Art On Your Sleeve

On 19 March 1990, Depeche Mode released what is still considered their finest album - 'Violator'. Anton Corbijn created its sleeve with assistance from graphic designer Richard Smith of Area. The two would go on to collaborate on dozens of sleeves for a wide range of artists, but to celebrate this seminal album's 35th birthday, I spoke to Richard about his creative involvement. Richard has worked with dozens of artists and bands in his career, including Depeche Mode, ABC, OMD, Tears For Fears and many others. We talk about many of these commissions in this episode, and more recently, he's launched his own podcast - Destroy! about how the punk movement of 1976 spawned a revolution still being felt today. There's lots of information about this at the end of the podcast. Sleeve art discussed in this episode: So - Peter Gabriel (1986) Boomerang - The Creatures (1989) Violator - Depeche Mode (1990) Sugar Tax - OMD (1991) Abracadabra - ABC (1991) The Girl With The Loneliest Eyes - The House of Love (1991) Songs

Graphic designer, painter and sleeve artist, Andie Airfix was born in Scotland but grew up in Warrington in the north west of England. After studying art and English literature at Chester teacher training college, he spent almost a year teaching art and English in Southampton. In 1970 he started travelling around the USA, Canada and Mexico, a trip funded by selling psychedelic paintings to poster companies in New York and San Francisco. On his return to the UK, he spent some time in Devon where he concentrated on painting and writing before heading off again to India for a few years. His is a fascinating life story, involving some of the biggest rock and pop bands of the 1970s–1990s with whom he formed an integral and lasting creative bond. Sadly, Andie Died in 2018 a few years after relocating his design studio called 'Satori' from London to Brighton, UK. You can find out more about Andie's life and work on his website but in this podcast episode I speak with his brother, Tony, all about Andie's work, desig

This episode of the podcast is a bit different... Instead of our usual, reverent look back at examples of the best in record sleeve creativity, we dig into its darkest and often unexplored corners of obscurity to expose some of the worst, or at best, most bizarre record sleeves ever created. This collection of more than 500 of 'the worst record sleeves' is part of a touring exhibition of the same name, which I visited a couple of times when it was on display in Birkenhead, Wirral, from November 2023 to January 2024. Whilst there, I spoke with the curator of the collection, Steve Goldman, along with Simon Robinson, the man behind a supporting book that showcases and expands upon the works on display. Buy the book 'The art of the bizarre vinyl sleeve' by Simon Robinson directly from the publisher at this link: www.easyontheeyeshop.co.uk Join the Facebook group: facebook.com/worstrecordcovers Instagram: @worstrecordcovers If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to Art on your sleeve at Apple Podcasts

Hello and best wishes for the festive season. My gift to you is a brand new episode of the ‘Art on your sleeve’ podcast. In this episode I speak with Paula Benson and Paul West from Form. There’s a lot that I could say about this dynamic duo and their extraordinarily diverse pop portfolio, but it’s probably easier to let them speak for themselves. So, here’s a bit of an introduction lifted directly from their website. In the early 1990’s founding partners Paul West and Paula Benson opened the London doors of graphic design and branding studio Form with two core philosophies: to create work we are proud of and to build real value for our clients through our thinking and particular approach to bold and recognisable design. With a background in music, within a few years we had worked with most of the major and indie record companies within the UK. We evolved by taking our passion to a wider range of clients in other sectors whilst winning awards for our creativity and gaining international respect along the way

In this episode, I speak with Andy McCluskey, lead vocalist of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, or OMD, as they are more commonly known. Andy formed OMD with co-writer and occasional co-vocalist, Paul Humphreys, at the tail-end of the 1970s. Their self-titled debut album (and its follow-up) was released in 1980 at the dawn of electronic pop, just as synthesised sounds were easing their way into the mainstream - and this is where our story begins. We begin by looking back at Andy's interests in art and design that saw him creating the first posters for OMD (see below), his ongoing creative relationship with legendary sleeve designer, Peter Saville, and follow the story right up to today with the brand new album, Bauhaus Staircase, released the same day as this podcast - Friday 27 October 2023. The new album references the Bauhaus art movement in its title, and its sleeve design is naturally complementary, but it is not the first OMD album with connections to art and design. So, join Andy and myself as we c

In this episode of Art on your sleeve, I speak with painter and former graphic designer, David Storey. David's career designing record sleeves began in the 1970s when he landed a job straight out of design school working for Elton John's Rocket Records. This position provided a crucial platform for him to build a career in the industry leading to his renowned work for the 2 Tone record label. 2 Tone spawned a raft of charting artists including Madness, The Specials, Bad Manners, The Selecter, The beat, The Bodysnatchers and so many more, all of whom received the design treatment of David, often under the creative direction of label boss (and member of The Specials), Jerry Dammers. I spent an hour with David at his painting studio in Hove, near Brighton on the south coast of England where we looked back at his incredible catalogue of design exploring the above and so much more. David is now an established painter, having moved away from the music industry in the 1990s. More recently, however, he has combined

