Album covers that say "Buy me", or, why I miss 12" LP artwork!

The Tubes first LP. Had no idea what to expect, but that cover of a woman's hands clawing through the cardboard to get to the vinyl had from the get-go.

 

Roger Dean...although I had already heard "Easy Livin'" thanks to the 45, Dean's DEMONS AND WIZARDS cover art for Uriah Heep sold me on that album, and it was the best thing they ever did....On the other hand, his Yes covers are nice to look at, but never bowled me over.

And yes, WHIPPED CREAM is most unforgettable But that alone didn't sell the album, there had to be great music to go with it. Lp history is filled with cheesecake cover shots from albums that didn't sell squat....having said that, that cover sure didn't hurt!

ED

 

the first Will The Circle Be Unbroken album by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, et. al has artwork that explains what the album is.

 

The Bangles - All Over The Place.

I bought that album based solely on the cover. They way Susanna was holding that guitar, sitting on that chair with her legs crossed......just said - "buy me".

I had never heard of them before.

Imagine my surprise when I lowered the needle and discovered these girls were really good.

Today, that's still one of my favorite albums. Too bad their material since hasn't been to that level. Oh, sure, they got the big hits later with the Different Light LP, but to me, it wasn't the same.

I've experimented with other records based on the covers (Fuzzbox and Samantha Fox comes to mind), but there were very few other gems from those experiments.

I'll admit that sex sold me for a time, but then I was a teenager at the time. But I still preferred good performances, so many of those experiments never got played more than once. Some may not have ever been played all the way through.

Joel

 

Yep, Dad bought that one. Sometimes I read the liner notes in my room

 

I remember a lot being made of In The Court Of The Crimson King's cover at the time.

 

Check my current avatar!

 

Hmm, me too! It was a particularly visible part of the boobies that impressed me!!

..........along with those lips.


I'd better stop!

 

There's not much to look at on that cover down here in the states. Like with a lot of discs, I had to procure myself a copy from a different country to have the original artwork (Canada in this case).

As a little headbanger, I made the mistake of buying a lot of discs whose artwork drew me in, but the ratio of cool artwork to good heavy metal music is a bit skewed in favor of the covers, so I quit doing that long ago.

 

Deep Purple- Machine Head

 

Electric Ladyland - UK version of course

I remember as a kid buying an album entitled "The Theme From Shaft and Other Hits" by The Original Artists. I thought I was getting the Issac Hayes version when in fact it was an LP full of very cheesy covers by a band called The Original Artists. What kind of evil marketing person would do that to a kid?

Dave

 

Of course, nothing is cooler than a classic Blue Note cover, usually featuring a Reid Miles design incorporating a Francis Wolff photograph. The essence of lean, clean, modern and hip. I believe the company's graphics are part of the reason the Blue Note label inspires such collectormania, especially overseas.

Even shrunk down to dimunitive CD size, the covers are immediately recognizable in the bins. Fortunately, there are a couple books compiling the covers in their original 12 x 12 size, and a couple more volumes of Wolff's uncropped photography.

 

Or Carly Simon's PLAYING POSSUM LP from a few years later. I don't think that there were any really great songs on that album (although " Attitude Dancing" was a fairly big hit if I remember correctly). But that cover shot. Yowza.

Jim W.

 

Jethro Tull-Stand Up was a grabber, especially when you opened it UP! Nice surprise...so cool MFSL duplicated that one on their GOLD Cee Dee.

 

Sgt Pepper. When I was 5, I begged my mom to buy me a copy. I "saw" the album long before I heard it.

 

I STILL haven't gotten over how huge the mouth is on that girl on that first Cars album. Not that I object, she made me buy it too.

 

Sticky Fingers
Their Satanic Majesties Request
Led Zeppelin III
Physical Graffiti
Disraeli Gears
Quicksilver Messenger Service (1st LP)
It's A Beautiful Day (1st LP)
Live Peace In Toronto 1969
American Beauty
AOXOMOXOA

 

I have a "thing" for almost any of the 50s-60s Blue Note covers. They are so damn hip! Francis Wolff was a master at capturing the moment in those days and after Blue Note employed Reid Miles things were solid! There are so many great covers that demand a purchase! Here's one great Miles design...



Those legs belong to none other than Blue Note founder Alfred Lion's wife Ruth.

Here's a nice essay on the classic covers:

The Golden Age Of Jazz Covers

 

Robert Gordon - Bad Boy

 

Steely Dan - Aja
Just a great album cover!

 

Here's one that will cure your ails:

 

As I have seen the cover I had to listen to this record and I bought it at once...

 

First Lp's I ever bought for the covers were "Born Bad" Volumes 1+2. They were two comps with a bunch of stuff by singers and bands I had never heard of, at that time. the Sonics, Hasil Adkins,The Phantom, Charlie Feathers, Wanda Jackson,The Bostweeds etc. Strange LPs had early 60's era pin-up style drawings on the cover. That Hasil Adkins was weird!

 

All the early Roxy Music LPs for me. How aboyt Fripp & Eno's "No Pussyfooting" (especially the original gatefold edition!

Maybe I missed it but, has anybody mentioned the fabulous 1977 book "The Album Cover Album" that was edited by Hipgnosis and Roger Dean? It's a treasure trove of fab LP art!

Cheers,
Chris