I recently ran across this great piece of packaging on eBay on a lot for The Great Zoetrope made by the Adult Toys Inc company in 1966. They’ve really made the most of the box graphics here and I’m wondering if things like this being around helped influence the graphics of Sgt. Pepper a year later? They don’t make them like this anymore.
These last two were from a different auction but show more of the contents and some scale.
More images saved from various trawls around the web, above: Images for Learning (Science Research Associates Inc.) 1971, found on eBay.
From Andrew Sclanders’ Beat Books list: A large postcard with designs by Gompers Saijo publicising the benefit held for the Zen Mountain Center at the Fillmore, San Francisco, March 15, 1967.
22.5×14.7cm.
Apple Boutique ‘Upon Our Way’ poster by The Fool, 39.5cm x 57cm, 1967/68.
Upscaled repro Pink Floyd poster, 1967.
International Times graphic, 1968. Thanks to Neil Rice for pointing this out. From Hoppyx.com
Very sad to hear of the passing of Mark Pawson today. A unique figure on the counter cultural art and publishing scene who I would regularly see at zine fairs and the like. His was always the most interesting stall with the most bizarre underground books and comics from all over the world. I’d end up buying some beautifully screen printed French comics from him, the likes of which you’d never see anywhere else and would never see again if you didn’t buy them there and then.
I first got to know Mark in the early 90s when he was around on the scene when I worked at Ambient Soho, he was the badge man who would make all sorts of badges for the shop, and our Telepathic Fish parties. I still have a load of badges he made using my Openmind logo and was going to get him to make more this summer for the release of a record. He’d sell artbooks and badges he made of his own work using photocopiers and also made badges featuring Negativland and Bob Dobbs.
His classic ‘Mark’s Little Book of Kinder Eggs’ and book of plug wirings were always in print and I think the ‘Assume This Phone Is Tapped’ sticker was also one of his. There are phrases I’ll always associate with his work like ‘Aggressive School of Cultural Workers’, ‘Demolish Serious Culture’, ‘Book Shops Not Bombs’ and ‘N©’. He belonged to the anti-establishment DIY scene who used whatever they could to make art, was involved in The Exploding Cinema early on as well as the international mail art scene. It’s shocking to know he’s gone, a truly one of a kind figure. I’m sad I won’t bump into him at the fairs any more. RIP Mark
Selections from the Jasper 52 auction of psychedelic posters which closes on March 9th. Above: rare Family Dog poster by Rick Griffin.
Above: Mouse & Kelley Family Dog poster, 1968, below: Randy Tuten Family Dog poster, 1968
Above: Victor Moscoso Jungle Juice comic, below: Eye Ball poster and Ripped Van Winkle poster, 1988
Above: Bob Fried Memorial Boogie by various artists, below: Wes Wilson, The New Mobilization March anti-war march in San Francisco, 1969.
Above: East Totem West head shop poster, below: Neon Park Family Dog poster, 1968.
Posting this today because I found it in my ‘drafts’ in WordPress and it’s now two years old. This was originally written Dec 2022, intended to be published back then but I must have missed it somehow. This was the CD version of the first part of an intended trilogy for The Real Tuesday Weld – Swan Songs – encapsulating ‘Blood’, ‘Dream’ and ‘Bone’ LPs plus additional cassette extras. Three years on and the first two are out but ‘Bone’ has been languishing unfinished for a while as the ever-manic Stephen Coates attends to his many distractions from the Bureau of Lost Culture podcast to the London Month of the Dead and Century Club programming. In between he’s also created two Clerkenwell Kid albums (‘Songs for Crow’ – Dec 2024 and the forthcoming ‘Junkshop Melodies’ as well as the ‘Winter Warmers’ 3″ CD of Xmas 2023. He assures me this will be the year we wrap things up for a project that started in 2019 and half the artwork for ‘Bone’ is done but we’ll see…
Another black and red sleeve, I swore I’d use less black in my designs in 2022 but it’s not working is it? To be fair though, both this and the Cinematic Orchestra covers are from 2021 and 2002 respectively. Today sees the release of the CD edition of The Real Tuesday Weld‘s ‘Blood‘ album on CD. The vinyl sold out quickly and people asked for a CD (not everyone wants vinyl) and Antique Beat listened.
