© Pierre Maré,
2004 - 2007
Offbeat 142
It’s Easter, 2007 and I find myself caught between the disjointed symbolism of unleavened bread and wine on the one hand, and eggs and rabbits on the other. But belief is a more durable truth than facts, and I will not go there in this column. So what else is in my head?
Long-time readers of this column will know that, aside from writing this column for my daughter, and for those brave enough to make it to the end of my long sentences, my other personal passion is music. This year, 2007, sees the anniversary of two particularly important albums: the 40th anniversary of ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ and the 30th anniversary of ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’. Both albums regularly make it onto the lists of the 50 most important albums of all time.
Just in case you weren’t born at the right time, or are so disgusted by the mention of the very name that you are about to give up reading this column forever, the latter album is by the Pistols. For those of you who aren’t so easily offended, that is the Sex Pistols.
‘Sergeant Pepper’ changed the structure of music by adding to the number of tracks normally used in production, and allowing enough tracks for an orchestra, cowbells, bouncing springs, more orchestras and whatever else sprang to mind when the LSD kicked in. As a result it led to the creative excesses of psychedelia and the stultifying prog-rock triple albums of the early Seventies.
‘Never Mind the Bollocks’ reclaimed rock and roll by reversing the trend established by ‘Sergeant Pepper’ for huge, overblown composition styles that nobody could understand, or dance to, and going back to the basics of rock and roll: two guitars, a drummer, a singer and attitude.
Both albums were controversial. ‘Sergeant Pepper’ showcased the Beatles on vast quantities of LSD. ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’ reflected the hypocrisy of almost everything with the added dimension of a few dirty words as the final touch to a crass, disturbing, but vital mirror to society’s collective soul.
And all of that is exactly what the pundits say, and what you can expect to read as the textbook reasons why those two albums were so very important.
But there is another significant dimension to these albums that is often overlooked. Both ‘Sergeant Pepper’ and ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’ had album covers that changed the face of design.
Peter Blake designed the cover of ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ using new collage techniques. He produced life-sized, photographic, cardboard cut-outs of famous figures. He interspersed these with objects that he and band members believed were important. John Lennon, for instance, bought a TV to the shoot.
The rough-and-ready style of that particular collage has echoed down the years through the production techniques of Monte Python, in the works of cutting edge designers such as Dave McKean and most recently into the title sequence designs of major television series.
Jamie Reid, designer of the cover of ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’ also used a species of collage, but with typography. His title, constructed of ransom note letters, apparently cut from magazines, became iconic for its attachment to ugly reality.
But possibly more important is the startling contrast of neon pink and yellow hues that the designer used. All of a sudden, yellow and pink became acceptable, even important items in wardrobes, particularly in the early Eighties. And I still want a short-sleeved, button-down shirt with medium-sized black and yellow checks, preferably in XXL size, even though it will be 30 years out of date.
This really doesn’t go anywhere compared to the idea of unleavened bread, wine, eggs and rabbits, but the idea that an album cover can have a significant influence on society through its perceptions of art, is at least a fun toy for thinkers. And it is important in its own way.
You may not be able to judge a book by its cover, but there are at least two albums out there with covers that had a lot to say.
