The death of Neil Sedaka made me think of his Greatest Hits compilation called “Laughter and Tears”. The cover shows 9 headshots of Neil, arranged in a neat square, starting top left with him laughing and as we move through the squares, his mood gradually darkens then by the time we get to the bottom right square – he’s full-on blubbing.
If I am being picky, this isn’t a good example of a literal album cover because “laugher and tears” suggests one or t’other. Shurejy 4 photos of laughing Neil
and 4 photos of crying Neil would have done the job, Then again, Neil probably didn’t want to come across bipolar or anything, so that’s why he went for nuance.
Another example is “This Way Up!” by Chris de Burgh. The cover shows two photos of Chris. It’s the same one twice but the bottom one is upside down.
I’d like to hear more about these. Not the usual ones that come up e.g. US Christian singing groups of the 50s with an album called “He’s tickling my fanny” or the like. I want creativity-free, will-this-do route one laziness,
Status Quo – On The Level
They used an Ames room, you know.
Quo have got quite a few poor, literal covers: Blue For You, If You Can’t Stand The Heat, Back to Back, In The Army Now.
True enough
I quite like the cover of Blue For You. It’s very 1976.
Me too…
Me three…
Also ‘On The Level’ is a brilliant cover pic. It would be iconic if it was a cooler band (although arguably, it’s a very cool band anyway).
In a nutshell…
This is very much the kind of thing I’m on about. I’d have rather have seen them standing on an oversized spirit level, though.
I found this cover quite interesting at age 13 – I’d never heard of an Ames room at that point.
If You Can’t Stand the Heat (for example) is on a whole different level of piss-poorness…
Well, I don’t/can’t do photos…but there’s this wall, right, and the guy’s standing in front – just off it, if you will.
Hee-hee.
You should have seen the original idea – It’s not a glove, believe me.
( I know, I know…I just wanted to make the joke)
The Berry Vest of Gilbert O’Sullivan, a meaningless Spoonerism if it was illustrated with a vest with some cherries on it. Yes, it is a very poor idea, isn’t it?
Shouldn’t it have been Oilbert G’Sullivan or Silbert O’Gullivan?
I had to check. Oh dear. At least he isn’t wearing it and giving a knowing smirk to the camera.
https://imgur.com/a/JNQvXhC
See also the Undertones compilation, “Cher O’Bowlies” (is it an Irish thing?)
Even more baffling than the title, was the original cover of that record.
A nude model is covered in bacon and wrapped in clingfilm.
I’d provide a link but now I can’t see it anywhere when I search Google. I’m now doubting myself.
No, that was All Wrapped Up.
https://www.discogs.com/master/209417-The-Undertones-All-Wrapped-Up
Cher O’Bowlies was later, just five herberts in comfortable sweaters.
Thanks!
It’s a spoonerism for Bowl of Cherries.
Ah sorry, I was missing the point of this bit of the discussion. Anyway it’s a great little comp with a strange title and cover.
There’s also another Undertones compilation called “West Bank Songs 1978-1983”
I think there’s a spoonerism there too!
AC/DC had done the “none more black” cover in 1980.
The cover of 1983s Flick Of The Switch featured a pencil drawing of Angus Young pulling on an oversized lever.
For 1985s Fly On The Wall ((side note: actually a terrible album), the cover art was a painting of a brick wall … with a fly on it.
Thanks to metal friends at the time, I am aware of those covers. The pencil drawing is awful – but now I’ll probably be informed it was drawn by a plucky toddler at Great Ormond St and then I’ll feel bad.
Wouldn’t Dylan’s Freewheelin’ be improved with Bob on a bicycle with his legs wide from the pedals being chased by Suze Rotolo?
Bob on a Raleigh Chopper would be ideal but I guess he didn’t have access to the UK creatives that would have come up with such an idea.
Ah but the chopper didn’t come into production until 1968 which would have been too late for the cover. We’ll have to run it up the flagpole again as we head back to the drawing board,.
Good point. We will have to circle back.