We’ve shrunk the artwork and presented a CD version of the vinyl design, complete with reversible inner sleeve with die cut centre and vinyl groove effect on the black CD disc. Order here.
A rare set of four “Crunchie Bomb” posters commissioned in 1969 by Frys Chocolate, measuring 20×15 inches. Two designed by graphic artist and Professor of Illustration at the RCA, Dan Fern, two by renowned designer Chris McEwan. They were available in exchange for 3 Crunchie wrappers – see the last photo of the original advert.
Seems like Crunchie were really trying to tap into the youth market in the late sixties, check out this reworking of the Beach Boys‘ ‘Good Vibrations’ TV ad, complete with zany visual effects.
It’s that time again, time to wrap things up and turn over a new leaf – or just carry on as normal. As is tradition on this blog, here’s some of what’s been floating my boat in 2024, in no particular order. It’s been a good one, very busy but not too busy on the DJ front, that needs some rectifying in 2025, but extremely satisfying on the work and home front. There are still projects that have been in the pipeline that haven’t seen the light of day including a couple of releases I designed in 2023 that are still not out in the wild, at least two audio treats in production and a few things I can’t announce officially yet. I really would like to get some longform music out there in some form in 2025 as I currently have roughly three albums-worth of material sitting on hard drives waiting for some form to be made of them.
Music:
Patrick Carpenter – Electric Envelope (Bandcamp)
Brian Eno – The Lighthouse (Sonos Radio)
Reso – Nut Damage EP (Bandcamp)
Sean Ono Lennon – Asterisms LP (Chimera Music)
Prefuse 73 – New Strategies for Modern Crime (Lex)
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Welcome To The Pleasuredone (Steven Wilson megamix) (Universal)
The New Library Sound – Library Music Series 02 – Oceanography LP (2 Headed Deer)
Beautify Junkyards – Nova LP (Ghost Box)
Jem Stone – The Legend of Kaptain Karnival (Finger Lickin’/Velocity Press)
Paul Cousins – Oxide Manifesto LP (Castles In Space)
Dave Lombardo – Rites of Percussion LP (Ipecac)
DJ Primecuts feat. MC Conrad – Together / Our Time Is Now 12″ (Self Release)
Magictouch – Kyousoku 2/3 7″ (Delic Records)
LF58 – Radials LP (Astral Industries)
Podcasts:
DjHistory (Bill Brewster)
Oh God, What Now? (Podmasters)
We Buy Records (Tim Scullion / Paul Field)
What Goes Around? (Eamon Murtagh / Deb Grant)
Paper Cuts (Podmasters)
Sound Collage (Achillefs Sourlas)
Not a Diving Podcast with Scuba
Bureau of Lost Culture (Stephen Coates)
Quiet Riot (Alex Andreou / Naomi Smith)
Tales from a Disappearing City (Controlled Weirdness)
The Fanzine Podcast (Tony Fletcher)
Records shops I went to for the first time in 2024 and would recommend:
Tenpin Records, Purley
Rook Records, Hackney
Perfect Lives, Deptford
KillaCutz, Amsterdam
Platypus Records, Amsterdam
Zap Records, Amsterdam
Friendly Records, Bristol
Kingsland Records, Dalston
Crazy Beat Records, Upminster
Bananarama, Antwerp
Grey Records, Antwerp
Decktronix, Rochester
Klang Tone (at their new address), Stroud
Pressing Matters, Hastings
Bear Tree Records, Sheffield
Rob’s Records, Nottingham
FAC1968, Nottingham
