Among the lesser-known Barney Bubbles designs to emerge during last year’s research for the second edition of Reasons To Be Cheerful was the black-on-black label for Sheet Music for a single release by post-punk act The Vampire Bats From Lewisham.

The Bats line-up included producer/engineer Laurie Latham and guitarist Steve Bolton. Latham was responsible for the sound of Ian Dury’s releases and featured on the inner sleeve of Do It Yourself, while Bolton’s unreleased project Boltz was later to benefit from another set of Bubbles designs.

A PMT for the band’s Sheet Music  logo was among the hundreds of exhibits in Process.  Embossed black-on-black on the record label, the arm of the letter ‘T’ was constructed by a graphic “sheet tuck”.

As explained below, the sleeve for the single was a very early effort by Vegas Design’s Julian Balme.

Kosmo Vinyl has sent this photograph taken of himself with Barney Bubbles (centre) and an unidentified person (right)* in the west London offices of Stiff Records in 1977.

“I have no idea what we are looking at,” says Vinyl, the former plugger/publicist/ideas man for Dury and The Clash who later became a record producer.

“The way I’m holding whatever it is,  I’d say it’s a book or a magazine. I love the way it captures Barney’s enthusiasm and amazement.”

Vinyl has also provided some fascinating tales and insights into the creative partnership conducted between Bubbles and the late Ian Dury.

Having MC-ed dates on the autumn 1977 Lives Stiffs tour, Vinyl worked closely with Dury, who became Stiff’s priority act after the departure of co-founder Jake Riviera with Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe.

“I first met Barney at 32 Alexander Street (Stiff’s Paddington headquarters),” says Vinyl. “He was downstairs with his own little space in the back, by an old sink, very basic.

“At that time Stiff was half a dozen people, if that, and I was keen to pitch in. If records arrived and needed unloading, it was all hands on deck, from the top to the bottom (which was probably me).

“Anyway Barney and I just hit it off, we were fellow enthusiasts. I had no idea about artwork or design; I don’t think I had ever thought about how a record cover came about.

“Barney would be down there being very positive, working away in front of me and chatting, completely unfazed by anything else going on. If I ever had a spare few minutes I’d go and see what Barney was up to – he was always there and always working.”

" Ian Blockhead". Poster fold, 30cm x 21cm.

"Charley Blockhead".

"Norman Blockhead".

"Micky Blockhead".

Poster. 59cm x 64cm.

Vinyl also played an important part in a photo-session of Dury with members of his newly formed band The Blockheads. Shot by Chris Gabrin, the results were used in a series of Bubbles’ designs, including an  eight-part fold-out tour poster and promotional and advertising material.

Aged 20 with a sharp New Wave/retro look himself, Vinyl helped the musicians, who had been part of mid-70s good vibes outfit Loving Awareness, make the transition to the streetwise appearances demanded by the post-punk period.

Dury, of course, handled his own look, as did his singular colleague from Kilburn & The High Roads, saxophonist Davey Payne. Songwriter/keyboard-player Chaz Jankel was absent.

“I helped out with Norman (Watt-Roy, bass), Charley (Charles, drummer), Johnny (Turnbull, guitar) and Mickey (Gallagher, keyboards), although I didn’t think of it as styling at the time,” says Vinyl.

“It was more a case of, ‘Let’s lose that dodgy jacket and stack heel boots’. It was a two-way street; they pointed out things that I or someone else was wearing and would say, ‘I like that’. They recognised that sartorially they were out of touch, but were keen to catch up.”

With a few bob from Dury’s management Blackhill Enterprises, Vinyl bought some clothes and found other garments, including a double-breasted suit designed for Ian Dury by Malcolm McLaren in 1974 at the Kilburn’s then-manager Tommy Roberts‘ behest. This “SEX Original” suit was worn by Watt-Roy, though not for this shoot.

Reverse poster fold. Ian Dury.

Dury with Turnbull + Watt-Roy.

Charles, Dury, Turnbull, Payne, Gallagher + Watt-Roy.

Watt-Roy + Charles.

Poster reverse.

“Once Mickey got a pair of creepers and a haircut he was away,” says Vinyl. “In view of the album title, it was Dr Martens all round.”

The front of Bubbles’ fold-out tour poster replaced the group’s faces with the business end of Ronson electric shavers.

On the flip, Bubbles exposed the production process which surrounded pop promotion by featuring Gabrin’s contact sheets adorned with crop marks, selections and decorations.

The same portrait shots from the poster were also used in tour adverts in which the heads were replaced with the then-new Blockhead logo, while ads for New Boots & Panties!! used frames captioned with Dury’s alternate title suggestions (including “Don’t Fart Before Your Arse Is Ready” and “Be Savoury”).

As essayed in Reasons To Be Cheerful, Bubbles and Dury’s working relationship flourished as a result of their shared understanding of art and design.

“As far as I am aware, Barney had a complete free rein/reign over the artwork for Ian and The Blockheads,” says Vinyl.

“Whatever he delivered, Ian loved. There was mutual respect and appreciation. Ian spent seven years at art school and then did some teaching, so I think he knew as well as anyone, perhaps more so, how talented Bubbles was.

