Reasons to be Cheerful » Stiff Records

Five Live Stiffs line up for the first time since 77

Paul Gorman — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 10:44:56 +0000

Posters, each 60" x 40" designed by Barney Bubbles for the October 1977 Stiff Records UK tour Live Stiffs. Photography: Chris Gabrin.

Exhibits in Chris Gabrin's exhibition at Dimbola Lodge, Isle Of Wight.

Chris Gabrin’s exhibition From Hear To Photography includes a doozy for Barney Bubbles fans – for the first time since their creation more than three decades ago, Bubbles’ huge Live Stiffs poster designs are displayed together.

Each measuring 60″ x 40″, the posters are among the best examples of Bubbles’ vivid application of colour. Their Warholian fizz captures the energy of Britain’s new wave scene at its height.

Photo: Chris Gabrin.

The exhibition at Dimbola Lodge on the Isle Of Wight presents Gabrin’s 70s music work. In this period his photography was used in many Bubbles’ designs.

“About a third of the 70 or so exhibits are based around work I did with Barney,” says Gabrin, who points out that the show was the brainchild of Brian Hinton, curator at Dimbola Lodge (once the home of 19th century photographer Julia Margaret Cameron).

“I first saw her work when I was at college in the late 60s,” adds Gabrin. “The museum and galleries are a charitable trust run by part-timers and volunteers. It’s a national photographic institution which deserves as much support as possible.”

Photo: Chris Gabrin.

Gabrin shot the poster portraits of Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Nick Lowe, Larry Wallis and Wreckless Eric during a photo-session for the Stiff Records’ autumn 1977 Live Stiffs UK tour.

This shoot produced a range of imagery which found its way into promotion, advertising and, in the case of the live album which followed, a couple of record covers.

Music press ad, 1977.

Music press ad, 1978.

Front cover, 12in sleeve, Stiffs Live Stiffs, various artists, Stiff Records, 1978.

Reissue, Music For Pleasure, 1980.

From Hear To Photography is on until October 2 at Dimbola Museum & Galleries, Terrace Lane , Freshwater Bay, Isle Of Wight.

Full details here.

Barney Bubbles features large in NYC punk + post-punk graphics exhibition

Paul Gorman — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:38:30 +0000

Poster, 60in x 40in, Live Stiffs tour, 1977.

This Larry Wallis poster design – one of five of the stars of the 1977 Live Stiffs tour – is among 20 or so examples of Barney Bubbles’ work included in Rude & Reckless, the punk and post-punk graphics exhibition opening tomorrow (July 21) at NYC’s Steven Kasher Gallery.

The show samples the collection of New York resident Andrew Krivine, who started accumulating records, posters, flyers and ephemera during family visits to the UK in the late 70s.

The teenage collector was given a fast-track to London’s music scene via his fashion entrepreneur cousin John Krivine, one of the founders of musician-haunted King’s Road boutiques Acme Attractions and Boy.

“Over the summers of 1977 and 1978 I became obsessed with punk, and was particularly drawn to Stiff Records and its extraordinary promotional materials,” says Krivine. ”I visited the Stiff store several times and hoovered up whatever materials weren’t nailed down, in the process becoming a big fan of Barney’s work.”

The Bubbles designs in Rude & Reckless include two more of the Live Stiffs posters as well as items relating to Elvis Costello, The Damned, Nick Lowe, The Rumour and Ian Dury & The Blockheads.

Rude & Reckless: Punk/Post-Punk Graphics 1976-1982 also features work by Michael Beal, Peter Christopherson, Nick Egan, Malcolm Garrett, Jamie Reid, Parched Art, Peter Saville, Linder Sterling and X3 Studios.

Full details and a selection of exhibits here.

Also opening tomorrow at the same gallery is Musicians, a show including portraits of many punk and post-punk artists by photographer Laura Levine.

Kosmo Vinyl on Barney Bubbles + Ian Dury

Paul Gorman — Sat, 21 May 2011 19:47:27 +0000

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.

Moorcock on Ballard, Bubbles, Platt, Paolozzi et al

Paul Gorman — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 08:05:10 +0000

Pedro Marques has posted the second installment of his interview with Michael Moorcock, in which the great man discusses his working relationship with designers not only of his books but also New Worlds, the sci-fi magazine he edited over a long period .