B.B.E. Store, Hackney
Off The Record, Haringey
Recycle Vinyl, Dalston
Gigs / Events / Exhibitions:
DEYA Brewery, Cheltenham with Tom Ravenscroft
Light Surgeons’ Takeover @iklectik, London
Baba Yaga’s Hut Takover @iklectik, London
Screenprint24, @Centrespace Gallery, Bristol
Repainting Subway Art @New Walk Gallery, Leicester
Upside Down Records launch, Deptford, London
The New Obsolescents in-store @Wow & Flutter, Hastings
Anne Desmet @guildhall, London
Deliaphonic @Coventry University, Coventry
The Straat Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Seeing the Tulip gardens in the Netherlands
Yoko Ono @ Tate Modern, London
Enzo Mari @ The Design Museum, London
Rise of the Vandals show, York
Grace Jones, Crystal Palace Park, London
Peter Kennard @The Whitechapel Gallery, London
Dele Sosimi Wah Wah 45s 25th anniversary @Village Underground, London
The The @Brixton Academy, London
Taking one of my sons to his first record fairs
Seeing my other son start art college
Levitation’24 – Bedford Esquires, Bedford
The Groovy Record Fayre, @ The Mildmay Club, London
Dust & Grooves Book 2 launch @BBE Store, London
Paul Cousins – Atomized Listening @Stone Nest, London
Prime Cuts, Rival Self and Aroe @Rook Records, London
Electric Dreams @Tate Modern, London
Packaging / Design:
Pye Corner Audio – LP (Ghost Box)
Woo – Robot X LP (Independent Project Records)
Various Artists – Cheeba Issue.1 7″ and Dan Lish comic (Cheeba Cheeba Records)
Drumetrics 10″ record box
Listening Center – Sight and Scene LP (Castles In Space)
Lone Bison – Talk About It / Origin Story 12″ (Castles In Space)
Sculpture – Max Ax 2×10″(LtR Records/Psyche Tropes)
Jo Johnson – Let Go Your Fear LP (Castles In Space)
Beautify Junkyards – Nova LP (Ghost Box)
His Name Is Alive – How Ghosts Affect Relationships 6xLP box set (4AD)
Organic Pulse Ensemble – A Thousand Hands LP (2 Headed Deer)
Jamie XX – In Waves 3xLP (Young)
John Lennon – Mind Games Meditation mixes 3xLP (Universal)
John Lennon – Mind Games Super deluxe box set (Universal)
SD_OA – alla prima cassette (Detroit Underground)
Eilon Paz – Dust & Grooves v1&2 Deluxe Slipcase set
Artists:
Cordula Kagemann
0010×0010
iloobia
Ruben Sutherland
Alex Klim
Lovepusher
MZ Optics
Soda
Ian Bertram
Alex Eckman-Lawn
James Harren
Books / Magazines / Comics:
Judge Dredd: A Better World – Rob Williams, Arthur Wyatt, Henry Flint (2000AD/Rebellion)
Petrol Head book 1 – Rob Williams / Pye Parr (Image)
Bioripple – Nir Levie
Moonray books 1+2 – Brandon Graham / Xurxo G. Penalta
A Decade of Handmade Music Packaging – Time Released Sound
Write Lines – Steve Emery (Velocity Books)
Strange Things Are Happening – Richard Norris (White Rabbit)
Blotter – Erik Davis
Dawn Runner – Ram V / Evan Cagle (Dark Horse)
Precious Metal – Darcy Van Poelgeest / Ian Bertram (Image)
Grommets – Rick Remender / Brett Parson (Image)
Lore Remastered #1 – T.P. Louise / Ashley Wood (Image)
The Sacrificers – Rick Remender / Max Fiumara (Image/Giant Generator)
Ultra Mega – James Harren (Image)
Zerox Machine – Matthew Worley (Reaktion Books)
Dust & Grooves vol.2 – Eilon Paz
Film:
Scala!!!
Dune
Tramps
Furiosa: A Mad Max saga
Eno (version 3.10 + the V&A showing)
Sculpture – ‘Cross Processor’
Another year over and what have I done?
