in the 2008 book, Eltonography.
In 2019, O’Neill was awarded with Britain’s top honor for his services to the field of photography, being made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Later that year, after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, O’Neill died at his home in London at the age of 81.
Terry O’Neill at Fotografiska in NYC – https://www.fotografiska.com/nyc/exhibitions/terry-oneill/
c) As a follow-up to last month’s item about my friend Rocky Bucano and his ongoing efforts to complete what’s been a long-time dream – to open up a museum dedicated to educating music/art fans and sharing his passion for all things hip-hop, the Universal Hip Hop Museum (UHHM) in New York – and how the UHHM has teamed up with the web design firm CARNAVALE to create a 3-D virtual museum experience, I want to pass along a link to a video segment titled “How Are Digital Replicas Preserving Hip-Hop History?” that was featured on PBS that digs into the use of “digital twins” by a number of museums to help share objects from, and tours of, their collections with fans everywhere – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL5dTHQ01mk . Beginning at about 1:45 into the nearly nine-minute segment, the producers bring you interviews with some of the UHHM senior staffers about this special effort, which then leads into a look into how other art organizations are using new technologies to both preserve their archives and share them with the world, ending then with a discussion about “who owns what” in this emerging (and exciting and perplexing) new area of the creative arts.
As I mentioned previously, I’ve been following the multi-decade efforts to launch a respectable 3-D/virtual reality-based museum/gallery experience with great interest for many years now, so I’d like to once again invite you to the public Beta version of the Universal Hip-Hop Museum’s (UHHM) initial efforts in the area – https://www.spatial.io/s/UHHM-Subway-645309f1d6e32e030cd888dd?share=6793710267648977215 (made via Spatial technology, requiring a web-enabled device for viewing). Pick an avatar from the list to then tour the various level in this virtual space where you’ll get to see many of the items that are in the UHHM collection and learn more about them and the people who donated them.
The site’s creators are really looking for a lot of feedback on this initial effort, so please be sure to share any comments you have about the experience as they’ll help the UHHM and their web developer (the very talented Mike Carnevale and his team) improve the product prior to its formal launch later on.
Adding some further details into the people behind the creation of this new museum, I was happy to see that the museum’s curator, Rocky Bucano, was the featured guest on this episode of the Living Legends Foundation’s “MusicDay” webcast (hosted by Monique Kelley) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnRZlOmVUsw . The episode’s title – “It was all a dream – a conversation with Rocky Bucano of the UHHM” nicely introduces the subject matter covered in the 36+-minute video, where Monique asks Rocky about how he and his early supporters “manifested the dream of a museum to honor the impact that hip hop music has around the world”. I think that Monique summarized Rocky’s path to the UHHM quite nicely by calling it a “collaboration with the Universe…a conspiracy to bring you right here and making you the ringmaster with all of the talent and skills needed for this undertaking”. Couldn’t have said it better myself…
I was also pleased to find an article recently in the Sunday New York Times about Rocky and what his Sunday routine is like (which, as you might think, involves some time during that day at his museum!) – https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/18/nyregion/universal-hip-hop-museum-rocky-bucano.html?
Ongoing Exhibitions (listed in order of their end dates)
a) OPENED AND CLOSED BEFORE I COULD REPORT ABOUT IT – Photographer Markus Klinko brought a collection of his wonderful celebrity portraits to Dallas, TX for a show that ran from June 9th thru the 22nd titled Icons: Bowie to Beyoncé that was on display at the Markowicz Fine Art Gallery.
Klinko is an award-winning photographer with a list of clients that’s a “who’s who” of stars from the music, film, tv and fashion worlds (Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith, Naomi Campbell and many others). Having been introduced to rocker David Bowie after shooting the cover photo for his wife Iman’s 2001 book (I Am Iman), Klinko made such a good impression on the man that he was then hired to photograph Mr. Bowie for the cover of his 2002 record Heathen; while othernotable album cover credits include Beyonce’s Dangerously In Love and Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi. His editorial clients include Vogue, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, GQ, Interview, Vanity Fair and Vogue, among others.
Local coverage at – https://www.dallasobserver.com/music/markus-klinkos-dallas-exhibition-is-a-homecoming-for-the-beyonce-and-david-bowie-photographer-16672576 with more details available on the gallery’s website at https://markowiczfineart.com/exhibitions/markus-klinko-icons-bowie-to-beyonce/artworks
I’ll try to do better next time.
