Artist: Judi Pulver
Album Title: Pulver Rising
Label: MGM
Catalog: SE 4904
Year: 1973
Genre: pop
Grading: VG+ cover / VG+ LP
Sleeve design: Jimmy Wachtel - Sandro Botticelli
Concept: Jimmy Wachtel
Cover photo: Lorrie Sullivan - Jimmy Wachtel
Grade: **** stars
When I stumbled across this album at a community yard sale, I had no idea who Judi Pulver was. That said, the Sandro Botticelli inspired cover certainly caught my attention.
There are a bunch of Pulver clips out on YouTube and buried in one of them were some comments from Ms. Pulver herself: "As for the towel, Jimmy Wachtel, Waddy's brother, who was a brilliant graphic artist, did the album cover - a hand-colored version of the Boticelli's venus rising from the ocean on the 1/2 shell. It can be found in Michael Ochs Tashen's book of best album cover art of all time! As for the towel, that's another great story!"
Sadly she didn't go on to describe that story - I may have to reach out to her someday for the rest of the story. By the way, I have a copy of the Tashen book ("1,000 Record Covers" and this one is there.
Ms. Pulver is still active in music (though she pays her ills as a journalist - she works for Variety as their Music Advertising Director.
The album's not bad. Pulver had one helluva a voice - deep and powerful. Kind of reminded me of a classy Janis Joplin who could stay in tune. I'll have to put a review of the album up on the BadCatRecords website.
Artist: Debbie Harry
Album Title: KooKoo
Label: Chrysalis
Catalog: CHR 1347
Year: 1981
Genre: rock
Grading: VG+ cover / VG+ LP
Sleeve design: H.R. Giger
Concept: H.R. Giger
Cover photo: Brian Aris
Grade: ** stars
There's certainly nothing wrong with Debbie Harry's voice, but her all American good looks certainly didn't hurt her career. Which makes me wonder why anyone would want to package one of her solo album's with an H.R. Giger cover that was truly gruesome. Those darts give me the willies every time I see the cover. It's certainly memorable; just not in a good way.
Artist: Group 87
Album Title: Group 87
Label: Columbia
Catalog: PC 36338
Year: 1980
Genre: jazz-rock
Grading: VG+ cover / VG+ LP
Sleeve design: Steve Hiett
Concept: Steve Heitt
Cover photo: Steve Hiett
Grade: **** stars
I'm a big fan of modern architecture, so even though this collection of '80s jazz-rock doesn't do a great deal for me, the cover is pretty cool. It actually only took me a couple of years to even realize I was staring at an apartment building.
Artist: The First Choice
Album Title: The Player
Label: Philly Groove
Catalog: PG 1502
Year: 1974
Genre: soul
Grading: VG+ cover / VG+ LP
Sleeve design: John A. McKenzie
Concept: The Music Agency
Cover painting: John A. McKenzie
Grade: **** stars
Every now and then you find something that captures a certain zeitgeist (always wanted to use that word in a posting). This one just screams mid-'70s ... Yeah, the music drifts towards faceless dance tunes, but the John A. McKinzie cover was slick. Wish I new more about the artist.
Artist: Eddie and the Hot Rods
Album Title: Teenage Depression
Label: Island
Catalog: ILPS 9457
Year: 1977
Genre: punk
Grading: VG+ cover / VG+ LP
Sleeve design: Michael Beal
Concept: Ron Michael Beal
Cover painting: Michael Beal
Grade: * star
I recognize that part of the punk experience was an effort to shock the staid establishment out of their dreary, middle of the road, 9-to-5 existences. Still, there are certain social norms that shouldn't be violated and I've always felt this Micheal Beal cover crossed one of those lines in the sand. Not to sound like a blow hard, but teenage suicide is a plague on mankind and as a parent I simply cannot begin to fathom the pain it inflicts on families that have suffered from a child lost to their own hand. Island marketing executives having allowed a band to try to score some quick sales with such a tasteless cover just seems mean spirited and unnecessary.
Artist: Bob Dylan
Album Title: Self Portrait
Label: Columbia
Catalog: C2X 30050
Year: 1970
Genre: rock
Grading: VG cover / VG+ LP
Sleeve design: Ron Coro
Concept: Ron Coro
Cover painting: Bob Dylan
Grade: * star
I'm clearly not the biggest Bob Dylan fan you'll stumble across. I certainly admire the man's talent, but I find most of his music catalog to be challenging and his voice is what folks refer to as an acquired taste - one that I've never managed to acquire. And then you come to this 1970, double album set. I can certainly appreciate a slice of Picasso-styled modern art and you can clearly figure out what Dylan was drawing. Still, the cover of "Self Portrait" was simply funny. Yeah, Let's buy this one for the amazing cover art ...
Artist: Dreams
Album Title: Dreams
Label: Columbia
Catalog: C 39225
Year: 1970
Genre: horn-rock
Grading: VG+ cover / VG+ LP
Sleeve design: David Wilcox
Concept: David Wilcox
Cover photo: not applicable
Grade: **** stars
So, I'll readily admit that I've read an autobiography on the Belgian Artist Rene Magritte. And that probably explains why this David Wilcox cover appeals to me. Like the best of Magritte's work, it captures surrealism at its most entertaining.
I was surprised to discover how many album covers Wilcox is responsible for - Discogs shows over 30 (though this is the best of the lot).