Published a huge piece with Ian Peel about the 40th anniversary ZTT releases
Had my Bonobo zoetrope featured in the Turn On exhibition in Luxembourg
Had a remix of Slim Vic locked grooves featured on the Because We Love Music 24 compilation from Lamour Records
Released a 20th anniversary cassette & T-shirt of my Raiding The 20th Century mix with Delic Records
Contributed to the 45 Live 200 episode with a 7 minute mix plus my annual 1 hr mix
Played the 2nd Candlemas event at the Royal Foundation of St Katherine
Made a CD version of the Future Sound of London’s ‘Pulse Five’ EP for FSOLdigital
Designed the A’bear LP for Castles In Space – out in 2025 hopefully
Designed the Morphology ‘Fractures’ LP, David Morley ‘Fashion’ 12″, Robert Leiner’s ‘Analog Days’ LP, AsOne’s ‘Requiem’ LP and Dan Curtin’s forthcoming LP for De:tuned
Wrote pieces on Andy Votel, Kid Koala, Alex Paterson, Zoe Baxter, DJ Format and Peel Acres for the Dust & Grooves 2 book and website, played at the book launch in London and curated the December You Dig? newsletter
Gave a talk on creative practice at the Confetti industry week in Nottingham
Started a new 2 hr monthly radio show: Electrik Collage on ROVR Radio
Had an in-store performance and LP cover display with The New Obsolescents at Wow & Flutter in Hastings
Played at the Deliaphonic event in Coventry with PuttyRubber and The New Obsolescents
Played in-store with Hannah Brown @ Upside Down, Deptford
Designed the Inside Outside EP and band logo for Dave Barbarossa’s new band, Third House
Contributed to the 40th anniversary release of something that will be announced in 2025…
Played at Levitation’24 alongside Graham Dunning for the Castles In Space all-dayer
Made a 30 min mix for Forsaj’s show on Subtle Radio
Co-compiled an album of early 90s electronica under the Telepathic Fish banner for Fundamental Frequencies, due in 2025
Designed two zoetrope discs for US band, Nile’s ‘Annihilation of the Wicked’ album – out in 2025
Put together The Clerkenwell Kid’s ‘Songs For Crow’ double 3″ CD
Designed an 8″ zoetrope for Acid Lathe featuring two Quadraphon tracks that will be out in 2025
RIP:
John M. Burns, Les McCann, David Soul, Annie Nightingale, Silent Servant, Marlena Shaw, Brian Griffin, Damo Suzuki, Wayne Kramer, Steve Wright, Dan Hillier, Joan Hills, Marian Zazeela, Ed Piskor, Keith LeBlanc, Patti Astor, Trina Robbins, Peter Ceresole, Roger Johnson, MC Duke, MC Conrad, Paul DJ Regal Eve, Duane Eddy, Steve Albini, Roger Corman, Chuck Roberts, James Chance, Donald Sutherland, Bill Viola, Herbie Flowers, James Earl Jones, Larry Todd, Lillian Schwartz, Dave Watts, Quincy Jones, J Saul Kane, Lennie D. Ice, DJ Alfredo, Jimmy Carter.
Looking forward to:
Raiding the 20th Century Expanded version 20th anniversary cassette release 18/01/25
Reactivating my Infinite Iklectik label for some releases
Leigh Bowery exhibition at the Tate Modern
Paul Gorman’s ‘Granny Takes A Trip’ book
The opening of the V&A East Museum
Sophia Satchell-Baeza’s ‘Sensual Laboratories’ book
Concluding the Swan Songs trilogy ?
This superb pop up book was a Xmas present and had been on the list since I first saw it, it seems that it’s only available from one place in the UK, Counterprint. Unfortunately it looks like they’re out of stock at the moment but they’re the people to go to if you want a copy in the UK.
A rare poster for a festival in Amsterdam at the Olympic stadium in 1972. Note Sgt. Pepper’s Band – was there a Beatles tribute band that early on?
Even though there was no actual circus involved in the above concert there’s a link between that festival and Chipperfield’s Circus that took place in the UK around Christmas that year. Joe’s Lights – a legendary light show crew that evolved out of the Joshua Light Show – performed at both the Dutch gig and an actual circus at the Rainbow Theatre in London. Thanks to the ever-diligent Neil Rice for the poster image on this one.
Circus imagery was popular in the sixties, most obivously from the inspiration John Lennon took from Pablo Fanque’s Circus Royal poster for the lyrics to ‘Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite’.