b) CONTINUING THROUGH JULY 5th, 2023 – The Musichead Gallery in Los Angeles continues on with a show there that opened at the beginning of June (and running through July 5th, 2023) that’s built around the works of renowned artist/illustrator Hugh Syme titled “Imagine This: A Visual Retrospective” – https://musichead.com/blogs/events/hugh-syme-imagine-this
Having studied art both the New School of Art in Toronto and York University in York, England, Canadian artist/illustrator/musician Hugh Syme found that he was able to express himself creatively – both musically and artistically – in the rock music business, where he collaborated with singer/songwriter Ian Thomas and, later on, played keyboards for SRO/Anthem labelmates Rush. It seems clear that the members of Rush felt early on that Hugh was on the same wavelength as they were, hiring him in 1975 to create the cover image for their third record, titled Caress of Steel and, impressively, every record of theirs since. He’s also responsible for the band’s iconic “Starman” logo, which has been featured on a broad range of band-related promotional imagery and merchandise (including the cover for the late Rush drummer Neal Peart’s 1996 travel book titled The Masked Rider). He’s since been nominated 18 times for Juno Awards (Canada’s top music award) for his designs, winning five times for designs including Rush’s Moving Pictures, Power Windows, Presto and Roll The Bones, and Levity for Ian Thomas.
Focusing his talents on music-related design, he took on commissions as an art director working at Pasha/CBS Records and, ten years later, accepting the role as Art Director at Geffen Records. His music industry clients include labels such as A&M, Atlantic, Capitol, EMI, Geffen, Mercury, RCA, Sony Music and Warner Bros., doing designs for acts including Aerosmith, Chick Corea, Celine Dion, Def Leppard, Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Queensryche, Saga, Styx and Whitesnake.
The gallery is including several new prints in the collection that will be on display (and for sale), which you can view at https://musichead.com/collections/hugh-syme . I’m a particular fan of the C.A. Gilbert-All Is Vanity-inspired cover Hugh created for Def Leppard’s Retroactive, but that’s just one of the many creative works he’s done for his music industry clients…
If you’d like a broader look at this artist’s complete portfolio before attending the show in LA, I’d invite you to visit his website at www.hughsyme.com
c) CONTINUING THROUGH JULY 11, 2023 – Rock God and supremely talented photographer Graham Nash’s photo exhibit at the City Winery in NYC continues now through the 11th of July. – https://www.gratefulweb.com/articles/graham-nash-enduring-images-photo-exhibit-runs-nycs-city-winery-511-711 Mr. Nash has also supplied visual elements for a number of record packages, including those for Ten Years After, Dave Mason, Bruce Cockburn and, as you might guess, various recordings he and/or his CSN bandmates have released together over the years.
Here’s how the show is described on the venue’s site – “A new photo exhibit by the two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, founding member of both the Hollies and Crosby, Stills & Nash and renowned photographer and visual artist, exclusively at City Winery NYC, featuring 24 of his original images, hand selected by Graham. While continually building his musical legacy, Nash is also a renowned photographer and visual artist whose work has been shown in galleries and museums worldwide. Most recently Nash released the book A Life In Focus: The Photography of Graham Nash (via Insight Editions), in which he reflects on more than fifty years of an extraordinary life in an extensive collection of personal photographs and artistic stills. “From a very early age, photography has been an extremely important part of my life and has allowed me to express a different side of my personality than music,” explains Nash. “In fact, I’ve been taking photographs longer than I’ve been making music.”
He also played a sold-out show there on Sunday, May 14th as part of his “60 Years of Songs and Stories” tour – https://citywinery.com/newyork/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=NYC-Graham-Nash-5-14-23-8pm&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=
d) CONTINUING THROUGH JULY, 2023 – The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, OH is hosting a new version of the Bruce Talamon photo exhibit titled Hotter Than July that, according to the museum, is “an ethnographic study of a visual representation of blackness and personal analysis of a culture during the golden age of Soul, R&B and Funk (1972 – 1982).” More at https://www.rockhall.com/exhibitions/hotter-july and https://www.rockhall.com/rock-roll-hall-fame-announces-sizzling-new-photography-exhibit-and-series-events
Artist News and Interviews
a) Fellow album cover art lover Kevin Julie – he of the Outsider Rock blog – has recently posted an interview (complete with “unboxing” video) with another artist/designer that I’d never know about without Kevin’s willingness to share with me/us. In this latest installment of Story Behind The Album Cover, we’ll meet multi-talented musician and album cover artist Arjen Lucassen, perhaps best known for his long-running progressive metal project Ayreon, who introduces us to both his new band Supersonic Revolution and his new release Golden Age of Music, which features a cover image that, to me, brings back memories of Roger Dean’s cover for YES guitarist Steve Howe’s 1975 solo album Beginnings (with maybe a bit of The Doors’ Full Circle thrown in to boot!) – https://outsiderrock.ca/2023/06/13/story-behind-the-album-cover-arjen-lucassens-supersonic-revolution-golden-age-of-music/
b) Famed rock photojournalist Henry Diltz is bringing his story-telling abilities and deep portfolio of photos (including a number of your favorite album cover images) to a ticketed presentation that will be held at an exclusive resort in Laguna Beach, CA at the end of July. “Behind the Camera With Henry Diltz” takes place on Sunday, July 23rd at The Ranch at Laguna Beach. According to the promoter, the talented Mr. Diltz “shares his images and the stories behind them with candor, wit, and humor in an evening to remember, at the beautiful Ranch at Laguna Beach. As the late Glenn Frey said, ‘This is not history, this is evidence!’” Ticketholders ($45 for General Admission and $100 for VIP tix that include a pre-show champagne reception and meet-and-greet) will also be able to select from a grouping of photos for purchase, made possible due to the fact that Henry is also a partner in one of the most-successful photo galleries that promote great rock-related imagery – the Morrison Hotel Gallery.
