*NOTE: This blog entry is best viewed at Model Stranger's Official Website.*
Growing up I would have to say I had just enough exposure to vinyl records. I wish I had more exposure to them but the tasteful exposure was enough to make them sacred and give me a great respect for them. Like many others from my generation, I grew up thumbing my way through the record collections of my nearest relatives. I spent hours searching through these records, listening to them and learning about each band I listened to. I quickly learned that being a vinyl voyeur could pass the boredom of a Friday night at Uncle Willys or help distract me while I waited for Page and Plant concert tickets at Rose Records. I was barely a teen and there was a lifetime of listening in front of me.When I consider the significant events that define who I am today, in hindsight I find these perversions into the various record collections I came across as the catalyst of putting me on this path. This newfound curiosity aggressively sowed the seeds of my desires and remains a force that drives me to this very day. The wants of my youth turned into needs of my adolescence and into the certainties of my adulthood. The culture and music is both a shield and a sword -a society in isolation. Like so many millions, I couldn't imagine a life without music.
Choosing a record from the collection usually started with me inching my way towards the collection, hovering like a foreign observer... curious yet committed. At first I would be half on my knees and half on my palms, anxious and focused. One by one, my finger would carefully separate each LP from the next until I was halted by a shimmer, a sign, or an intuitive disruption. I would quickly tilt back my next choice that would soon be torn by the needle. I would proceed to remove the vinyl, place it on its bed and "see this needle, see my hand, drop, drop, drop(ping) it down... oh so gently".
On the days of a slow hunt I would lay on my side with my head tilted like a curious animal. Carefully I would read through the wrinkled, faded and worn titles that trailed down the spine of each sleeve. Sometimes it was a simple as finding the right title for me to make a selection.
Regardless of where or how I was looking, if the title didn't seduce me there always was the record cover to make it or break it for me. The FACE of the record. So often misleading, so often definitive.
By high school I was carefully hanging my favorite records, like so many before me, as pieces of art around my bedroom. Classic Album Art like that of Pink Floyd's The Wall or The Hermit on the cover of Led Zeppelin IV became permanent fixtures. I was always partial to the records that were interactive that I would never hang up so I could play with them. The Led Zeppelin records were the best. I can recall that Pearl Jam's Vitalogy came with a small book that was full of bizarre falsehoods about masturbation and hygiene. And the collectors piece, No Code came with assorted photos that differ from record to record. Below you will find a picture of The Rolling Stones record that had an actual working zipper on the cover. Then there was Cheech and Chong with their album Big Bambu complete with big rolling paper. The list goes on. In all my years of hunting and collecting I have never been able to overlook the cover art of a record. I can't explain it but if the artwork isn't right a lot of times the album doesn't feel right!
Although I never stumbled across the ones below in particular in my days of thumbing around others collections, I would have loved to feel the excitement of seeing these covers for the first time as a child. Here are some great covers that most children shouldn't see. These were controversial record covers that are now notorious in status.
The Classic Beatles Butcher album. These were banned, stickered and resold. Some originals still exist.
The original cover (and insert) for Appetite For Destruction. I had a close friend who owned a large jean jacket with this patch on the back. Imagine a 10 year old rocking this on his back!
The Black Crowes Amorica. This was banned for showing pubic hair. Ironic.
What can I say? I would like to get my hand on one of these.
This is just a ballsy move. This was only banned in Spain....not because of indecency, but because the actual functioning zipper on the crotch scratched records in front of it when on the shelves!
Although we don't plan on doing anything this racy or controversial for the first Model Stranger full length LP we are releasing this upcoming April, we are currently in the process of finalizing artwork for our forthcoming record. I am now thinking about definitive artwork in my life and paying attention to what turned me on and what didn't and why. At this point I am curious if people will even care what the cover looks like. It is too big of an enigma of what works and why. Not worth me babbling about. Having a well done album cover is important to Model Stranger but where is the world at with record covers? Do they mean as much to listeners these days? Significant artwork can help convey an album's message/feeling and be a bigger part of the listening experience if the listener chooses.
Are there any album covers that you felt misrepresenting the music?
How about artwork that defined the record?
The curiosity that drives me to find a new record is no different than the curiosity that drives me as a musician. For me it is about the hunt as much as it is about the meal. Hunting is how a man with a fat kid appetite stays skinny. Don't worry, you are not alone. Occasionally if I was brought to a record store, even at a young age, I would search through the vinyl first because it was bigger and easier to handle. In the cheesiest romantic way I was drawn to it. Tapes and CDs were cool, but not as cool as vinyl.
What is so definitive about vinyl? Outside of the obvious sonic advantages, rarity, and feeling it evokes, vinyl exaggerated the art that accompanied a record. They were just THERE! Record covers unfortunately do not play as significant of a role in this iPod driven, ripped music-collecting world we live in. So often I look over on the train at someone's iPod and see the music note that is behind the 'now playing' screen and wonder, "Where is the artwork for that record?" The artwork to me is as important as the title and the body of music. I still spend time looking at my favorite record covers and learn the stories behind the covers. Just recently we started collecting vinyl at home again since we were gifted a very nice turntable.
The beautiful thing about record collections is that they can be left out and shared. People pick up records and look at them longer, read the credits, learn the lyrics. Record collections can be lost and found, bought and sold. Records can be rare, sacred, and special.
You unfortunately will not be able to take them all with you in your pocket when you hop on the EL train though. The bright side is actually longing to touch your records and they are sacred again.
This needs to come back to music.
iPods are not part of the home, they are part of the person. I own an iPod touch and I rock it. I am insane about making sure all the correct artwork is on there. It is an annoying habit. Regardless, I just see how iPods take music out of the home life and can make music less of a part of day to day home activities. Digital files are not rare - they are communal and abused... whores of culture. People have no respect for digital files and often throw CDs like frisbees out of a car when they start skipping too much. They know that they can dub a copy or rip a file... maybe even download it to their phone instead.
Consider that locking music back up to a medium that is actually physical and durable isn't the worst thing we can do for ourselves as fans, performers and cultural historians.
Share some of your favorite record covers and thoughts on vinyl at ModelStranger.com if you'll please!
Thanks for reading!!!
Stephen Francis
