Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for May, 2024

Signage outside Record Friend shop in Amsterdam

Posted May 1, 2024 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Happy First of May greetings to you all. Hope that you’re all enjoying the start of the Spring season in your area and that the emerging flowers and greenery are brightening your moods considerably. As we tend to do every Spring, my wife and I flew over to one of our favorite vacation spots – this year, The Netherlands – and toured the gardens and museums there and, as a result, I only have had 2 days to prep this month’s newsletter. As a result, you’ll find the entire thing a bit truncated (with less of my rambling than is usual) but you’ll get all of the basics, so you won’t be without the most important info.

As a reward, I’ll share a couple of pix of what is certainly one of the world’s most-beautiful gardens, that being Keukenhof Gardens in Lisse, The Netherlands. Tulip fans cannot find a more satisfying and awe-inspiring place to spend a day (and the throngs of people who descended on the place the day we were there will attest to that fact).

ACHOF Breaking News Update – New Exhibition and Sale Announcement

Posted by Mike Goldstein April 5, 2024

Some things just can’t wait until next month…So, there’s going to be a new exhibition and sale of the works of the late artist and trend-setting graphic designer Jamie Reid, who died last August at the age of 76. The show will be staged at the Enter Gallery in Brighton, U.K., and will be launched at a private viewing event at the Gallery on Thursday the 25th of April, with gallerist and curator John Marchant of the John Marchant Gallery – who is also Director of The Arcova Trust – partnering with the gallery to curate the show and also speak to opening night attendees about Reid’s amazing and impactful life and career.

The exhibition, which runs for one week through the 2^nd of May, will be called Jamie Reid, A Lifetime of Radical Gestures and will be built around a collection of work from the artist’s “Rogue Materials” series, which he made between 1972 and 2021. Enhancing the viewing will be the display of fifty photographs that chronicle the life of the late design iconoclast, who is perhaps best-known for his work for one of the U.K. music scene’s most influential music/style acts, that being the Sex Pistols. In fact, Reid’s final artwork was an homage to his single cover for the band’s “Anarchy in the U.K.” that features a torn Union Jack flag (held together with safety pins) and the new silkscreen print was approved by Reid and his foundation – the Arcova Trust – before his death in 2023 and is being released in two new limited editions – one of 200 26.4” x 39.4” prints and a larger-sized edition of 76 39.4 x 59” prints, with the number 76 of course a reference to the year (1976) that the Pistols unleashed their single.  This print release is done in cooperation with Sex Pistols Residuals and Bravado.

Jamie Reid Anarchy in the UK (2024) photo credit: The Arcova Trust & Enter Gallery

Animated Album Art Update – an ACHOF interview with Andrew Kelleher of Dog & Rabbit

Published February 16, 2024 by Mike Goldstein

Those of you who are aware of my professional background might recall an item on my CV that describes the few years I spent working for a traditional cartoon animation company and, since I began writing articles for the ACHOF site that dig deeper into the inspirations of those creatives working at the intersection of this field and the music business, I’ve written several items about people I’ve seen who’ve worked hard to bring motion to what are typically seen as static works of art via animation.

ACHOF Breaking News Update – Here Are The Winners Of The 66th Annual Grammy Awards In Packaging

Posted February 5^th, 2024 by Mike Goldstein

Unfortunately, I was airborne and couldn’t post this news in real time, but I still want to share the news that the Grammy Award Winners in the Packaging Categories were announced this past Sunday afternoon during the web-cast “66th Annual Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony” – with the ceremonies taking  place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, and I’m now pleased bring you the names of both the nominees and the winners in each of the three categories:

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for January, 2024

Posted January 1, 2024 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Hello and Happy New Year 2024 to all of you – Hope that you all enjoyed your Holidays, however you chose to celebrate them. For those of you who, like me, used the time to think a lot about what’s yet to come this year and beyond, it gave me time to be grateful for the friends and acquaintances I’ve made over the years both here in the U.S. and overseas, as it is was your support that has kept me doing what I do and thinking of all the ways that I might better-deliver the stories that I know those friends and acquaintances would enjoy and most benefit from having ingested.

I also find these times both frightening and exhilarating, thinking about what might effect the quality of our lives (and those of our fellow citizens) going forward and what we might do to make the best of whatever might happen. It’s heavy stuff, I know, but it helps to keep things in perspective and my own thoughts focused on what’s truly important. Good health, peace (and peace of mind), strength of character, truth and justice and the comfort of others less-well-off than myself – those are the things that are truly important. Art and music (and how they’re combined) are important methods by which modern civilizations represent and express their best and worst aspects (and everything between) but, if you’re sick, or unsafe or living in fear and hunger, their importance pales, so it’s up to all of us to do all we can to take care of the basics before we enjoy the benefits of what the arts can deliver.

On that note, let’s start this month’s summary – the first of the New Year – with an overview of the categories featured in our regular updates – album art/artist-related exhibitions, interviews, sales/auctions and other miscellaneous (but still very interesting) bits and, at the end, a brief paragraph on a related topic that I found quite interesting and, therefore, motivated to share with you all.