These events tend to sell out, so if you’d like to guarantee your seat(s) at this 3-hour tour through some of rock’s greatest moments, I’d suggest that you click on over to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/behind-the-camera-with-henry-diltz-tickets-617236851037 and make your reservations now. A reporter for the local LB paper – the Laguna Beach Independent – has penned a nice article about this upcoming artist event that sets the stage nicely – https://www.lagunabeachindy.com/rock-photographer-returns-to-the-ranch-for-storytelling-event/ As a former Laguna Beach resident myself (hello Woods Cove – I miss you!), this should be a great way to spend a beautiful Summer evening and, as such, I’m quite jealous of any of you who do get to attend.
ON A RELATED NOTE – Genesis Publishing has begun to take orders on a new, limited-edition book based on Henry’s photos of the talented musicians and songwriters David Crosby, Steven Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young – “With an introduction by Graham Nash and Stephen Stills, and presenting Henry Diltz’s remarkable CSN&Y archive, Genesis is delighted to announce CSN&Y: Love the One You’re With – a celebration of the band and its individual members, documented through 835 photographs and 58,000 words from 20 contributors.” The “Collector” copies (272 pages, in an edition of 1650 books numbered 351 to 2,000) feature a dark red quarter binding with color foils and gold page edging, and have an inset portrait of the band, with a hand-drawn CSN&Y logo. Collector copies are presented in a dark red box covered in a typographic design with hand-drawn lettering, with each copy individually signed by Henry Diltz, Graham Nash and Stephen Stills.
Priced at £295 (£325 after release in August, 2023), you can take a look at the book and place your pre-orders on the Genesis Publishing site at https://www.genesis-publications.com/book/9781905662838/csny?
c) Designer/blogger Darren Melchiorre posted a new episode in his YouTube video series on album cover art called Album Uncovered – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV8skaPyaWw – and, in this video, he shares the story of the now-almost-25-year-old record album by Melissa Etheridge called Skin and how the original cover concept was scrapped so as not to seem like a knock-off of another well-known album cover image of the era…I’m really enjoying Darren’s series of album art-related videos and hope you do, too.
d) To follow up on an item I’d posted last month about archivist/filmmaker Adam McDaniel’s work to raise additional funds for his film on the late great illustrator Richard Amsel, as part of that effort Adam has been releasing snippets from some of the many interviews he’s done that will become part of the new movie. Just recently, he released a 2:45 clip featuring commentary from several well-known creative/marketing people (including artist/illustrator/art directors David Edward Byrd, Mike Salisbury and William Stout, each who’ve contributed some great examples to album cover art history) as they discuss Amsel’s amazing capabilities within the context of his work for the original Indiana Jones film series (which, incidentally, is being added to this month with the release of the fifth and final installment in the series, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) – https://www.richardamselmovie.com/single-post/a-look-into-amsel-s-process-behind-the-raiders-poster As I noted in last month’s coverage, you too can support Adam’s efforts to finish this project and bring it to a screen near you with a contribution at https://www.richardamselmovie.com/donate-contribute . My Divine Miss M print arrived and it’s just beautiful, I think you’ll agree (see below)
e) The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s album cover, considered by many to be the best/most-influential album cover image in the rock music era, does not get the same degree of praise from one of the people that greatly contributed to the making of that famous image – artist Jann Haworth – and you’ll find out why in this recent article in the Financial Times (possibly locked access – sorry!) – https://www.ft.com/content/fa100b51-fe9c-4119-9cb6-bc2d0b0f0704. I had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Haworth a while back and found her to have very mixed feelings about the whole project, particularly her ex-hubby’s (designer/artist Peter Blake) repeated failures to mention her contributions to the effort (!!). I did get a chance to see one of the models used in the project when I was in Edinburgh last year and had a chance to tour their modern art museum, where the soft sculpture was on display. It was so cool to see it in person..
f) There’s been a tremendous amount of press generated after the June 7th premiere of Anton Corbijn’s 2022 film – Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) – about the famed album cover design ship Hipgnosis, starring Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Peter Gabriel, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Paul McCartney, Aubrey Powell, Noel Gallagher and others. It rec’d its first US showing at the 2022 Telluride Film Festival to rave reviews and, since then, many others have come out, including the following:
NYT Review article – https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/07/movies/squaring-the-circle-the-story-of-hipgnosis-review.html
RogerEbert.com site review article – Glenn Kenny – https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/squaring-the-circle-the-story-of-hipgnosis-movie-review-2023 I don’t know about you, but it still kinda freaks me out to see that Roger Ebert is still watching films and submitting reviews…oh, sorry, it seems that there are others now doing this work…silly me.