“To me, they saw themselves as equals and were very aware of the craft and hard work each put into their art.”

Tour advert, New Musical Express, May 6, 1978.

Ads from the shoot were featured in Process: The Working Practices Of Barney Bubbles at Chelsea Space, Sept/Oct 2010.

As also detailed in Reasons and here, Bubbles’ creation of the Blockhead logo emerged during his initial conversation with Dury.

“We wanted a logo that could be printed on t-shirts,” says Vinyl. “I clearly remember Barney told Ian he thought he had it before their telephone conversation was over. That was a maximum of five minutes from being asked, probably less.  Ian put down the phone and said, ‘He’s done it’.”

Vinyl says that Bubbles was jazzed that t-shirts bearing the logo were printed for the children of the band members and their management: “Barney loved the idea of kids wearing his design. I think it gave him some encouragement and perhaps the opportunity to do some very playful stuff.”

Few of Bubbles’ designs are more playful than the Tommy The Talking Toolbox ident for the band’s 1979 album Do It Yourself.

“Tommy was one of Ian’s absolute favourites,” declares Vinyl. “He couldn’t believe it when he first saw it. ‘Delighted’ would be an understatement.

“There weren’t many people Ian Dury trusted 100%. He’d been about a bit, but he trusted Barney completely.”

* CAN YOU IDENTIFY THIS PERSON? WE’VE ASKED AROUND AND NOBODY HAS COME UP WITH A NAME. IS IT IN FACT YOU? IF IT IS, GIVE US A SHOUT.

I was delighted to receive this boxed Blockhead watch recently.

Of course the typogram on the watch face – which emerges at twelve-fifteen and three o’clock – was designed by Barney Bubbles at the behest of the late Ian Dury, who said in Will Birch’s No Sleep Till Canvey Island:

“I phoned him and said, ‘I want a logo. It’s got to be black and white and square’. Then I heard somebody in his office say, ‘Wow’ and he said, ‘I’ve done it’.”

Bubbles’ reworking of the 30s Left Book Club logo was initially used on the label and advertising for Dury’s April 1978 single What Waste.

The logo appeared in adverts and the full range of merchandise, while the watch became a much sought-after promotional item.

Manufactured by Timex, it was presented in a blue plastic silver-embossed box complete with card envelope, purple nylon lining and a guarantee.

These days the logo is owned by The Blockheads, who are making it available on badges, t-shirts and as part of the Blockhead “life membership” pack.

Read an extract from Paul Laity’s introduction to the 2001 reissue of the Left Book Club Anthology here.

Thanks to Mushi Jenner for sending me the watch.

Barney Bubbles Inside out from Lisa Whitaker on Vimeo.

This 100-second career resume has been created by Lisa Whitaker, who is currently studying graphics at Leeds College of Art.

The DVD – housed in an “inside-out” sleeve and accompanied by a poster – came out of a course brief for a collection of 100 design objects in which she compiled album sleeves, including Bubbles’ design for Imperial Bedroom by Elvis Costello And The Attractions.

“I am fascinated by this talented man and his links to other creative people,” says Whitaker. “My moving image piece Barney Bubbles Inside Out pulls together the research and is aimed at graphic designers, record collectors and music lovers as a way of spreading the word about inspirational figure.”

Whitaker’s backgrounder on the project is here.

The absorption and reinterpretation of Barney Bubbles’ oeuvre continues apace, as evinced by this, the design for Punks Jump Up’s Blockhead EP by Michael Willis.

With an overall feel of Bubbles’ compositional techniques – particularly that of realising physiognomy by use of abstract and unusual elements – Willis’ artwork draws on such Bubbles’ creations as the BLOCKHEAD logo, the Tommy The Talking Toolbox ident, the Space Ritual tour material and the typography of the Revelations and Doremi Fasol Latido packages.

Since he was one of the pioneers of the so-called “age of plunder” (as Jon Savage pointed out in his 1983 piece on post-modernism for The Face), it was perhaps inevitable that the reintroduction of Bubbles’ work to a new generation of graphic artists and designers – via Reasons To Be Cheerful and Process – would result in the master himself being plundered.

To coincide with recent exhibition Process: The working practices of Barney Bubbles, a short run of t-shirts was produced featuring The M!ss!ng L!nk tattoo Barney Bubbles created for drummer Rat Scabies in the early 80s.

“Barney said he always thought of me as the original missing link,” says the former member of The Damned in Reasons To Be Cheerful.

Scabies hasn’t been able to locate the copy of the design Bubbles gave him for several years, so was delighted when the original turned up during research for the show. And he has vowed to finally have the tattoo inked; we have recommended a decent parlour and will keep you informed of developments.

Original artwork, pen and inks on card, early 80s.

With other examples of artwork on display at Process.

The original artwork – the broken links form a rat’s face – was a particularly popular exhibit among visitors to Process.

Rat has given the tees – on which the logo is inverted – two thumbs-up. It’s surely a testament to BB’s brilliance that the design remains full of impact. And, when wearing one, you look down at your chest and there’s a rat staring back at you…

There weren’t many produced and most went during the run of the show. However, there are some left  at £10 each in L (40″ chest) and XL (42″ chest).

