Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for April, 2023
Posted April 1 (yes, really), 2023 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
Is it March or April that goes in like a lion…? In any case, I am beginning to see daffodils outside my window, so I’m in a pretty decent mood. How about you?
Before we dive into this month’s newsletter’s details, let me pontificate for a minute or two…
Every other morning, I ride an exercise bike for 48 minutes (45 minute program plus a 3-minute “cool down”) and, as a habit, listen to either podcasts or music (or both, time permitting) to distract me from the general pain/shortness of breath that I experience being an old man trying to stay ahead of my genetics. One of the shows I listen to fairly regularly is Alec Baldwin’s “Here’s The Thing”, as he often has guests talking about subjects related to art and journalism and, in late March, he hosted two investigative journalists and writers – Chris Jones and Michael Mooney – who were there to talk about a book they’d written about the team of Siegfried and Roy, whose careers as magicians/entertainers came to a dramatic end after Roy was mauled by one of the white tigers featured in their act.
Posted onMarch 1, 2023|Comments Off on Album Cover Hall of Fame’s News Update and Link Summary for March, 2023
Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for March, 2023
Posted March 1, 2023 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
February might be a bit shorter than other months, but that doesn’t mean that we album art/artist fans were short-changed in the news department. Starting off with the Grammy Awards and continuing with new exhibitions, art and book releases and a lot of ancillary items, there’s plenty for us fans of album cover art/artistry to dig into, so let’s cut the chit-chat and take a look at what I’ve put together for you.
Preliminary judging has begun on the entries vying for another noted industry award – the Making Vinyl Packaging Awards – and, as one of the judges on the panel tasked to review the hundreds of submissions received, I’m curious and eager to see what always turns out to me a fascinating cross-section of examples of album covers/packages coming in from all over the world.
This month’s newsletter contains a human-curated (as opposed to an AI-generated – we’re old school here at the ACHOF) summary of the news in all of the main topic areas, with updates and info about several new museum and gallery exhibitions, new auctions and sales and a goodly number of art and artist-related articles. As always, I’d like to once again say “thanks” for your help and support, so let’s get started with some updates on the award shows recently ended and currently in progress:
Posted onFebruary 1, 2023|Comments Off on Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for February, 2023
Album Cover Hall of Fame’s News Update and Link Summary for February, 2023
Posted February 1, 2023 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
January was a busy month in the world of album cover art and artists and, to be honest with you, it was all a bit overwhelming as I’ve begun to do the work to re-organize ACHOF-related content into the various silos that will ultimately make up the two sites I’ll be maintaining going forward. I’ve spoken with several people whose experience and gut instincts I appreciate and have a pretty good idea as to how to best proceed so, with your support and patience, I think we’ll all be happy with the new/revised formats that will come out of these efforts.
February looks to be chock-full of exciting news to come, first with the announcement of the winners of this year’s Grammy Awards in the Packaging categories (to be posted here on February 5th as soon as they’re announced), which closely follow the Best Art Vinyl Awards results that were posted in early January (click here to see the results, if you missed my original article) and which included some really great examples of human-generated art and design. Voting will also begin soon for another noted industry award – the Making Vinyl Packaging Awards and, as one of the judges on the panel tasked to review the hundreds of submissions received, I’m curious and eager to see what always turns out to me a fascinating cross-section of examples of album covers/packages coming in from all over the world.
Album Cover Hall of Fame’s News Update and Link Summary for January, 2023
Posted New Year’s Day, January 1, 2023 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
Greetings to you all, and a Happy New Year 2023 to you and yours!
Hope that you all enjoyed your Holidays and have much to look forward to this upcoming year. While we were all involved with our celebratory efforts, efforts continued on several fronts to help determine everyone’s favorite album cover/packaging work of the past 12 months, with voting taking place in several name-brand competitions. The results of those contests will be released in ceremonies taking place in January and February and you can be sure that they’ll be highlighted here on the ACHOF site.
2023 will also be one of change here on the ACHOF site. As you know, for the past 10+ years, we’ve involved both our readers and our anonymous panel of experts in our own nominating/voting efforts in order to select people – i.e., the designers, photographers, art directors, etc. working in the music business and creating retail album packaging – for special honors, and while those efforts have produced lists of artists who’ve all built impressive portfolios of work in their respective areas, it has been an effort that – at least to me, this site’s principal – has distracted me from the main focus of the site, that being to give my readers in-depth interviews, information and ongoing coverage of the output of these talented individuals and design teams. With that said, I am announcing that, going forward, I’ll be working on creating a new site where the general, artist-specific info (bios, interviews and news) will go, with the “hall of fame”-related materials remaining on the albumcoverhalloffame.com site. More details on that effort will be announced soon, but I thought it important to share my intentions with you now with the hope that you’ll provide me with some feedback and suggestions as to how best to move forward.
Anyway, this month’s newsletter is a simple summary of the news in all of the main topic areas, with updates and info about several museum/gallery exhibitions, new auctions and sales results from previous ones and a large number of art and artist-related articles, so I’d like to once again say “thanks” for your help, your support and your patience while I work to get this site set on its new track in the long and short-term. Let’s get started with some updates on the award shows currently in progress:
Holiday Gift Suggestions for the Album Cover/Vinyl Record Lovers in your Life
As compiled by Mike Goldstein, Writer/Editor, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
December 13, 2022
We’re now in the final couple of weeks of the Holiday gift-giving season and, since the ACHOF site is not ad-supported, I think 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 in that I simply let you know what it is that’s caught my eye, vs. promoting things I’ve been strongly-motivated to show you (via ad/promo money).