Here’s the trailer for Squaring The Circle in case you haven’t seen it yet – – https://youtu.be/-OYQNAk_krQ
g) NEW FROM MUSE BY CLIO – The latest string of album art-related features on the Muse By Clio site finds the editorial team behind the “Art of the Album” series asking several artists/production execs/musicians and album art fans to share some of their favorite covers and why it is that they stand out amongst all others.
“10 Great Album Covers, Chosen by Jordan Glickson of Vevo: Outkast, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Notorious B.I.G. and more” featuring a list put together by Jordan Glickson, vice president of Music & Talent at Vevo. Vevo is a well-established video hosting service specializing in music video content and Jordan’s experience also includes time spent at Sony Music, Warner Records and Universal – https://musebycl.io/art-album/10-great-album-covers-chosen-jordan-glickson-vevo
“10 Great Album Covers, Chosen by David Calcano of Fantoons Animation Studios: Rush, Def Leppard, Buzzcocks and more”. David, who is chief creative officer of Fantoons Animation Studios, the company responsible for a whole host of nicely-conceived and animated projects including music videos for Rush, Warner Records, Universal Music and the late, great Frank Zappa, among others – https://musebycl.io/art-album/10-great-album-covers-chosen-david-calcano-fantoons-animation-studios I would invite Zappa fans to take a quick click on over to the Fantoons site to watch a video of a performance of Zappa’s “Montana” enhanced by a specially-produced video in which song-related imagery is created entirely with dental floss – PERFECT! – https://fantoons.tv/animation/frank-zappa-montana-experiential-content/
“11 Great Album Covers, Chosen by Rohan Rege of COLLINS:Aphex Twin, Tame Impala, Arthur Russell and more” – https://musebycl.io/art-album/11-great-album-covers-chosen-rohan-rege-collins
Raised in Mumbai, India before moving to New York City, Rohan Rege is a designer at the NYC-based “transformation”/ creative firm Collins (“We help businesses at critical inflection points define, design and build new futures… Make your future so irresistible, it becomes inevitable.”). While I don’t quite get the business-speak, I do like Rohan’s choices – quite eclectic for such a young person.
Items for Sale and/or at Auction
a) One of the people perhaps most-responsible for the promotion and sale of album cover artwork as collectible works of fine art – music historian, producer and archivist Denny Somach – will be offering up his collection for sale. Denny was perhaps the first person to put together a business to produce and sell licensed album cover art prints some 30-odd years ago, and anyone who has been selling or collecting album cover art prints since then has almost-certainly purchased something from him during that time. While the specifics as to what’s available haven’t been fully released yet, if you listen to the recent podcast on the GOLDMINE Magazine website – https://www.goldminemag.com/podcast/find-out-about-the-largest-album-cover-art-collection-going-up-for-sale# that features a conversation between Denny and GM editor Pat Prince, you’ll get enough of a taste of what’s available that I’m sure you’ll be wanting to click on over to view some of the collection as seen in a gallery on Somach’s website – https://dennysomach.com/galleries
Denny was kind enough to send me some samples of what’s available from his collection, pictures of which you’ll find below. There are signed covers from The Beatles, The Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eagles, AC/DC, Alice Cooper, YES, Jethro Tull, Poco, Santana, Rush, Genesis, Stevies Wonder and Winwood and many others. Denny also shared that a portion of the sales from these prints will be marked for charity, with previous support going to great causes like MusiCares and the TJ Martell Foundation.
b) David Storey, the British designer and painter who is credited for participating in the development of the overall “look and feel” for the influential Two Tone and Go! Disc divisions of the Chrysalis Record label in the late 1970s/early 1980s (for musical acts including The Specials, The Housemartins, Blondie, Split Enz, Icehouse, Iggy Pop and others), has asked the nice people at the UK’s Hypergallery to close out their collection of his music industry-related prints as he’s decided to focus all of his creative energies on his painting, so if you hurry on over to https://hypergallery.com/en-us/collections/david-storey? you might still find some of these available.
c) There are some rock-related images that, while not ones featured on the front cover of a record package, are so good and have become so recognizable regardless of where they were included (back cover, inner sleeve, etc.) that they still manage to burn themselves into our brains. Such is Stephen Wright’s shot of The Smiths taken on a dreary November day in 1985 in front of a “lad’s club” in Salford (Manchester) UK that went on to be used in what is perhaps the band’s best-known record album, Queen Is Dead and which was also included in the collection of the UK’s National Portrait Gallery.
