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 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…

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

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

The Summer season is now in full swing and, in many places, it’s a Summer unlike any we’ve ever had weather-wise. Here in Chicagoland, we’ve had a number of days of record heat, with the added bonus of unhealthy air courtesy of the forest fires now burning up large swaths of land in Canada. Will Mankind ever fess up to what it has done to bring us to this point and do what’s needed to reverse this downward spiral, or will we simply do the minimum and hope that we and the rest of the world can adapt and/or come up with a technological solution that precludes us from having to inconvenience ourselves?

What does this have to do with art, you ask? Throughout history, people working in the arts – writers, musicians, painters, poster and comic book artists, etc. – have used their talents to illustrate what’s been on their minds regarding what’s right and wrong with the world. Even in our little corner of the art world, album covers and posters have featured images designed specifically to express an artist’s take on the status quo, with the hopes that these images serve as a wake-up call to those that see them. From Rage Against The Machine’s cover photo on their self-titled debut album of a Buddhist monk who set himself ablaze in protest against corruption in his country (https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/rage-against-the-machine-political-album-cover/) to the apocalyptic cover image of the U.N. in flames found on Megadeth’s Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying and even the simple photo of Marvin Gaye looking up to the skies in the rain while asking “What’s Goin’ On?” (along with many others certainly worth mentioning), musical acts and the art directors they’ve worked with have tried to use their abilities to capture and hold the attention of anyone willing to listen so, if you’re like me, all we can hope is that each of us take the time to review, assess and then act on what we all know must be done to keep everyone alive and thriving. I take the time to do this newsletter since I know that there are several thousands of you that enjoy it, but I know that there are many things more important to our everyday lives, so while I appreciate your ongoing support, if one day everyone decided that, rather than read the newsletter, they’d take the time to clean up a local beach or park, help an elderly person do their shopping or attend a “go green” rally, I’d be very happy with that knowledge and not take it the least bit personally.

For now, for those so inclined, I’ll ask you to spend whatever time you’re willing to devote to reading through the ACHOF monthly newsletter to see what your favorite album cover artists might be doing these days to make the world a bit more beautiful, peaceful and musical. I’ve been making progress on a couple of new articles for you – one, an interview with Kenneth FitzGerald about his career and his new book Progress Music (featured in last month’s newsletter) and the other an article about music industry design education that I hope to post in the near future. While you’re waiting patiently for me to finish this work, I’d once again 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 (there’s a handy search box that will help you find what you need), with interviews going back to 2006 with some of your favorite album art-makers. Also, if you have any suggestions for me – ideas for articles, notices about events or adding/editing sections of the newsletter or web site, please feel free to share those with me. I read every email I get (and reply to them all) and really appreciate the feedback as it’s my hope to make this site/news source as good as it can be. For now, let’s get on with this month’s newsletter…

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

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).

Album Cover Hall of Fame’s News Update and Link Summary for October, 2022

Posted October 1, 2022 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Greetings to you all. I have to first warn you that this month’s edition of the ACHOF newsletter will be a truncated one as I’ve had to spend a lot of time and energy managing several things that have popped up and couldn’t be ignored. It will also force me to put off the publishing of the next summary until December 1^st.

Sorry about that.

In any case, there should be enough basic info now to get you the basics, but it’ll be up to you to click through to get “the rest of the story” (apologies to Mr. Harvey).

I’m also working feverishly to set up the voting for this year’s fan-driven voting for “the best of the best of” in all of the main ACHOF categories, so be on the lookout in a week or so for the official announcement and a link to the polling site. Voting will be open from October 10^th thru November 13^th, with the final tallies announced right before Thanksgiving here in the U.S.. It’ll be exciting to see who the fan favorites are in each category – tough choices must be made, but let’s do our best to honor all of those whose names will be on the lists.  

Thanks in advance for your help and your patience while I get my world back in order. Now, on with the newsletter.

Mike G

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for April, 2022

Posted April 1, 2022 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

It’s been a busy month of March here in the sprawling ACHOF editorial offices, with your editorial team (me, myself and Mike G.) working hard to deliver the best and most up-to-date info and research/writing available on the subject of album cover artists and their work. I’m happy to report that Part 2 of the 2-part series on box sets/limited-edition packages has been posted – https://albumcoverhalloffame.wordpress.com/2022/03/27/achof-resources-box-sets-and-special-limited-edition-packages-an-overview-contd/ – and so now you can spend even more time boning up on the latest information, presented along with the opinions and experiences expressed by some of the best-equipped people in the business to offer these priceless items.

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary for October, 2020

 

 

 

 

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – October, 2020

 

Posted October 1st, 2020 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Well, while I can’t say that I know how you’re all feeling these days, I’m quite certain that some of you are in the same shape I’m in – mentally exhausted, greatly disappointed by the greed, hate and hypocrisy put on display by many of our leaders (and the people that support them) and, frankly, wondering what our short-and-long-term futures might be. Try as I might to distract myself from the daily news cycle (and, how about that first Presidential debate?), it’s nearly impossible to avoid learning about the biggest stories (R.I.P. RBG) and then trying to keep myself focused on providing my readers the information they’ve (i.e., you’ve) come to rely on me for, so I must apologize for the somewhat-truncated list of things to read and enjoy that I’m presenting you today. I will reward you a bit later (either late this week or early next) with my long-promised interview with talented artist Faheem Majeed and, with any luck, I’m also going to launch the nominating/voting process for this year’s class of nominees and inductees (our 9^th!) into the Album Cover Hall of Fame. My attention span seems just sufficient enough to have been able to gather basic info on nearly 100 more possible nominees, so the voting panel will have a heaping helping of new names to consider in this year’s effort.