New Worlds, August 1967. Cover: Eduardo Paolozzi.

The interview reveals the mutual respect shared by Barney Bubbles and art director/editor/and later WIRED contributor Charles Platt.

New Worlds August 1969. Cover: Charles Platt.

“Barney and Charles lived a few blocks from one another in the Portobello Road and its environs, where the offices of New Worlds and Frendz were situated virtually side by side,” says Moorcock, whose 1975 album The New Worlds Fair is housed in a Barney Bubbles sleeve.

12in sleeve. The New Worlds Fair, Michael Moorcock & The Deep Fix, UA, 1975.

Later on in the decade the New Worlds art director was Richard Glyn Jones.”By the time [Barney] was at Stiff Records, he had more work than he could handle and I never wanted to overload him, he was such a sweet guy,” says Moorcock. “But I would have used him if I could.”

Stacia, second left, with fans at Harlow Town Park, August 1974. Photo via Bassmonster 2 at Hawkwind Free Forums.

I was thrilled that Moorcock was available to make many valuable contributions to Reasons To Be Cheerful, not least because I clearly remember him intoning excerpts from Warrior On the Edge Of Time oonstage with Hawkwind at a 1974 free festival in Harlow New Town, surrounded as I was by members of the Windsor Chapter, all of us captivated by the onstage antics of Stacia and Nik Turner (playing his sax dressed as a frog, naturellement)

Since we’re on the subject of MM, I’d also like to urge you to check out the recently published and wonderful John Coulthart-designed compendium of Moorcock’s writings, Into The Media Web.

Humphrey Ocean does his ‘Daisy Disco’ dance

Paul Gorman — Tue, 11 May 2010 10:52:46 +0000

In 1978 painter Humphrey Ocean dipped his toe back into the music business with the one-off charmer Whoops A Daisy for Stiff Records, a suitably quirky ditty written by his Kilburn & the High Roads bandmate Ian Dury.

The man born Humphrey Anthony Erdeswick Butler-Bowdon had opted out of playing bass for the Kilburns a few years earlier to concentrate on his art, occasionally contributing to record covers for the likes of Wings and 10cc.

7in sleeve. Front cover, Whoops A Daisy/Davey Crockett, Stiff, 1978.

The winsome Whoops A Daisy was backed by a cracking version of the 50s film theme The Ballad of Davy Crockett and wrapped in a wonderful Barney Bubbles sleeve using Chris Gabrin’s photographs of Ocean performing the elaborate dance moves he had recently enacted on the Stiffs Live Stiffs tour.

7in sleeve. Back cover, Whoops A Daisy/Davey Crockett, Stiff, 1978.

These were exaggerated by the huge white suit Ocean had bought in Brixton Market during his time in the Kilburns.

Sleeve lettering, front cover.

Barney decorated the sleeve with detailed lettering (the H on the back from interlinked horseshoes to match the rhyming-slang name of Ocean’s backing musicians, Iron Hoof) and on release there was also a version of the black and white sleeve featuring blue spot-colour.

Sleeve lettering, back cover.

The accompanying poster was a delight. With Ocean’s name picked out in dance-step style, 35 frames from the Chris Gabrin shoot were presented in sequence with the instruction: “Cut poster out and make Humphrey Ocean’s Daisy Disco Do It My Way flickbook.”

Poster 30in x 20in, Stiff, 1978.

We’ve put them together here to accompany the tune:

And here Ocean is called to the stage to join the Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll finale of the Stiff tour and shows us how it’s done:

Found! Big Jobs Inc artwork for The Damned’s “printing error” sleeve

Paul Gorman — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:24:33 +0000

Never previously published, this is something of an exclusive: Barney Bubbles’ original artwork for the back cover of the first 2,000 sleeves of The Damned’s debut album Damned Damned Damned.

Damned Damned Damned special edition artwork. (c) Jake Riviera Collection/Reasons 2010.

On the album’s release in February 1977 the story was put about that distributor Island Records had mistakenly positioned an Erica Echenberg photograph of new wave r&b band Eddie & The Hot Rods in place of a live shot of The Damned at London punk venue the Roxy .