I recently received notice that the good people at the Hypergallery have teamed up with Mr. Wright to release a series of limited-edition photos based on a good number of shots from his rock and roll portfolio, including one based on the aforementioned image and so I’d invite you all to take a look at that image – https://hypergallery.com/en-us/collections/stephen-wright/products/the-smiths-the-queen-is-dead – as well as others in that collection, which includes some really nice images of Madonna, Prince and several other well-known musicians.
d) A third installment of a popular design book series based on the career of influential designer Neville Brody hit the stands (to the younger readers – new publications were once sold at retail news-stands, whereas now you can…oh, never mind) in late June that provides a newly-revised and updated look into the career of a designer that greatly influenced editorial and music packaging design beginning in the 1980s.
According to the publisher’s website, The Graphic Language of Neville Brody 3 “brings almost thirty years of work together in thematic sections that address the key fields of his vibrant design projects, including typographic experimentation, cultural subversion, and design systems. Richly illustrated, each project is explored in detail, revealing the work that has defined Brody’s recent practice across six chapters, from major brands to magazine editorials and features, revealing how Brody’s design language has been informed, evolved and remarkably stayed true to key themes and ideas throughout his career to date. Brody has produced a rich, dynamic and surprising body of new work that will attract a new generation of designers and art directors. This inspirational volume will be essential reading for anyone interested in the evolution of graphic design over the past three decades.”
In 1989, Brody launched “Neville Brody Studios” and, with cohort Cornel Windlin (another talented graphic artist and typeface designer), the studio took on a number of commissions and successful collaborations with other respected design firms. First renaming the firm Research Studios in 1994 and then, more recently, Brody Associates, Neville and his team have worked on an impressive portfolio of projects for clients in many industries world-wide, including media companies such as the BBC, D&AD, The Guardian, MTV Europe, Paramount Studios, The Times (London) and Wallpaper* Magazine, venues such as Parco (Japan), The Barbican (London) and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (London) and retail product firms including Apple, Asics, Bentley, Bonfire Snowboarding, Chloe, Deutsche Bank, Dom Perignon, Homechoice, Microsoft, Nike, Salomon, Sony Playstation, YSL and many others.
Notable album package credits include – Desmond Dekker – Black and Dekker; The Slits – Return of the Giant Slits; Cabaret Voltaire – Red Mecca, 2X45, Johnny YesNo and The Original Sound of Sheffield 83/87; 23 Skidoo – Seven Songs, The Culling is Coming, Urban Gamelan and Just Like Everybody; Depeche Mode’s Singles Box, Vol. 1 and Five Albums for Throbbing Gristle, among others.
352 pages with 1,300+ illustrations, published by Thames & Hudson – https://thamesandhudson.com/the-graphic-language-of-neville-brody-3-9780500295267
e) Kenneth FitzGerald’s latest book that looks at the motivations behind the works of graphic designers – with a focus on the connection between design/art and music – has hit the shelves and, based on the excerpts I’ve read, it is a truly scholarly review. Process Music: songs, stories, and studies of graphic culture (published by Onomatopee) is based primarily on a collection of articles, presentations and texts from lectures that the author – a Professor at Old Dominion university as well as an artist, designer and curator – has presented in publications including Émigré, Eye, Idea, Modes of Criticism and Print and in forums such as the Design Observer, Voice: AIGA Journal of Graphic Design and Speak Up over the past decade or so.
As you might figure – for I am the curious type – I contacted Kenneth to learn more about this new book and, ultimately, to purchase one as I was eager to read more and get a better understanding of his take on the world of graphic design from his most-unusual vantage point. Some of you will recall that I interviewed two scholars last year about a book they’d written on mid-century album cover art (click here for a refresher) and although that project left my brain somewhat smoked after the encounter with two people perhaps a million times better-equipped than me to have such an in-depth discussion, I am now working on a set of questions for Professor FitzGerald that I hope will enable us all to appreciate the depth of knowledge and experience that’s housed in just one person and I’ll be sharing the results of that effort with you later this Summer.
At the same time as his book is garnering rave reviews, Fitzgerald’s design talents continue to garner industry attention and kudos as he and the team at Ephemeral States also were honored with a 2nd Place award in the “Books: Entire Package” category in Print Magazine’s “2023 Print Awards” – https://www.printmag.com/print-awards/the-best-of-craft-and-digital-collide-in-this-years-print-awards/
This quote from the judges sums things up nicely – “The book’s design scheme seeks to embody and highlight methods of critical self-examination. It also means to represent the writer, who often takes an idiosyncratic and irreverent view of design, its conventions and conventioneers. This begins with the cover design which is itself an original essay (‘Go Now’) that discusses a well-known self-referential design artifact—the Hipgnosis album cover design for XTC’s Go 2—and questions the role of cover designs (both albums and books). The standard book cover material (title and author, blurbs, author’s bio) is presented on forward flaps that can be folded back to read the text—and suggests gatefold LP covers. Features such as the scuffing patterns are understood through reading the cover text. The verso of the covers lists the book’s index, highlighting and foregrounding its unadorned inventory, inverting book layout norms. The meta concept is carried throughout the book, with chapter pages continuing the design and voice of the cover text. The book overall can be seen as all cover: entirely framing. Or with no cover: all inside story.”