The Rolling Stones also got on the bandwagon with their ill-fated Rock n Roll Circus which was recorded for a TV special but remained unofficially released until the mid 90s. Above and below; the front and back cover of Razz Revue magazine featuring Jagger in ringmaster garb from 1972. The Revue originated from Phoenix, Arizona, ran for 16 issues and took a satirical look at pop and rock culture, via interviews and comics. The cover image is probably by Bob Boze Bell, the mag’s resident cartoonist, and the redneck character attacking Jagger is the Roper-Doper, his regular strip in the mag.
While we’re talking about the Stones here’s two adverts I found on my travels round the web too. The first advertising their ‘3D’ (actually lenticular) Their Satanic Majesties Request album and the second plugging a 1990 Steel Wheels concert broadcast in actual 3D.
I caught the amazing end montage sequence of this via the isolated graphics Instagram account the other day. You can watch the whole thing or skip forward to the 17.40 part where the montage begins. Another age but so much of this is more exciting to me than 99% of digital art out there.
A few weeks ago I stumbled across this badge on eBay from a seller in the UK. The name piqued my interest as The Sunshine Makers was a documentary about Tim Scully and Nicholas Sand, two west coast chemists who manufactured Orange Sunshine LSD in the sixties, considerd the gold standard of acid production.
I wondered if this was connected in some way? Maybe something produced by and for those in the know who also made or distributed the drug? An innocuous signifier to those hip to it that confirmed the wearer as someone to be trusted maybe? The back of the badge bears the hallmark: W.O. Lewis Badge which must be Lewis Badges from Birmingham and puts the origin of manufacture as the UK. They had no info on it either as their records only go so far back.
I couldn’t find anything about ‘the league…’ on the web aside from the above documentary and a reference to a 1935 cartoon of the same name which is most likely a coincidence rather than anything else.
It niggled me that there was nothing out there, and there was no info in the original eBay listing either but I did find a mental health organisation called Shine who also used a light house in one of their logos. A google picture search returned a very similar looking badge under the name ‘LightKeepers of the Missions to Seamen’ which is appararently an organization that supports seafarers, including those who work on lighthouses and lightships.
I wondered if the lighthouse pictured was a clue so contacted the Association of Lighthouse Owners in the UK to enquire if they had any reference for it.
Their response came back:
“We’ve checked our catalogue and drawn a blank. If we had such a badge, we would have been sure to record the text. The badge depicts a generic rock lighthouse. If it was meant to represent any particular lighthouse or lighthouse service, one would expect more of a clue.
It might not be lighthouse-related at all. Christian churches and charities frequently appropriate the word lighthouse or lighthouse symbolism for their own missions.”
Now there’s a thought, anyone recognise or know the origins of this oddity? Please leave a comment if you do.
It’s been a while and things have been piling up on the desktop so… above is a Japanese jazz album called, I believe, ‘Forbidden Love’, released on RCA in I’d guess the late 60s. It includes covers of The Beatles and The Mindbenders and the cover looks like either Victor Moscoso or Peter Max but maybe it’s a take off of that style that was so prevalent back then.
Below is a Muppets Electric Mayhem LP sleeve I discovered by Matt Taylor after seeing his poster for McCartney’s Got Back tour featured below.
Below are three Portable Flower Factory 45 sleeves, a project from Bob Dorough with cover versions of popular songs for kids on the Scholastic label made between 1970-1972. The artist is uncredited but what fabulous sleeves.
Below is an advert for a psychedelic light from a girl’s comic from 1970, love the “Invite BOYS to assemble Love Lites.. and stay for a come together Jam session” line. Below that a light show of the laser kind for a Beatles-themed run at the Laserium, probably around 1983.
Carson Morris illustrated San Francisco International Pop Festival poster from October 1968.
Love and Big Brother & The Holding Company poster with an early design by Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley from 1966 (+ lights by Bill Ham!)