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for December, 2023

Posted December 1, 2023 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Hello and Happy Holidays to all of you – this is the time of year that we’re all supposed to look back and reflect on all that’s happened over the past 12 months and use those thoughts to consider how the next 12 months might be better lived (and, perhaps, how we might all make the world a little better place for ourselves and our fellow citizens of the world). It has certainly been an interesting year for me, having had the opportunity to visit several places, meet up with old friends and correspondents and learn more about life and all its mysteries. It’s also been an interesting year in that it represented the 50^th anniversary of the release of many noteworthy albums – debut records from Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, Queen and Lynyrd Skynyrd, concept albums such as Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, Alan Parsons’ Tubular Bells and Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and dozens of other memorable titles including several of my own faves such as Selling England By The Pound from Genesis, Bowie’s Pinups and Alladin Sane (a very busy boy that year), Frank Zappa and The Mothers’ Over-nite Sensation, Brothers & Sisters from the Allman Brothers band, The Who’s Quadrophenia, the creepy-yet-beautiful, HR Giger-illustrated Brain Salad Surgery for Emerson Lake & Palmer and Black Sabbath’s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, which features some amazing Drew Struzan-penned illustrations in the artwork gracing it’s package. For folks of a certain age group, these are mementos of truly a banner year in both music and music packaging.

Album Cover Hall of Fame’s Holiday Season Last-Minute Gift-Buying Guide 2023

Holiday Gift Guide 2023

Holiday Gift Suggestions for the Album Cover/Vinyl Record Lovers in your Life

As compiled by Mike Goldstein, Writer/Editor, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Updated November 17, 2023

As I’m sure you all know, getting just the right gift for your loved ones at Holiday time can be such a puzzle – what with all of the advertising that bombards you from every direction and “Black Friday/Cyber Monday” sales that this year seemed to have started sometime in mid-late Summer – that you’re left with little time and inclination to search for just the right thing when all you want to do is “get this over with”…

We’re only a month or so away from the Holiday gift-giving season and, since you know that the ACHOF site is not ad-supported, I’m hoping that you’ll agree that the approach I take to sharing info about what you might consider buying as gifts for your album cover art-loving friends is a bit different than most sites (who tend to be promoting things they’ve been strongly-motivated to show you with the ad/promo money they receive) in that I simply let you know what it is that’s caught my eye as both a collector and someone who likes the idea that there are a number of ways to bring album art-based items into our lives.

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for November, 2023

Posted sometime November 1, 2023 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Hello to all – this month’s summary will be a brief one as I was out on a road trip most of the month and, therefore, have not been able to devote a lot of time to the gathering and sharing of album art/artist-related information. With that said, while I was gone, the work done by these talented individuals continued unabated and, therefore, I’m happy to be able to link you to the most important of these stories and introduce them as best I can under the circumstances.

At the end of this summary, I’m going to give you a glimpse at where I’ve been, who I’ve met, and how album cover artistry reveals itself even when you’re not looking for it! I do really appreciate your patience while I get back into the swing of things and so, without further delay, let’s being this month’s edition of the ACHOF News…

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for September, 2023

Posted September 1, 2023 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Since I know that most of you are eager to get outside to enjoy the waning days of Summer (unless you’re suffering through heat troughs, the floods/flying debris of a hurricane or the smoke and ashes of a local forest fire), I’ll keep this month’s intro short and sweet.

If you haven’t seen it already, I invite you all to read my latest interview, this one with Professor Kenneth FitzGerald, with a focus on what serves as the basis of his new book Progress Music – https://albumcoverhalloffame.wordpress.com/2023/08/22/achofs-wide-ranging-interview-with-prof-kenneth-fitzgerald-author-of-the-book-process-music-songs-stories-and-studies-of-graphic-culture/ In addition, you’ll find new info on several interesting new shows, some fine books on a variety of album art-related topics, some nice new prints from some very talented people and, as always, a bunch of other fascinating things to look into but, for now, let’s get on with this month’s newsletter…

ACHOF’s Wide-Ranging Interview with Prof. Kenneth FitzGerald, author of the book Process Music: songs, stories, and studies of graphic culture

Published August 22, 2023 by Mike Goldstein

Author Kenneth FitzGerald’s latest book – one that looks at the motivations behind the works of graphic designers, with a focus on the connection between design/art and music – hit the shelves in early Summer 2023/ and, based on the many chapters I’ve read, it is a truly scholarly review. Process Music: songs, stories, and studies of graphic culture (published by Onomatopee, Eindhoven, NL) is based primarily on a collection of articles, presentations, critiques and texts from lectures that Mr. FitzGerald – a Professor at Old Dominion university as well as an artist, designer and curator – has presented in publications including Emigre, 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 known to be a bit curious – I contacted Kenneth to learn more about this new book after reporting about it in my July 2023 newsletter and went on 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.