More info on this new book can be found on the publisher’s web site at https://www.onomatopee.net/product/process-music/
http://www.ephemeralstates.com/the-deluxe-duo-book-deal/
f) It’s been announced that photographer Martin Parr’s 2004 image of the Gourock Outdoor Pool in Inverclyde, Scotland, will grace the cover of Britpop group Blur’s first album in eight years – The Ballad of Darren – that’s scheduled for release in July. To celebrate this fact, there’s a new print of Parr’s image that’s now available via Magnum Photos – https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/collections/all-posters/magnum-poster-gourock-lido-scotland-2004/?
g) The next item in the Jethro Tull art print collection was just released, adding to the several that have been made available for sale since last year’s initial shipments. Coming to market via the U.K.’s Flood Gallery, JETHRO TULL: THE ART COLLECTION – a series of 14 limited Giclée Prints and a deluxe box set – now adds a print derived from the cover art for the band’s 1973 about a newly-dead individual’s review of his life titled A Passion Play (featuring Brian Ward’s lovely B&W photo cover) and this can now be viewed and purchased at – https://jethrotullart.com/collections/a-passion-play?
Per the site’s intro text – “From the first Jethro Tull album, This Was in 1968 to the latest Zealot Gene album in 2022, album covers have been commissioned either by the record company or by Ian Anderson. In the early years, the album cover art was commissioned by Chrysalis Records which in turn became the copyright of EMI, then Warner Music. We have been granted the rights to use these images by Warner Music and are pleased to partner with The Flood Gallery in producing some of most iconic Jethro Tull albums in a high quality Giclée print.”
More to come…
h) The Sotheby’s auction house has shared some updated details of what I’m sure will be one of the most-visited collections of memorabilia this year – a huge cache of items from the estate of the late great Freddie Mercury, left upon his death in 1991 to his girlfriend/soul-mate Mary Austin. Set for September, Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own, includes some truly desirable items, including costumes, artwork, hand-written lyrics, items of a personal nature, letters and – get ready – the crown and cloak he wore while performing the finale rendition of “God Save The Queen” during his last tour with Queen.
The Auction’s pre-event festivities included displays taken from the collection that were put up in the company’s offices in Los Angeles, New York and Hong Kong and the actual auction will be broken up into themed events – “In Love With Japan” and “Crazy Little Things 1 and 2” online August 4th thru September 12th and 13th, while “Evening Sale”; “At Home” and “On Stage” take place live in London only September 6, 7 and 8th. he final details for the “London Takeover”, scheduled to run from the 4th of August thru the 5th of September, will be coming soon, so if you’d like to get more advance info on this sale, please click on over to https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/freddie-mercury-a-world-of-his-own-the-evening-sale and – https://www.sothebys.com/en/series/freddie-mercury-a-world-of-his-own
Auction Results Updates:
a) Frank Frazetta’s 1976 painting Dark Kingdom – perhaps best-known as the cover image for Molly Hatchet’s best-selling album – was included in a June 22nd comic art auction staged by Heritage Auctions and, as you’ll see, was sold for an eye-popping amount of money. As it was described on the Heritage site, the image as “first published as the cover for Karl Edward Wagner’s 1976 Kane series Dark Crusade novel. And in addition to being one of Frazetta’s most popular prints, it has been a favored image in every Frazetta anthology, as well as being one of the most popular attractions at the Frazetta Museum for decades. After the success of showcasing the artist’s painting Death Dealer on the cover of their self-titled first album, the band Molly Hatchet used this dynamic piece on the cover of their second (and all-time best selling) album Flirtin’ With Disaster in 1979…”
Death Dealer sold at auction in 2018 for an impressive $1.79 million, but that’s chump change when compared to the hammer price for Dark Kingdom, which will become an important part of a collector’s stash once he or she pays the $6 million bid (inc. a 20% buyer’s premium) on this work, making it the highest price ever paid for a work of fantasy art.
