Album Cover Hall of Fame’s News Update and Link Summary for October, 2023

Album Cover Hall of Fame’s News Update and Link Summary for October, 2023

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

Summer’s gone and its time to start thinking about a) what to do during the day now that kids are back in school (I personally don’t worry about this but suspect that some of you do) b) Holiday season prep and c) what we’re going to do to keep ourselves warm until Spring. With all of those priorities, how in the world should I expect you to pay close attention to what’s going on in the world of album covers, packages and the people that make them for us? I’d surmise that it’s nearly impossible unless, of course, you have a friend – someone like me – who’ll spend countless hours of his own time getting all of the details together for you, which I’ve done again in this month’s summary.

You’re happy, I’m happy.

Seems like there’s a lot to look at and learn about, so let’s get going…in just one second…

I do want to let you know that there are not one but two extended items that include discussions I had with two experts – one, a true fan of anything/everything The Beatles, who had caught an error (unintentional, but still there) in a previous article and wanted to set the record straight and the other, a renowned designer from outside the music business who created some truly impressive images of furniture sporting design influences from album cover imagery using the latest AI tools.

Enjoy both and feel free to share/comment.

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 Quickie News Update and Link Summary for June, 2023

Album Cover Hall of Fame’s Quickie News Update and Link Summary for June, 2023

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

Happy post-Memorial Day/early Summer season to you all. I know that I’d told you last month that I’d be skipping the regular monthly newsletter for a month (i.e., June) in order to catch up on a ton of work that I keep having to put off, so much has happened – or is about to happen – that I thought I’d figure out some way to deliver some sort of update so important details and events are now available to you, but with much-truncated introductions. I hope that you still find the info useful.

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

Album Cover Hall of Fame’s News Update and Link Summary for May, 2023

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

Mid-Spring greetings to you all. As a mostly-retired person, I spend a fair amount of time each month corresponding with people I know all over the world (yes, album art fans are EVERYWHERE!), and this past month I noticed an uptick in the people from outside the U.S. who’ve asked me “what the hell is going on over there?!”, a blanket statement that covers questions people have about our current political divide, courtroom dramas unlike we’ve ever seen before and the credibility of our national media organizations, to which I reply “which London dry gin will I be using in my G&T today?”. These days, I’m limiting my media exposure to my Financial Times Weekend Edition (which, in addition to its coverage of world news, comes on the cutest color newsprint), episodes of House Hunters International and whatever I find of interest on the BritBox, Apple TV and PBS Passport services. Yes, I know that I’m hiding, but having watched friends and relatives lose themselves to the 24 hour news cycle here, it’s the only way I seem to be able to stay focused on both what’s good in my life and what’s interesting in the world of album cover art and the people that make it so, if you don’t mind, let’s get on with this month’s news summary.

As it’s been the case for the past several months, this past month was a rather busy one prepping things for the ACHOF site, with work being finished on Part 2 of “The Art of Imitation” articles I collaborated with Richard Forrest on (it being posted early in April) and work nearly finished on two more interviews I’ve teased you on, those being with musician/artist/museum curator Martin Atkins and artist Dave Van Patten on his Grammy Award winning work on the Grateful Dead at Madison Square Garden box sets released late in 2022. Both should be ready within the next week or so, so thanks for your patience as I work to complete those ASAP.