How about Bob in a wheelchair being pushed by Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser and Paul Kossoff?
Very good sir!
Ah! I get it now…
What’s Simon Kirke done wrong?
He’s holding the door open
Hat duly doffed. Superb work
It’s late and I’ve had a few pints. Can I throw U2’s Boy into this thread? I’m sure I will think of more inspired answers tomorrow but clearly that’s not the point.
While typing the above I thought of the Zappa album Ship Arriving Too Late to Save A Drowning Witch (or whatever it’s called) but obviously we don’t know for sure whether they are too late. That’s just her hat floating 🤨
U2 have a couple of album covers that are quite literal – Under a Blood Red Sky and No Line on the Horizon. I suppose we should be thankful no one was tempted to be very literal with Achtung Baby.
I will defend the Zappa sleeve (a bit) by dint of the fact that the doodle resembles the “ZA” of Zappa, which at least shows some kind of logic…
Classical albums are a rich source of the weird and inappropriate.
Pretty sure I recognise that cow.
One more for luck.
If 70’s cover art creatives were around for Handel, the Water Music record would have a cover featuring a hapless George H being soaked with a bucket of water. “My wig!”.
Messiah would be him on a cross, obviously. Or … or … him dressed in a robe with arms open, revealing a perfectly heart-shaped red heart on his chest.
Camel had a few of these. Mirage is a shimmery picture of Camel. A Live Record shows an LP being electrocuted (although, by a robot for some reason). Breathless shows a Camel that’s a bit out of puff.
More Bob and it’s obvious what this is.
My immediate thought was Hard Nose The Highway…
Badly Drawn Boy?
Arf!
You broke my heart so I busted your jaw?
More Bod than Bob, I feel.
Pob!
I’ve always thought he’s sticking his tongue out and saying ‘thanks for the money, sucker…!’
Ironically the box set of outtakes from this contains some of my favourite moments of Bob. He was just being a bit perverse.
Deep Purple In Rock https://imgur.com/a/QfIi73L
My forever answer to this question is “Tony Hatch Hits The Road To Themeland”… it’s not just the stunningly lazy idea of taking a photo of Hatch beside a road (geddit?!), it’s not just that it’s the dullest stretch of road imaginable on a grey and presumably windy day, it’s that they couldn’t even be bothered to find a patch of the bridge where the paint isn’t peeling…
https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/770×0/08b6c3394e604a3a89357d77397bcd22.jpg#08b6c3394e604a3a89357d77397bcd22
He was a famously harsh juror on New Faces as well – so you’d have thought his quality control would mean such sloppiness wouldn’t happen.
I have a 6 CD box set called Hatchbox, of which this is one.
If you think the front cover is bad (it is) you should take a look at the back cover!
I’ve just looked it up. Oh dear. He’s playing his keyboard on a layby i.e. he really is on the road.
Further thoughts on this – I’m not sure he did hit the road in any form with this collection of TV theme tunes. I am thinking the title may be a subtle attempt at alluding to his most well-known work, Crossroads – without actually calling it Crossroads – and sparing the wrath of m’learned friends at ATV.
I did a job at the hotel used for the exterior shots of Crossroads some years ago. It was pretty grim inside too.
Once you mention it, you cannot unsee that shitty railing. Bizarre.
The World at War…Emmerdale Farm…Hadleigh…Crossroads…all human life (and death) is there.
I had little knowledge of what Hadleigh was (apart from the birthplace of Cradle of Filth and home to controversial sculptor Maggi Hambling, but gawdelpus if the remaining trio represents all human life. Maybe Hadleigh has an encyclopaedic breadth that covers the rest?
Hadleigh was what Gerald Harper was when he wasn’t being Adam Adamant. Not sure if that helps, but he did spend a lot of time righting wrongs.
Hadleigh was ok but his knowledge of antiques was pretty slim when compared to The Baron.
I’ve been seeing trailers for The Baron recently on one if those ‘seewhatwe’vegotinthevaults’ channels I’d never heard of it before. Is it any good?