Read a bit more of the story on the ArtDaily web site – https://artdaily.cc/news/158662/Frank-Frazetta-s–Dark-Kingdom–sells-for–6-million-to-rule-the-record-books-at-Heritage-Auctions and then take a look at the item as it was offered on the Heritage Auction site – https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/covers/frank-frazetta-dark-kingdom-painting-original-art-1976-/a/7340-91009.s – where you’ll find the evidence that confirms the impressive amount paid to own this amazing example of Frazetta’s artistry.
b) While not quite in the same league as the amount that changed hands for the aforementioned Frank Frazetta painting, here’s news of an auction of a first-printing 1968 Jimi Hendrix “Flying Eyeball” concert poster by Rick Griffin that set a new record for most ever paid ($175,000!) – https://themusicuniverse.com/jimi-hendrix-poster-sets-auction-record/
c) The recent auction hosted by the team at Backstage Auctions built around guitarist/manager/photographer/business stud Mac Holbert’s collection included several album cover-related production items that were sold, including several pieces that were used on album packages for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (along with solo/duo/trio configurations and several of their earlier bands) shot by photographers Joel Bernstein and Henry Diltz that were used on CSN records such as CSN and Daylight Again and the For Certain Because LP by The Hollies, among others. I noted that there were several items that were not sold during the auction, which ended June 25th, so I’m expecting that some of them will show up in Backstage’s store sometime soon, so if you’d like to take a look and pick up something more-than-special for yourself, click on over to see what’s available – https://www.backstageauctions.com/store/
d) UPDATE – UNSOLD – Guy Peellaert’s original artwork for the Rolling Stones’ Its Only Rock & Roll album was up for auction in early June as part of their Pop! Art Auction (ended June 2nd, 2023). There was a $100K opening bid and, after checking in as to this lot’s status, I found that it remained unsold, so I’m curious to see what happens next as this is a pretty significant work of album cover art. You can still pop on over to the IORR auction site to review the item – https://www.gottahaverockandroll.com/The_Rolling_Stones__It_s_Only_Rock__n_Roll__Origin-LOT48929.aspx
e) There was recent auction at Christie’s that featured some original album cover production items from the personal collection of the late disco/r&b diva Donna Summer –https://www.christies.com/en/auction/auction-21005-nyr/viewing%20room Online bidding opened on June 15th and ended on the 29th, and there were several items that did find new homes, including a proof print of Harry Langdon’s photo of Ms. Summer that was used on the inside of the gatefold cover for her 1979 smash album Some Girls (https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/collection-donna-summer/photo-proof-donna-summers-lp-bad-girls-2/186893?), which blasted through a pre-auction estimate of $600 – $800 to sell for $10,080.00 inc fees. Another Langdon production photo – one used on the cover of the 1979 LP, On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II – also sold for well beyond its estimate, realizing $6,300.00, while another shot by Langdon – this one for her 1983 album She Works Hard For The Money – while still selling for much more than its estimate, was taken home for a bit more down-to-Earth $2016.00. The entire collection of clothing, jewelry, gold record awards and several examples of Ms. Summer’s own painting, netted just under a million dollars, and I’m sure everyone who participated felt it an honor to own a piece of rock music history.
Miscellaneous Items and other Brief Bits
As always, I’m going to have to keep these short-and-sweet (well, most of them, anyway):
BELATED OBITUARY – I was doing some research on some early 70s photo covers and was digging into who’d done the cover for Santana’s Caravansarai (on which the amazing instrumental “All The Love In The Universe” is found) and learned a bit about the photographer/visual artist Joan Chase, who was also on of the co-founders (along with Mary Ann Meyer) of the Heavy Water Lightshow.
After launching the Heavy Water Light Show in the Bay area in 1969 with fellow artist Mary Ann Mayer and toured the show with the Grateful Dead, the Jefferson Airplane and Santana from 1969 through 1972. Joan became the Santana band’s principal photographer and designed the band’s second, third and fourth albums – Abraxas, Santana and Caravansarai – while the cover of the LP Santana III is derived from images from the light show. She’d also do covers for the other aforementioned bands, along with those for Paul Katner, Grace Slick, the Buddy Miles/Santana band and Philip Glass, among others.
After John Hardham joined the light show in the early 1970s, Mary Ann Mayer left in 1973 and Joan and John moved their efforts into designs for planetariums for the next 10 or so years, ceasing operations in 1983, reuniting to do solo shows twice in the 1980s in my old hometown of Portland, OR. Joan went on to do more work in the fields of video, computer graphics and digital printing and passed away peacefully on November 4th, 2022 following a long illness.
b) Patrick Prince and the fine people at GOLDMINE Magazine have been devoting a lot of space to Pink Floyd-related 50th Anniversary items and have enlisted the esteemed writer Martin Popoff (author of Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon: 50 Years) to provide a list of the Top 20 album covers designed by the team of creative geniuses at the Hipgnosis design studio, who were instrumental in creating the band’s visual imagery for many years – https://www.goldminemag.com/music-history/top-20-album-covers-by-celebrated-design-group-hipgnosis Of course, Hipgnosis was responsible for so many memorable record packages that while I’m not perhaps 100% in agreement with the order of this “best of” list, every one of the images included was an important addition to each musical act’s success, so why quibble about what’s “best”?