This episode is another slight diversion from the usual format and was put together specifically to mark International Podcast Day which falls on 30 September every year - a celebration of the power of podcasts and a great opportunity to connect with fellow podcasters, podcast listeners, podcast enthusiasts and leaders in the podcasting industry. I wanted to promote the day by sharing some love for shows that I regularly listen to. Over the years, I've discovered much talent around the world through podcasting and spent many hours listening to voices that I would otherwise never have discovered. Almost everyone I asked to contribute to this episode was keen to get involved and it is this generosity, enthusiasm and commitment that shines brightly in their own shows, all of which I highly recommend. All of my guests' podcasts have a connection with music, art or design and each has come up with something unique that provides a flavour of their own podcasts whilst contributing something meaningful to the raison

In this episode of Art on your sleeve, I speak with graphic designer and art director, Bill Smith. Since the 1970s, Bill has been one of the busiest designers servicing the music industry and he's worked on so many record sleeves that a book has been published celebrating his amazing portfolio. In the introduction to the show I read from the back cover of the book - a succinct summary of a life's work... "Bill Smith and his studio have been designing record covers since 1976. In those five decades they have worked with over 200 bands and artists, creating hundreds of album covers, singles bags, and CD covers. Bill Smith Studio worked with some of the world's best photographers, illustrators and painters on covers for among others; The Jam, The Cure, Kate Bush, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, King Crimson and Mike Oldfield." With such a massive portfolio of work, it's a challenge to cover all bases in a one-hour podcast but we cover plenty of ground and I'm thankful to Bill for his honest insights about th

This episode is a slight diversion from the usual format, but all is explained in the show introduction. I am joined by Eddie De Souza and Lucy Percy to dissect design for songs that have represented various countries in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Simon Halfon has been designing artwork since the 1980s,  starting out at Stiff Records and then assisting Neville Brody, before setting up London and LA design studios in the 90s.  Long standing clients included the late George Michael, Oasis and Paul Weller. He creates international campaigns for global acts and continues his work with iconic artists, most recently collaborating for the 3rd time with Sir Peter Blake, for The Who's latest record. In this episode I talk to Simon about all of these things and so much more, digging deep into the design process and concepts behind some of his classic works. Simon has just released a book, Cover to Cover which, is as of publishing this post, has sold 85% of its limited edition run of 1000 copies. In the book Simon treats us to many of his personal images and stories which elevates the tome in to something more than a mere catalogue of work. I highly recommend it. If you are interested in the book or finding out more about Simon's work, check out his website at:

Being Boring, a single by Pet Shop Boys is 30 years old today (12 November 2020). It's one of my favourite songs by one of my favourite pop groups and as such I felt I needed to mark the occasion. This podcast complements a Pop Art feature I wrote for Classic Pop magazine about the photography of The Douglas Brothers published in March 2018. The Douglas Brothers photography was used on the cover designs for the single, with graphic design by regular Pet Shop Boys creative collaborator, Mark Farrow. Neil Tennant has spoken in detail about what Being Boring is about and this is included in the podcast, but to quote from his book, One hundred lyrics and a poem: "An autobiographical elegy for my best friend from Newcastle whom I'd known since we were teenagers; he died in 1989 aged only thirty-four... The title was inspired by a Japanese review  which said we were 'being boring'. I liked the bouncy rhythm of this phrase and confronting the criticism  of our famously deadpan presentation. The teenage party refe

In this episode I speak with Peter Coyle, formerly of The Lotus Eaters about the design work behind his music. When The Lotus Eaters made the top 20 in 1983 with their debut single, The first picture of you, they did so with sleeves that often used art to represent the band. In the podcast we talk about all of the band's singles, their classic album, No sense of sin and we lift the curtain on the thinking behind the art to find out who created the designs - something that was omitted on the sleeves themselves. Peter now lives in rural France but we have remained friends from when we first began working together 20 years ago, so the chat is informal, candid and at times humorous as we travel back in time to discuss Liverpool and its burgeoning post-punk music scene of the early eighties. Peter is still an active musician, recording under many names, most notably, Peter Coyle Fractal. He also has new recordings with Tony Lowe under the name of 22 Layers and we talk a little about their Travelling Alone single

This episode is an audio supplement to a six-page Pop Art feature I wrote for Classic Pop magazine, issue 13, published October/November 2014. In the podcast I interview artist and designer, Bob Linney about his record sleeve artwork for The Beloved and play track excerpts along the way. We also touch on other sleeves that he has worked on and discover how he ended up forging a long time creative relationship with Jon Marsh and The Beloved. The interview was recorded over Zoom during the COVID-19 lockdown period with Bob and I in our respective studios in East Anglia and Liverpool. Apologies for the variable recording quality. The podcast also coincides with the re-release of Happiness, an album by The Beloved, and the release of a limited edition range of screen prints that Bob made available in June 2020. The prints are available to order directly from Bob Linney’s online store at: www.boblinneyposters.com/beloved-artwork Full show notes and archive at: https://softoctopus.co.uk/podcast/

