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).

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

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

I’m always a bit concerned about publishing a newsletter on April Fool’s Day, as I want folks to feel confident that the news items you’ll read in all of my summaries are in fact real and not something I’ve put up in some mischievous fashion, as is customary in many press outlets around the world on this day (or, in some media outlets, almost every day). While I’m certain that many creative types do in fact use their imaginations and talents to prank their friends and co-workers – I’m of the mind that some of the art exhibitions I’ve seen over the years are, in fact, nothing but elaborate pranks on an unsuspecting public – I haven’t come across any that I can share with you, but if you’re aware of any examples, I would ask you to send them my way so I can feature them at some point in the future. I won’t go completely out on a limb to say that the BBC’s famous “Spaghetti Tree” hoax in the late 1950s or Pornhub’s 2016 one-day switch to “Cornhub”, displaying suggestive videos of corn cobs instead of their regular fare that day, are two examples of “the best” of the category, but I’d like to think it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for the folks who brought us records with zippers, in film cans and/or wrapped in sandpaper to give us something to stare-and/or-laugh at from time to time (props to the many people who’ve done that very thing unintentionally, as we’ve seen in the recent book/touring show The Art of the Bizarre Vinyl Sleeve).  

With that all being said, let’s begin this month’s summary of all that’s good and interesting in the world of album cover artists and art.

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

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

In the 60s one day, then snowing overnight, then in the 30s and then back to the upper 60s. That’s how the weather in my part of the world is fluctuating, making it nearly impossible to concentrate on my research and writing when I’m just waiting for the chance to take the cover off of my scooter and ride to the beach (a habit started while living in Southern California, where this is possible much of the year). I’ve done my best, but if you detect gaps in the coverage, I hope you’ll forgive me, now that you understand why. Readers of this newsletter live all over the world, in many different climates, with seasons that differ 180-degrees from where I live, but since it’s best to listen to your vinyl collections sitting comfortably in your living rooms, I’m comforted by the thoughts of you all safe and warm indoors and enjoying the experience as best you can, regardless of the conditions outside.

On that note, let’s start this month’s summary, which I’ve had two days less to prepare, but don’t think for a moment that there’s been less going on in the world of album cover art and the people that make it. I’ve started this month’s missive by sharing some updated news on some of the recent award shows that have either taken place – the Grammy Awards having been announced in early February – or, in the case of the Juno Awards in Canada and the Making Vinyl Packaging Awards, both set for a little later on this year, and then continued on with an overview of the categories featured in our regular updates – album art/artist-related exhibitions, interviews, sales/auctions and other interesting miscellaneous items. To round it all off, in this month’s Lastly But Not Leastly item, I’ll share a brief paragraph on a related topic that I found quite interesting and, therefore, was motivated to share with you all. Let us now join arms and begin our trek through this month’s news.

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’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.

The Art of Imitation — How Fine Artists Have Drawn Inspiration From Album Covers, Part 2

The Art of Imitation — How Fine Artists Have Drawn Inspiration From Album Covers, Part 2 of 2

By Richard Forrest and Mike Goldstein

Posted April 5, 2023 (and updated May 1, 2023)

In Part 1 of this 2-part series, we focused on Richard’s overview of the people who’ve been inspired by album imagery to create new forms of art in a wide range of different styles and media. To continue on in our exploration and discussion of reproductions and album art reimagined by those so inspired, Mike G reached out to his old chum, Boston-area artist Howie Green, to ask him some pointed (yet pointed with love and respect) questions about his work in the area.

Here’s a picture of an installation of some of Howie’s album art recreations in a venue in Florida

The Art of Imitation – How Fine Artists Have Drawn Inspiration From Album Covers

The Art of Imitation — How Fine Artists Have Drawn Inspiration From Album Covers, Part 1 of 2

By Mike Goldstein and Richard Forrest

INTRODUCTION (By Mike Goldstein)

With all of the discussions taking place regarding the advent and rapid rise of AI-generated words, music and art, it reminded me that, over the past 20-25 years, there have been similar discussions about the tools that have been created during that time to enable artists of varying degrees of capability to both express themselves in ways that they might not have been able to (or, perhaps, thought of) and explore their ideas in a more highly-productive fashion. For example, several artists I know who were originally trained to draw with pen and ink (and who, at first, were hesitant to use these new tools for fear of having their artistry questioned) have told me that computer-based hardware (pens, tablets, 3-D printers, etc.) and software (Photoshop, Illustrator, Maya, Blender and many others) have added many degrees of capability and efficiency to their day-to-day work. Draw an outline, stretch it, color it in, review, erase, substitute another color, etc., all without putting a pen to paper! Even those who consider themselves “purists” have, over time and given access to some of these newfangled tools, admitted that even when they’re committed to producing finished products using traditional methods, they find themselves doing some/all of their “ideation” prior to actually doing the work.