These two sizes are modeled here by the talented and handsome Chelsea Space assistants Gyeyeon Park and Mike Iveson, both artists in their own right.

To order your t-shirt go here.

“How can something so square be so hip?”

Designer Richard Evans sets out to answer this question in the new illustrated history of the 12in album sleeve, The Art Of The Album Cover.

Evans, The Who’s in-house designer for 35 years, provides a comprehensive overview in this glossy hardback which presents many examples of Barney Bubbles’ plundering of the history of record sleeve design for his palette of possibilities: think the crazy lettering and daring mix of photography and graphics of Alex Steinweiss and his 40s brethren Jim Flora and George Maas and, in the 50s,  the work of the cool ruler, Blue Note’s Reid Miles.

Evans shows how Miles’ admiration for the “blotted line” illustrative work of Andy Warhol in the 50s resulted in gorgeous sleeves for Johnny Griffin and Kenny Burrell, while tribute is paid to the work not just of examplars such as William Claxton and Burt Goldblatt but also the teeming “unknowns” who populated the art departments of (mainly American) record labels in the 50s and 60s.

As design critic Kenneth FitzGerald recently set out in his new collection of essays, Evans recognises that everything changed with The Beatles’ 1963 debut album sleeve by Robert Freeman, setting design for music on the path to Sgt Pepper’s four years later and then onto the 70s boom-time. There are name-checks for all the leading art directors, illustrators, designers and artists, including Cal Schenkel, Neon Park, Kosh, Hipgnosis, Roger Dean and Evans himself as well as Barney Bubbles, whose work Evans deeply admires.

“I don’t have enough words of praise for the delightful and brilliant work of Barney Bubbles,” writes Evans. “He was the graphic designer’s graphic designer; a man full of the best ideas executed with great wit and originality.”

With concise sections dedicated to Neville Brody, Peter Saville, Malcolm Garrett and Stylorouge, Evans tracks the familiar tale of the damage done by the shrinkage of the packaging with the rise of the CD and the ultimately restrictive practices wreaked by increased digitisation.

As in FitzGerald’s Volume, however, the obituary for the vinyl sleeve outlined in Aubrey “Po” Powell’s introduction (“The art of creating album covers belongs to a bygone age”) looks again to be premature in an era of renewed vigour in the field.

And Evans’ declaration that album sleeve design now resides in CD booklets also seems wrong-footed; the digital format is being rapidly forced down the gurgler by the download generation yet the demand for vinyl – though necessarily much more limited than in it’s heyday – is once again the smart choice.

The Art Of The Album Cover is available here.

Stickers, a top-ranking new book about the enduring art of the most immediate of rock & roll ephemera, provides an opportunity to show a selection of Barney Bubbles’ forays into this area of design.

Stickers is compiled by expat Brit DB Burkeman, who, pausing only to publish one of his rare shots of the Sex Pistols live in 1977, mentions in his introduction that a chance encounter with Reasons To Be Cheerful enabled him to trace Barney Bubbles as the link between the visual audacity of Hawkwind and the new wave/post-punk scene.

Burkeman’s tome covers the waterfront, from Bubbles, Jamie Reid, Malcolm Garrett and Peter Saville to  Fresh Jive, Fuct, Shephard Fairey and beyond.

A great feature at the back of the book are the pages of contemporary stickers just waiting to adorn a clean surface.

Buy your copy of Stickers here.

Process is feature in today’s Guardian Guide as a pick of new exhibitions around the country. Of course John – who worked alongside Barney at Frendz and danced on Hawkwind’s Space Ritual tour – meant Nick Lowe, not Drake.

The image is the artwork for the “Hamer & Sickle” logo Barney Bubbles created for Lowe’s 1979 album Labour Of Lust, spin-off single Cracking Up and music press ads/tour promotion etc (Nick had recently come into proud possession of the Hamer bass which Bubbles “snapped” into three).

Copies of the 24-page Barney Bubbles exhibition booklet are now available exclusively from this site.

Click on the Process exhibition booklet link in the right hand column.

Featuring the cover image of the ingenious hammer & sickle artwork for Nick Lowe’s 1979 album Labour Of Lust, the illustrated booklet includes:

• Title sticker (in ‘process magenta’)
• Introduction by author Paul Gorman
• Overview of Barney Bubbles’ design practices
• Photograph of Barney Bubbles creating set design for cover of Carlene Carter’s Musical Shapes
• Letter to Barney Bubbles from client Line Records
• Design for The M!ss!ng L!nk tattoo for The Damned drummer Rat Scabies
• 18 images including original artwork, sketches and photography for Elvis Costello, Dave Edmunds, Hawkwind, Clive Langer & The Boxes and Whirlwind

PRICE INCLUDING POSTAGE
Postage to UK £6.00 Postage to Europe £6.50 Postage Worldwide £7.00

PRICE INCLUDING POSTAGE
Postage to UK £6.00 Postage to Europe £6.50 Postage Worldwide £7.00