In this episode I'm joined by Sarah and Brian Linnen, hosts of the Permanent Record Podcast. There are few podcasts that dig as deeply into the sounds and visuals of artists that were big in the eighties/nineties as they do. I highly recommend that you subscribe to their show at the usual quality podcast outlets and explore their considerable archive at: www.permanentrecordpodcast.com During this chat you will hear us each select one album and one single sleeve that we believe deserves greater recognition and talk about the reasons why we selected them. We also learn a lot along the way about how they were created and the designers behind the work. Our selections are as follows: Kiss like ether 1991 single by Claudia Brücken Designed by Tim Vary at Island Art The Lovecats 1983 single by The Cure Designed by Parched Art It’s called a heart 1985 single by Depeche Mode Designed by T+CP, illustration by Tamara Capellaro Parade 1984 album by Spandau Ballet Painting by David Band, photography by John Shaw, art

This episode is an audio supplement to Classic Pop magazine, issue 4, published May/June 2013. In this podcast I interview artist, Fraser Taylor, who was part of a design collective called The Cloth (1983-1987). Fraser was one quarter of The Cloth along with David Band, Helen Manning and Brian Bolger. The art of Fraser Taylor and David Band featured on many record sleeves in the early eighties, most notably for Spandau Ballet, Altered Images, Aztec Camera and The Bluebells. Music from these artists and others is included in the episode along with archive interview content from Gary Kemp and David Band. Fraser is now based back in Glasgow after a long time living in London and then Chicago and I caught up with him at Glasgow School of Art where he and David Band met in the late seventies. Find out more about the work of The Cloth at: www.thecloth.co.uk There's also an active Facebook group and Glasgow School of Art maintain a profile for the collective on Instagram @thecloth80s

This episode is an audio supplement to Classic Pop magazine, issue 53, published on 31 May 2019. It features my 35th Pop Art feature, this time with graphic designer, Pete Barrett. Pete is now based in Melbourne, Australia, so we caught up online to talk about his massive portfolio of pop and discover the stories behind some of his work for artists including Dexys Midnight Runners, Bananarama, Madonna, The Jam, Simply Red, George Michael and Prefab Sprout. Find out more about Pete's current design practice at: www.hoof.net.au The Art on your sleeve archive is also online at: softoctopus.co.uk/category/podcast Further information about Classic Pop magazine can be found at: www.classicpopmag.com Information about this issue of Classic Pop is available at: https://www.classicpopmag.com/2019/05/issue-53-of-classic-pop-is-on-sale-now-2/

This episode is an audio supplement to the 'Synthpop' special edition of Classic Pop magazine, published on 7 February 2019. In the magazine I have written an eight page feature about the best sleeve designs of the synthpop genre from the last 40 years. In this podcast, I am joined by two pop pals to talk about three of our favourite sleeve designs, some of which are included in the magazine article. The range is quite eclectic and purely personal but myself, Andrew and David all had quite a lot to say. So, plug in your earphones and enjoy. The archive of 'Art on your sleeve' is also online at: http://softoctopus.co.uk/category/podcast Further information about Classic Pop magazine can be found at: http://www.classicpopmag.com Information about the synth pop special is available at: http://shop.anthem-publishing.com/all-products/classic-pop-presents.htm

In this episode I interview the photographer, Peter Ashworth about his seminal body of work for classic pop albums by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Soft Cell, Eurythmics, Visage, Depeche Mode and many others. This interview was edited by Peter and myself from a longer conversation and was conducted inside and outside his 'Mavericks' exhibition in Liverpool, 2 June - 8 July 2018. To find out more about Peter's work, visit his website at: www.ashworth.photos To find our more about The Gallery in Liverpool, visit their website at: www.thegalleryliverpool.com

In this episode I speak with North West artist, John Petch about his artistic collaboration with OMD for the sleeve of their album entitled 'The Punishment of Luxury'. John also worked on the sleeve art for the singles that were released from the album. To find out more about John's work, visit his website at: www.johnpetch.com

In this episode I speak with Brian and Sarah Linnen from The Permanent Record Podcast about Erasure's 1988 album entitled 'The Innocents'. This 75 minute episode is edited from three x 90 minute podcasts which are also available to download from iTunes. Find out more about The Permanent Record Podcast at: www.permanentrecordpodcast.com and follow them on Facebook and Twitter. This episode of Art on your sleeve isn't specifically about record sleeve design but I did interview Paul Khera, one of the designers of 'The Innocents' and he provided some interesting background information on the design work, all of this and more is in this edit.