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

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

Greeting to you all – nice to see you all again!

Once again, I have to apologize for leaving you without an update for the month of November, but my wife and I decided to brave the travel scene to complete a vacation trip we’d started in late 2019 that had to be truncated a) by a death in the family and b) that crazy COVID-19 thing that shut things down a bit for a year or two. This journey, which took us to NYC and then over to the U.K. and Ireland, was quite restorative and, I must admit, was timed so that we’d be out of the country on November 8^th so we’d be able to have some distance between us and the pre-and-post-election media madness for a while. Of course, there was no escaping the news, but at least it was offset by all of the excitement that took place in the UK’s government while we were there, and we enjoyed the scenery/people/food there so much that it kept us in the right frame of mind, allowing us to return after a month with some degree of sanity and appreciation of life’s better things in tact.

Of course, during our travels we came across a number of album/music art-related things that added to the overall enjoyment of the experience, including a visit to the site of the new (set to open in its entirety in 2024) Universal Hip-Hop Museum in the Bronx Marketplace (NYC), with a tour provided by the museum’s director, Rocky Bucano; a visit to Liverpool, England (our first) that included an escorted overview provided by designer/author/all around great guy Andrew Dinely (of the Soft Octopus design studio there) that also included a stop at the British Music Experience – an “immersive exhibition” that takes attendees through an illustrated (via memorabilia, videos, etc.) review of the immense and diverse pop music scene in the U.K., from its beginnings in the 1950s through the most-recent BRIT Award-winning artists, and several other finds along the way (such as a memorial sculpture dedicated to the late Irish rock guitarist Rory Gallagher). I’ll be including brief articles about that as I unpack the info gathers and photos taken over the course of the next month or so.

Of course, while I was away, the first ACHOF Reader’s Poll took place, and the results of the voting will be shared a bit later in this newsletter. At the same time, another major album art-related poll – Art Vinyl’s Best Art Vinyl Awards – began gathering votes on its site (see more on this a little later as well) and the Recording Academy here in the U.S. released the names of the nominees for their upcoming Grammy Awards voting, with results to be announced early next year. Lots of great art and artistry on display, so it’ll be interesting to see how the voters/voting public responds to the announcements of the top vote-getters in all of these competitions.

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’s News Update and Link Summary for September, 2022

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

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

A late-Summer greeting to you all.

For the past 10 years, the ACHOF has worked to recognize and promote the talents of the people who’ve brought music fans and art collectors (and hybrids of both activities) the best in retail and online music packaging, graphics and photography. Helped each year by asking a panel of curators, gallerists, music marketing execs and writers/researchers who cover the topic, I’ve been able to deliver these details to my readers and, once a year in November, present the top vote-getters in our annual poll as inductees into the hallowed (virtual) halls of the ACHOF. What I haven’t been able to do is ask this site’s visitors and fans about their favorite album art-makers, and so to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the launch of the ACHOF, I’m going to do just that.

Later next month, I will be posting a poll that will allow you to review the past winners in each of the active categories and then ask you to select your most-admired art directors, illustrators, designers and photographers, who’ll then be placed in special categories that will be called…well, what will we call them? We don’t want to call them “the best”, nor do we want to repurpose some of the popular names that the awards industry has used over time – “People’s Choice”, “Fan Favorites”, “Vox Populi”, “Diamond/Platinum/Gold Medal Winning”, etc. A quick trip to the thesaurus presents words and phrases like “title holder”, “prize winner” and “top dog”, among others, along with some that I think are a bit over the top, such as “conquering hero”, “vanquisher” and “numero uno”, so while I know that it must be something memorable and appropriate, I don’t think I’m quite ready to commit to anything. Now that I think about it, perhaps we should also rely on our readers to present their ideas for this project, keeping this year’s efforts all about YOUR notions for what’s good and right, so I’ll be adding a poll question for this task as well. Eager to see what you come up with – we have a LOT of creative types reading this newsletter, so I’m sure something great will show up.

Thanks in advance for your help. Now, back to the matters at hand.