Left: 12in card. "Printing error" back cover. Right: Erratum sticker.

Barney and Stiff boss Jake Riviera went so far as to add an erratum sticker, explaining: “Due to Record Company error, a picture of Island recording artists Eddie & The Hot Rods has been printed instead of The Damned. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and the correct picture will be substituted on future copies.”

12in card. Damned Damned Damned back cover, standard release, Stiff Records, 1977.

In fact the “error” was intentional; Jake had worked out that Stiff needed to sell 2,000 copies to recoup the cost of recording and producing the first UK punk album release.

12in card. Damned Damned Damned front cover. Photo: Peter Kodick.

With Barney recently installed as Stiff’s art director, Jake was able to create an instant collectible, all the while keeping the Island executives involved in the newly-inked distribution deal on their toes.

12 in. Limited edition shrink-wrapped sleeve with "food-fight" sticker.

And the trick worked. Media coverage of the “error” helped rustle up interest and propel the Nick Lowe-produced album into the UK Top 40, establishing The Damned as an act to rival The Clash and the Sex Pistols commercially.

A very limited number of albums were also shrink-wrapped and featured a red “food-fight” sticker completing the title Damned Damned Damned. These now fetch up to £500 apiece.

“By the time Barney had finished, you could imagine our covers competing with whatever else is out there,” says Rat Scabies. “He understood that, much as Stiff was a lot of fun, the releases had to have commercial appeal. At the same time he made it edgy and kind of sinister.”

Left: 12in card, front cover, "Bongos Over Balham", Chilli Willi And The Red Hot Peppers, Mooncrest, 1974. Right: Sleeve detail.

At once a savvy marketing maneouvre and a keen artistic intervention, the printing error stunt is a prime example of Barney’s wily approach, particularly when working with Jake: see also the Bohemian Revivalist Series Vol 2 “sticker” on the sleeve of Chilli Willi And The Red Hot Peppers’ 1974 album Bongos Over Balham and the deliberately off-register sleeve of Elvis Costello & The Attractions’ 1978 release This Year’s Model.

Left: 12in card. Front cover, This Year's Model, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Radar, 1978. Right: Sleeve detail with sticker and exposed colour code.

Similarly the bogus Stiff “voucher” which appeared on the back of the August 1977 release of Ian Dury’s single Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll; the voucher had just been introduced on the Barney-designed sleeve of the preceding single, Wreckless Eric’s (I’d Go The) Whole Wide World.

Left: 7in card, back cover, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Ian Dury, Stiff records, 1977. Right: Sleeve detail - cut-out "voucher".

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll bore the catalogue number BUY 17, which Barney had allocated to the Damned Damned Damned artwork as a positional several months earlier. At that time Riviera and his Stiff partner Dave Robinson had not quite settled on a separate numbering for album releases (which were allocated the prefix SEEZ; The Damned’s debut was SEEZ1).

Pen and ink on paper. Details, Damned Damned Damned artwork, 1977.

Barney also decorated his artwork with a sketch of a “100% Guaranteed Refund” sticker and typically twisted marketing slogans: “To clean use a barely damp Brillo pad” advises a vertical instruction, and the sentence along the bottom reads: “Long range full frequency stereo ersatz recording. Play at 33 1/3 rpm.”

In the event, the final back cover of the album carried the nonsensical note: “Made to be played loud at low volume.”

Design credit, Damned Damned Damned, 1977.

And in final flourish, Barney adopted one of his finer pseudonymous credits: Big Jobs Inc.

When music advertising’s aim was true

Paul Gorman — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:08:42 +0000

One of the key factors which accelerated Stiff Records past all-comers in 1977 – whether established majors or the new wave of indies launching in its wake – was the quality, wit and invention of its music press advertising.

Cut-out-and-keep Elvis Costello poster constructed from Stiff adverts in Melody Maker, NME and Sounds, July 1977.

As explained in Reasons To Be Cheerful, this was a result of the winning combination of Barney Bubbles’ graphic genius and commercial experience (principally with Conran) and Stiff founders Dave Robinson and, in particular, Jake Riviera’s pithy and provocative promotional nous.

Stiff Records DPS adverts, New Musical Express (top), Sounds (bottom left) and Melody Maker, all published July 23, 1977.