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”…
And, while I’ve been told never to buy “art” for other as it’s such a personal choice, because of the link between music and art, buying a gift for lovers of album cover art has never been so simple. To help you succeed in this effort, over the years I’ve published a series of (usually) annual overviews of record cover-related “artistical” things that, in my opinion, might make nice gifts for anyone who is a fan of album cover art and packaging and so this year I’ve decided to do that again.
I believe that – as you’ll see by the list of companies that specialize in album cover-related items of all types (and fitting all budgets), with a little research on your part (“So, remind me…what’s the name of your favorite band?”) and perhaps a phone call or two, I’m feeling confident that you’ll be able to locate and purchase gifts that will be long-appreciated by their recipients. Who knows, maybe it will start a new tradition in your family!
Posted onOctober 30, 2020|Comments Off on Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for November, 2020
Album Cover Hall of Fame’s News Update and Link Summary – November, 2020
Posted October 30th, 2020 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
I realize that, for most of you, this summary is coming at a time of great emotional disturbance, having to deal with both an ongoing pandemic (and what it’s done to our “regular” lives) and an election here in the U.S. that will provide us all with a window into what America might look like going forward and so, keeping that in mind, I’m going to keep things really simple this month (quite honestly, I don’t currently have the mental bandwidth to do much more).
The nominating and voting process for this year’s class of inductees into the ACHOF has begun in earnest and, with any luck, I’ll be able to announce the list of top vote-getters just prior to the Thanksgiving holiday here, or around the 20th of November (the 23rd the absolute latest). Two other album cover-related award competitions – the Best Art Vinyl awards in the U.K. and the Making Vinyl Awards here in the U.S. – are also in-process and so it’ll be interesting to see who’s determined to be providing the most visual excitement in the recorded music business when all the votes are tallied…
Posted onApril 30, 2020|Comments Off on Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary for May, 2020
Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – May, 2020
Posted May 1, 2020 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
Greetings from my home office, a place where I’ve spent a good chunk of the last month sitting at my desk, reading emails and news stories and watching videos (both live and recorded) on a million different subjects. I’m trying so hard not to watch too much TV (I did, however, find a 9-show series produced in 2015 by Irish TV called Treyvaud’s Travels that left me longing to spend the rest of my life in SW Ireland – highly recommended) and I’ve read several books while stretched out in my comfy chair but, quite honestly, the one thing that’s perhaps made me the happiest – and something I did a lot less of when I was free to do whatever I wanted without catching the plague – has been staying in contact with some of the people I know around the world, getting their unique perspectives of how they’re living their lives and maintaining a positive lookout on life in spite of the hardships we’re all having.
Keeping this in mind, I still work hard to reserve time to continue typing like a madman to prep interviews, articles and news summaries for all my chums out there, most of who are, like me, stuck indoors. Accepting that my readers’ priorities are not so focused on what’s happening in the world of album cover art and packaging, I’m continuing to proffer a truncated-yet-informative summary document both to keep fans of album art informed and to prove that creative people are continuing to create and entertain while we ride this storm out together.
Posted onNovember 6, 2019|Comments Off on Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – Early November, 2019
Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – Early November, 2019
By Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
Dear Readers – This month’s summary will follow in my newest tradition – short intros and lots of links to the most-interesting stories I could find on the topic of album cover imagery and the people that make it. Later this month, you’ll meet the newest inductees into the Album Cover Hall of Fame (voting is taking place this month) but, for now here’s what you’ve been waiting patiently for:
Posted onOctober 1, 2019|Comments Off on Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – September/October, 2019
Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – End of September/October, 2019
By Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
Dear Readers – This month’s summary will be perhaps my most-truncated effort ever, and for that I must apologize. Sometimes Life really gets in the way of doing what you love, and when you’re caring for a relative with profound dementia, it can be a bit overwhelming, as it is today.
With that as my excuse for this month’s abbreviated summary, let’s take a look at my digest of what’s happening/happened lately in the world of album cover art and the people that make it:
Posted onAugust 30, 2019|Comments Off on Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – End of August/September, 2019
Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – End of August/September, 2019
By Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
It’s almost Labor Day weekend again, which most of us use to mark the end of Summer while some of us cling with every fiber of our being to hold on to the season’s last vestiges. We did use a nice day recently to tour Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood (visiting the National Museum of Mexican Art, which sports one of the best museum stores I’ve ever been to) and, while strolling down W. 18th Street after a dessert stop at Creperia Nuevo Leon, we came upon Pinwheel Records, a place that was advertising an upcoming fund-raiser for a local kitten support group with a window display of well-known album covers that had been “kittenized” (see photo). This reminded me of just how important album cover imagery is in the promotion of music products and in building lasting memories for fans and consumers of these products. Great new examples of these can be found in the 200+ submissions we judges had the opportunity to see and review for this year’s Making Vinyl Packaging Awards (see item on this competition, which follows) and also in the many shows, articles and more you can read about (if you give me a few minutes of your time) by scrolling through this month’s easy-to-digest run-down of all of the album cover artist/art-related news I think might be worth your time investigating:
Album Cover Hall of Fame.com 