The Yardbirds / Doors gig at the Fillmore, 1967 by Bonnie MacLean with the original below
I curated this month’s Dust & Grooves You Dig? newsletter – tons of record-related links in there for your Sunday
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More killer examples of Jason Galea‘s poster work for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard who seem to eternally be on tour this year. Through the magic of apps like Procreate we can see one minute timelapses of how these posters were created, films of which Jason posted on his Instagram the day after I started on this entry.
His poster art book just arrived too – ten years of flyer and poster work!
I’ve been waiting for this day for several years – Dust & Grooves delivery day! Having worked with Eilon Paz over the last few years on parts of this I know the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into just a small portion of it but nothing prepared me for seeing the final product last week at the launch night in London.
The new book is HUGE, it weighs a ton and looks incredible. The attention to detail throughout is beautiful, with spot varnish and embossing on the slipcase of the deluxe edition plus printed insides and a free poster.
The first volume has been re-covered and fits snugly with the second, make no mistake, this is a huge piece of work and will test the strength of any bookcase. I’m extremely proud to have contributed three extensive features to the back half of the book as well as several for the Dust & Grooves website (the Alex Paterson one is already up there with several yet to come that didn’t fit in the book). Interviews with Kid Koala, Andy Votel and Tom Ravenscroft fill pages alongside Eilon’s incredible photography and make this a must for all serious diggers out there.
We’ll never own all these records but we can share in the knowledge and stories behind them via this tome. As you could see from the photos of the launch party in London the other week, it bought together collectors from around the UK with nothing but goodwill and shared enthusiasm. Well done to Eilon and all the editors, designers and proofreaders who helped make this happen. Grab your own copy here
Let’s not the forget the Portables book that Eilon shot alongside the Dust & Grooves volume 2 one! The man’s a machine and this book lovingly catalogues 222 portable turntables – available now, here
Newly discovered ads featuring Zappa and The Mothers of Invention from the LA Free Press. Some, if not all of these, were designed by Zappa in his spindly lettered, collage style. I’ve featured some of these before but they are generally better quality and some crazy person has gone through all the magazines at the link above, scanning the Zappa/Mothers appearances.
I’ll be at the Leicester Print Workshop this weekend, helping Kvist Studio launch her new Fantasy 45’s screen and riso prints as well as new stationary, Buchla and Galt Toys-inspired risos. These are now online in her shop.
There will be loads of other artists selling and exhibiting with an open evening on Friday to start the weekend. Details on the last image. Come down and say hello!
I’ve just finished Matthew Worley‘s excellent Zerox Machine book about UK fanzines from punk into the late 80’s. It’s opened up a hidden world and had me going down several rabbit holes online.
Above – Irish fanzine Blast #4 with a Savage Pencil cover, below the three covers of Juniper Beri Beri, a Scottish fanzine by Annabel, Peter McArthur, Jill Bryson and Stephen from The Pastels.
Hand-painted cover of Jungleland #9 – produced by Mike Scott of the Waterboys
A collage page from Adventures In Reality – issue G by Alan Rider
An Ian Wright illustration for 80s magazine The Catalogue
Communication Arts, 1966
I think this is the back cover of Morals ’68
A book of experimental music scores, essays and notations – view it on the Internet Archive
Print magazine, US, 1961
Robert Lockhart has nearly a hundred Discogs entries for his design work and could turn his hand to many different styles. Above is his interior gatefold for Gene Harris of the Three Sounds LP from 1971 which displays a fine grasp of the airbrush as well as collage. Below, his Bloodrock sleeve mixes S. Clay Wilson with Milton Glaser and comes up with something in the middle.
Above’s Bob Seger LP back cover displays more affection for the Milton Glaser style that was so popular back in the early 70s and below Lockhart whips up a fine collage for the front and back of Quintet’s ‘Future Tense’ LP, then channeling Michael English/Richard Hamilton for the cover of Steely Dan’s ‘Can’t Buy A Thrill’.
I’ve shown this before; Ravi Shankar goes psychedelic (for the cover at least) and below that an oddity of the Pablo Light Show providing visuals for a ‘Heavy Organ’ recital of Bach in San Francisco with cover illustrations very reminiscent of Victor Moscoso.