Jake’s progress in London’s hidebound advertising scene on leaving school in the 60s had been stymied by lack of qualifications. Come the 70s his substantial creative capabilities locked in with Barney’s arsenal of references and willingness to play games to provide series after series of individual ads for each of Britain’s music publications: the five weeklies Disc & Music Echo, Melody Maker, NME, Record Mirror and Sounds and the monthlies Let it Rock and ZigZag.

Stiff Records ad detail. Assembly instructions, July 23, 1977.

A fabulous example is the batch of three cut-out-and-keep double-page spreads announcing the release of Elvis Costello’s debut album My Aim Is True in the summer of 1977. Pieced together and clipped, these created a poster of Keith Morris’s image from the front of the album.

12in sleeve. Back and front cover, My Aim Is True, Elvis Costello, Stiff, 1977.

“Our credo was that people are more intelligent than politicians or big business gives them credit for,” says Jake. “We wanted to really engage with fans and, since there were so many music papers, why not come up with a collectable series? Better than the same old ad for the latest Genesis album; hold me back, you know?”

Jake Riviera with point-of-sale Elvis Costello cut-out figure, outside Stiff offices, 32 Alexander Street, London W2, 1977. Photo: LIFE.

This and the image on the back had been carefully selected after a photo-session in which Barney and Jake were both involved to ensure that Costello’s transformation from country-rocker DP McManus (at the time holding down a day-job as a computer operator in North Acton with cosmetics manufacturer Elizabeth Arden) was complete.

Meanwhile retailers were provided with in-store cut-outs of the back cover shot; I coveted without success the one which occupied pride of place in my local record shop, Manzi’s in Finchley Road, north London.

Full-page adverts for Bongos Over Balham, Chilli Willi And The Red Hot Peppers, Mooncrest, 1974. Left: artwork for Let It Rock. Right, artwork for ZigZag.

Barney and Jake had been finessing this approach for a couple of years; Chilli Willi And The Red Hot Peppers benefited from a wide range of stickers, cut-outs and other promotional ephemera, and, when second album Bongos Over Balham was released in 1974, it was “presented” in the music press ads by a variety of items, including a pig’s trotter and a vibrator.

Contact sheet, My Aim Is True photo-session 1977, Keith Morris. (C) Keith Morris Estate.

And the objective of introducing the then-totally unknown Costello as “Buddy Holly on acid” with a sackful of songs driven by guilt and revenge was achieved in the time-honoured fashion of maintaining tight rein over available imagery while word-of-mouth was built.

My Aim Is True colour variations, 1977/78.

Morris’s two cover shots were used repeatedly in posters as well as ads, and Barney adopted a Warholian approach by chopping and changing the eye-popping overlaid colours of the album sleeve over the course of several print-runs.

Elvis Costello posters promoting live appearances (left) and his debut album, 1977.

With the initial pressing containing the “Help Us Hype Elvis” leaflet offering free copies for those who could turn their friends on to the album, it’s likely that there were at least 30 different coloured sleeves.

Full page adverts: (left) NME August 6, 1977, Melody Maker, August 13, 1977.

Of course it’s impossible to calculate what would have happened had Elvis Presley not died on August 16 1977 just as the My Aim Is True campaign got underway; the album’s prospects certainly weren’t hurt by the public attention directed to such elements as the near-sacriligeous phrase “Elvis Is King” Letraset-ed into the cover’s two-tone boxes by Barney.

By the autumn Costello was proving he was not only one of the greatest songwriters of his generation but also a fearsome live prospect, having hooked up with The Attractions and started to perform some of the stunning tracks to appear on follow-up This Year’s Model.

Once again, this was heralded by a campaign based on more spectacular advertising, including a music press series of three ads (NB: we’re advised there were at least six – see note below) featuring various headings including “Drugs”, “Fads” and “Commodities”.

Barney chose not to lay the titles across the gutter (the central margin separating type and images) to increase legibility for the reader holding the paper open. Laid out flat this would be nearly 2ft wide and was often a source of discomfort for those trying to read the “inkies” on cramped public transport.

DPS advert for This Year's Model, NME, March 25, 1978.