It’s a classic example of mid 60s television in the same vein as The Saint or Danger Man. I haven’t watched it since I was a kid but I imagine it would be a good nostalgic watch. Who’s showing It? I might give it a look.
It’s on Great Action at 8:00 tonight and all other weeknights.
Never heard of it but I shall take a scroll through the seemingly endless tele menus.
Freeview 51
👍
Wonderfully improbable, 60s escapism by the look of it.
In a nutshell exactly that.
The Baron is worth watching for the “itc rep company” of extras that pop up. Thursday’s episode had Mike Pratt (Randall) as a heavy alongside Michael Robbins (Arthur from On the Buses) then Philip Madoc turned up as a baddie; while Friday’s had both Dudley Sutton (Tinker from Lovejoy) & Reginald Marsh (Terry Scott’s boss)
Department S is all over YouTube as well. Another Dennis Spooner and Monty Bergman attempt to break into American tv.
Endearing stuff. Opening stock footage of Paris or Milan or Geneva with the rest shot on Hertfordshire back lots
And the “use it it in every ITC series to amortize the cost” shot of a white Jaguar going off a cliff and exploding.
Both The Baron and Department S, in fact most ITC shows, had great theme tunes (the one for The Champions by….Tony Hatch).
Hadleigh was the nickname given to the Great Trevor Brooking by his West Ham teammates on account of him being an absolute gentleman in a time when there were relatively few in English football.
Abbey Road by The Beatles. A lazy, not got any better ideas, thought. It’s us and it’s right there.
A serendipitous choice as it turned out, an iconic image that led to a pilgrimage to the place in question. One of the best known covers.
There was a bit of a theme here. The original idea was for them to be posing on Mt Everest and the album to be called “Everest” but it gets too hard they ended up just crossing the road outside the studio.
In the Get Back film, it starts with elaborate plans about performing live at a Libyan amphitheatre but it gets too hard and they perform on the roof of the studio.
Conversely, for the cover of Two Virgins John and Yoko planned to pose naked and it didn’t get too hard at all.
If that doesn’t bring bag Moose, I don’t know what will.
They just had less and less to offer. It all kind of shrivelled up and ultimately flopped.
As Carr and Tyler wrote in their review on Two Virgins in The Beatles Illustrated Record “Such a big fuss over a small thing”
I believe they’d been nicked for obscenity around that time, but it didn’;t stand up in court.
Back in the early 1970s there was a German band, by the name of Birth Control.
The front sleeve of their first album showed an eel in a condom and the rear was an egg (out of its shell) in a diaphragm.
True story – they had to change the sleeve in Ireland, not because it was banned, but because the women in the pressing plant refused to pack it… (“Down with this sort of thing” etc.)
UB40 – Signing On is a brilliant example in both literalness and artistic brilliance. I can’t think of anything literally better.
How about “Signing Off”? (Sorry…)
That’s a very good point. I’m not going to be a prima donna about it.
An honourable mention for Andrew Gold’s “What’s Wrong with This Picture?” should be due about now, shouldn’t it?
And here it is, right on cue.
I think that’s quite a clever one though. Took time and effort.
Late entry: Henry Cow’s “Legend”.
It seems to be a picture of a sock.
Leg end?
An hilarious visual pun, no?
Yes indeed. Good work Mr Cow.
‘Painted’ – squeezed out, more like – by artist Ray Smith. I was at school with him and occasionally played music with him. He also did album covers for Kevin Coyne (Matching Head and Feet), Fred Frith and Heaven 17’s first three albums. The Henry Cow covers are typical of his quirky sense of humour.
Those H17 covers are superb things.
R Waters’ Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking
She’ll catch her death of cold dressed like that.
A better cover would have been Rog with his thumb out on a layby, possibly next to Tony Hatch.
Can some kind person add the cover art for the debut studio album by those “Blowin’ Free” hit makers.
Happy to oblige @craig42blue
That’s exactly the kind of thing I’m after – a great days work there.