c) So, you want to see how the sausage is made? Unless you’ve toured a record-making plant recently, we must all offer the folks at Stoughton Printing and their client, the no-compromise vinyl re-issue label Intervention Records, an offering of thanks for this behind-the-scenes video tour – hosted by guitar great Peter Frampton – showing the care and talent on display in the making of the covers (AKA sleeves) for the label’s releases of some of Mr. Frampton’s early albums – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNy7wO-3c-8 New technology mixed with old-fashioned craftsmanship on behalf of a dedicated client produces “old style” covers made fresh for today’s sophisticated record collectors. Well done, team.
d) Having returned recently from a brief trip to Portland, Maine, I can vouch for the fact that they have a thriving music scene, having spent an evening at a venue called One Longfellow Square, where I had the chance to hear a set by the enormously talented singer/songwriter/guitarist Garnet Rogers. This Portland reminded me a lot of my “old” Portland (where I lived prior to moving to the Chicago area several years ago) in that it was populated by a good number of young “hipsters” (knit caps, plaid shirts, tattoos, man buns, beards, Doc Martens, etc.) and several shops that sold objects from collections of incredibly strange memorabilia, so when I saw that a contributor to the website of one of the local rock radio stations there (WCYY) had posted an article titled “14 Album Covers That Look Metal But Aren’t”, I was somewhat intrigued and, based on the selections presented, I think that it was done well enough to raise itself above the “clickbait” label I’d normally associate with articles sporting titles like the one this one has – https://wcyy.com/14-album-covers-look-metal-but-arent/ Some, such as Demon’s Night of the Demon and Necro’s The Pre-Fix For Death, do most-certainly seem to be from bands whose music closely-resembles metal, but it was cute to see Lady Gaga and Triumph record covers included in the mix.
e) The folks at American Songwriter have been pretty steadfast on delivering regular articles about album covers and the people that made them and, this past month, they delivered a pretty large cache of articles, including:
Jacob Uitti’s “Behind the Strange Album Cover for David Bowie’s ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” – https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-strange-album-cover-for-david-bowies-the-rise-and-fall-of-ziggy-stardust-and-the-spiders-from-mars/ Terry Pastor using a Brian Ward photo
Thomas Galindo’s “Behind the Spine-Tingling Album Cover for N.W.A.’s ‘Straight Outta Compton’” – https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-spine-tingling-album-cover-for-n-w-a-s-straight-outta-compton/ photo by Eric Poppleton
Alli Patton’s article about some of the more-memorable female models whose images have been burned into the minds of impressionable young men since the 1960s – “Meet the Women on These 6 Iconic Album Covers” – https://americansongwriter.com/meet-the-women-on-these-6-iconic-album-covers/ It’s territory that’s been covered before, but Alli does a nice job in providing a bit more background and updates as well
Brief Bits:
f) here’s a follow-up to last month’s item on using new AI tools to “enhance” existing album covers – here’s a story about why in heck we’d want to do that – https://gizmodo.com/ai-ai-art-dall-e-expanded-album-covers-1850495918
g) The new Apple store in London’s Battersea Station area uses references to a famous Pink Floyd album cover – you know which one – to help establish its overall coolness to those living nearby – https://9to5mac.com/2023/06/02/apple-store-battersea-power-station/
h) The interestingly-named Tinnitist web site posted an article that digs a bit into the backgrounds of some of the real people featured over the years on album covers – https://tinnitist.com/2023/06/03/area-residents-stylus-counsel-billion-dollar-babies/ For someone who says they hear things all the time (hence, the name), it’s a little surprising that they haven’t heard any of the many similar articles published in the past, but it’s nice to read another person’s take on the subject from time to time…
Lastly but not Leastly:
I’ve begun to gather information on courses that are being offered – at schools/colleges/universities and online – where students can learn more about album cover art and record packaging design and engineering and hope to be able to publish a summary of what I’ve learned sometime soon. With all of the varied ways that music products are marketed these days, I had to wonder where it is that folks interested in participating in this field can pick up their knowledge, particularly from those with real experience in the field and, so far, I’m not finding an awful lot, so if any of you know of such courses, I’d appreciate you sharing that information with me. Can you learn how to do EVERYTHING on YouTube? We’ll see but, in the meantime, here’s just one of the videos I’ve found, posted a few years back by a REAL album cover designer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCQqdUgrjno
That’s all for now – stay tuned and be on the lookout for the next newsletter update, slated for August the 1st, along with the occasional news alert I publish in the meantime. Better yet, sign up on the ACHOF home page to get an automatic email every time there’s something new on the ACHOF site. Until we meet again early next month, let me wish you a very pleasant Summer season, wherever you might be.
Peace and Love to you all,
Mike G
Unless otherwise noted, all text and images included in this article are Copyright 2023 Mike Goldstein and AlbumCoverHallofFame.com – All Rights Reserved. All the trade names mentioned in these summaries are the properties of their respective owners and are used for reference only.
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