These ads are packed with puns and inside jokes: Patti Smith is miscaptioned as Patty Hearst, Chilli Willi as “saccharine”, Troggs’ singer Reg Presley as Elvis Presley, The Attractions as much-maligned budget label K-Tel and the recently arrested Roman Polanski as Charles Manson (the man, of course, responsible for the death of his wife Sharon Tate).

DPS advert for This Year's Model, NME, March 18, 1978.

And Costello was not spared: a photograph of Buddy Holly was placed next to his name. And a banjo lying on the ground lays the ghost of DP MacManus to rest with the caption: “Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass”.

Feelgoods flick feeling good…

Paul Gorman — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:16:21 +0000

It’s taken a week or so to absorb two very different cinematic investigations into a brace of Barney Bubbles-related bands (both coincidentally from Essex).

Shown during the London Film Festival, Julien Temple’s Oil City Confidential traces the “Estuarine” roots of the wondrous Dr Feelgood, while the Frieze Art Fair delivered Jeremy Deller and Nicholas Abrahams’ The Posters Came From The Walls, an extraordinary celebration of the personal and political liberation experienced by Depeche Mode fans around the world.

The power of the pyramid and the mystery of the three circles

Paul Gorman — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:57:15 +0000

The application of geometric symbols was an important element of Barney Bubbles’ visual language.

Detail from label, I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down, FBeat XX1, February 1980.

As pointed out in Reasons To Be Cheerful, Barney’s use of symbolism throughout his career underlines his consistency of approach and undercuts notions of a clear division between his 60s/70s “hippie” work and that produced after joining Stiff Records in March 1977.

The presence of symbols also effected a “signature” for this artist who opted for anonymity and avoided credits in his later years.

A fine example are the three triangulated circles which surfaced in February 1980 as a tiny detail on the label for I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down, the hit single by Elvis Costello & The Attractions which inaugurated Jake Riviera’s FBeat Records. Next they appeared on the double A-side promo for the label’s second single, Splash (A Tear Comes Rolling Down) by Clive Langer & The Boxes, though were gone by the official release.

B-side of From Head To Toe, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, FBeat, 1983.

Thereafter, the circles crop up on releases by Costello and Nick Lowe up until Barney’s death in 1983. However, the symbol was not used in the label copy for releases by other acts on FBeat, including Lowe’s collaborative projects with Dave Edmunds in Rockpile such as Seconds of Pleasure or The Attractions’ “solo” effort Mad About The Wrong Boy.

Triple gatefold cover, the Glastonbury Fayre, Revelation, 1972. Advert, Frendz 33, 1972.

So what to make of this repeated, if selective, use? The pyramid and triangle were sources of fascination in line with Barney’s interest in Egyptology and Norse mythology, as evinced by such projects as The Glastonbury Fayre and in various forms for Hawkwind and band-member Nik Turner’s solo projects.

"Pyramid power": Cut and fold inserts, The Glastonbury Fayre, Revelation, 1972.

The three overlapping circles convey many meanings, drawing on the potency of Sacred Geometry as well as the work of “The Great Geometer” himself, Appollonius of Perga.

From advert for Xitintoday by Nik Turner's Sphynx, NME, April 22, 1978.

In Christian terms, they represent the Holy Trinity, and in combination with triangles signify alchemy. Intersecting and tangental circles occur in Masonic mathematical calculations – Barney’s father Fred Fulcher was a mason and the compass, used to draw circles, is a key symbol in Freemasonry.

Left: Symbol for the Holy Trinity. Right: The Borromean Rings.

The three interlaced circles are also known as the Borromean Rings (since they decorate a particular Baroque palazzo on one of the three northern Italian islands owned in the 17th Century by the Borromeo family). A form of the link was used by the Vikings and is known as Odin’s Triangle.

Left: Alchemical sign. Right: Odin's Triangle.

More recently, three interlinked rings have been employed to define business leadership and corporate management structures.

Contemporary versions used in sociology and management models.

The explicit use of this symbol during the FBeat period comes into focus when one considers Barney’s ongoing preoccupation with power – hence also the variants on crowns and other regal insignia. The strength in the three interlocked circles lies in their unity; if one is broken the potency is lost.

My interpretation is that the three circles – fuelled by the energy of the pyramid and imbued with multiple layers of meaning – represent the powerful interplay between Jake Riviera, Barney himself and the priority artists Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe: this was a time when management, design and music were all reliant on each other and firing on all cylinders.

