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 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…

Announcing the Winners of the 2022 ACHOF Reader’s Poll

posted November 22, 2022 by Mike Goldstein, Album Cover Hall of Fame.com

For the past 10 years, the contributors to the Album Cover Hall of Fame have worked to recognize and promote the talents of the people who’ve brought music fans and art collectors (and those of us that appreciate both activities) the best in retail and online music packaging, design, graphics and photography.

Helped each year by asking a panel of curators, gallerists, music marketing execs and writers/researchers who cover the topic to register their opinions, 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 until now is ask this site’s visitors and fans about their favorite album art-makers, and so to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first class of inductees into the ACHOF, I asked you all to participate in a poll that would serve to track and the report on your feelings about who of our past inductees deserved special commendation.

This year’s poll allowed you to look over the past winners in each of the active award categories and then asked you to select those who are your most-admired art directors, illustrators, designers and photographers, with the top vote-getters 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 had to have been something memorable and appropriate, I don’t think we’re quite ready to commit to anything beyond “Top Vote-Getters”.

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.

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for August 2021

Posted August 1, 2021 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Entering the second full month of Summer, I find myself a bit perplexed as to how I’m supposed to approach living Life each day. While my wife and I have enjoyed getting out a bit more, we’re still very wary about spending time around our fellow human beings – particularly, the ones who are insisting that “everything’s back to normal” and, as such, looking at those of us still wearing masks as people who are holding back progress in some way. Having recently graduated into “senior citizenry”, I’m now free to become the COF (crotchety old fart) that I prefer to be so, you do your thing and I’ll do mine and, as part of what I’m choosing to do, I’m going to continue to search out items of interest to album cover art fans and share them with you all in my monthly news summaries, regardless of your vaccination status.

This month’s edition of the ACHOF News Update and Summary includes a nice crop of album cover artist/art updates and not one but two examples of ACHOF original content, those being the two interviews I’ve posted with two pairs of creative execs working for Sony Music Entertainment – Frank and Dave and Meghan and Annie – who were kind enough to share their takes on how they have gone about producing several award-winning box sets and special-edition packages. You’ll find links to both of those articles in the “Artist News and Interviews” section of this month’s summary.

An ACHOF conversation with Frank Harkins and Dave Bett from Sony Music Entertainment

Frank Harkins, Mike Goldstein and Dave Bett, clockwise from upper left.

Published July 23, 2021 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

The packaging of retail (i.e., physical) recorded music products is an expression of the relationship – often, a delicate balance – between a musical act, his/her/their record label, the creative/production teams commissioned for the projects and, of course, the music-buying public. Each brings a certain set of expectations to every project and expects those desires to be appreciated and respected if the resulting products are to ultimately please each constituency:

• the musicians want to make sure that their new musical efforts aren’t reduced to secondary importance or that their fans aren’t left wondering “what the #%!* were they thinking?”
• label execs will want to know that their investments in packaging and related marketing will eventually pay off via increased product sales.
• the design and pre-production personnel working on the project (whether in-house and/or freelance talent), along with the printing/manufacturing companies tasked to bring designs to life as finished products, all want to deliver work they can be proud of and that makes their various client(s) happy and
• consumers of recorded music products want to feel that their purchases are moneys well-spent and, as a benefit, are left feeling that their favorite musical acts have delivered “something special” to them as their loyal fans.

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for April 2021

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for April 2021

Posted right around April 1, 2021 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Spring Greetings to you all from Chicagoland. The weather has become rather consistently pleasant, allowing us to venture outside the house a bit, even sitting on outside patios at some of the local eating establishments (what a treat!). We’re still waiting for our turn at the local COVID vaccine center but, with any luck, we’ll get our shots in the next month or so and, if the rest of our fellow countrymen continue to do the right thing and help build our herd immunity, we might all be able to get out a bit more later this Spring/Summer. I’m not counting on everyone doing the right thing on behalf of the rest of the local citizenry – the loonies continue to proudly flout their warped notions of what “freedom” really means – so it’ll be quite some time before I think we’re “back to normal”, but let’s hope for the best.

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Link Summary for January 2021

 

 

 

Posted January 1, 2021 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

We’ve reached the end of what has to have been one of the saddest and most-frustrating years most of us have ever lived through and yet, for those of us who have survived, I have to think that we’re all feeling somewhat grateful for having done so and are looking forward to seeing the end of this pandemic and, with any luck, a move towards a sense of “normalcy” in many aspects of our lives.

It’s the beginning of Winter here in the Chicago area and, just last night, we saw our first significant snowstorm. The weather, plus the threat of COVID, will keep me and my wife inside most of the time (except for our weekly trips to the grocery stores) and trying to support our local restaurants, who now can’t offer anything but take-out. I hope that we’re all doing what we can to keep these local vendors alive, and I’d like to add that we should all do more to support the local service organizations that are working miracles to keep those less fortunate than us sheltered, fed and in good health and spirits.

In the spirit of keeping things in perspective and understanding that you all have a lot on your plates these days, this month’s summary will be as brief and to the point as I can make it. Much work is still being done in the world of music industry-related visual design and production and so it’s my honor and pleasure to continue to report on – and promote – this work and the people who do it. So, let’s go…