What’s yours?

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Do It Yourself

Paul Gorman — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:54:07 +0000

Today we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of Do It Yourself by Ian Dury & The Blockheads with a visual feast including previously unpublished images.

When the album came out on May 18, 1979, much was made of the fact that the wallpaper cover was available in a number of variations. There have been claims that as many as 56 were printed in stock from the Crown range. We found 27 in the course of researching Reasons To Be Cheerful, most of which are reproduced here.

The inspiration for the cover came from a book of wallpaper samples; as ever Barney Bubbles delighted in elevating the mundane and everyday, though his initial proposal was for four covers.

When Stiff Records‘ boss Dave Robinson persuaded Crown to provide the materials for free in exchange for featuring the order number on the front of the album, Stiff swiftly escalated the plans with 10 alone for the UK and many others for their licensees around the world.

With screw-hole lettering embossed onto the surface of the wallpaper, the front cover carries the tracklisting and also a Barney classic; an illustration entitled “Tommy The Talking Toolbox says it’s…for all the family to enjoy!”

One piece of original artwork unearthed for the book contains part of the lyric from the album’s lead-track Inbetweenies, which was released as a single in some countries.

The back cover carries a Chris Gabrin photograph of Dury and the Blockheads lined up outside a wig shop; this is mirrored in abstract form in a painting by Barney on one side of the inner, entitled “Better Being Mugs Than Being Smug”.

The other side of the inner – headed “Ultramine” with Gabrin billed as “Gabrinovsky” – features the musicians and their team hand-triggering portrait shots of themselves.

A lot was riding on the album’s release. It’s predecessor – New Boots & Panties!! – had established Ian Dury as a new wave star, remaining in the charts for 90 weeks and setting up hits such as Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick.

When Dury refused to allow Hit Me to appear on the album, the Stiff staff, including marketing men Alan Cowderoy and Paul Conroy (who went on to work with hit acts from Madness to the Spice Girls), pulled out all the stops with an advertising and promotional campaign which integrated Barney’s design work centred around the theme of home improvement.

Barney’s paintbrush and paint logo for the record label was extended across posters, in-store banners and music press ads, as were his graphics representing paint splashes and stains.

Famously, Stiff sent teams of wallpaper hangers to decorate music press offices before journalists arrived while the exterior of record label’s offices received similar treatment.

Left: Dury outside Stiff. Pic: Redferns. Right: Inbetweenies 12", Stiff France.

A photo-shoot took place at Barney’s Shoreditch studio with Ian Dury - complete with knotted hankie on his head – as a housepainter.

Right (c) Alan Cowderoy/Reasons 2009.

Barney created point of display artwork on clear vinyl to be posted in record shop windows, and press ads and many badges (including an adapted Blockheads logo) continued the theme.

Promotional items even included “Blockhead” tins of paint while posters such as the one on the right below (which belongs to designer Alan Aboud) were printed on wallpaper and pasted onto exterior walls.

[

Typical of his approach to advertising in this period, Barney exploited the presence of five weekly music papers with different ads using spot-colour to “paint” and decorate full pages. Several incorporated his Blockhead ideogram (which has been identified on John Coulthart’s Barney post by Paul Murphy as stemming from British political imprint of the 30s, the Left Book Club).

One is a cut-out-and-keep face mask (so that the reader could, er, do it themselves…), while another features a splash of paint over one “eye”. The Watchmen ident has always put me in mind of this image.

The volume and sustained quality of the work is impressive, particularly since Barney also delivered sleeves and promotional, advertising and marketing designs for other projects in this period, including Labour Of Lust by Nick Lowe and Frogs, Sprouts, Clogs And Krauts by The Rumour and their attendant singles.

In the event, Do It Yourself didn’t achieve the hoped-for sales levels. The absence of Hit Me was compounded by the mercurial Dury’s decision to hastily release a new track as the next single.

Reasons To be Cheerful Part 3 was recorded while on the road in Europe, and released a month or so after Do It Yourself (and effectively eclipsing it). The artwork was not designed by Barney but Dury’s friend and former art-school teacher Peter Blake. But that’s another story…