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<channel>
	<title>Reasons to be Cheerful</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog</link>
	<description>The life and work of Barney Bubbles</description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:09:30 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>Wreckless Eric: No Piccadilly menial</title>
		<link>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3263</link>
		<comments>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3263#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:07:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Paul Gorman</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Graphic design]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Illustration]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Logos]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Photography]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Single sleeves]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Typography]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[A Bunch Of Stiff Records]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Chris Gabrin]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Chris Moreton]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Dave Robinson]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[EP]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Nuggets]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Piccadilly Menial]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Rags & Tatters]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Reconnez Cherie]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Stiff]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[The Damned]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[The Soft Boys]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Whole Wide World]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Wreckless Eric]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/?p=3263</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Wreckless Eric is one of British pop&#8217;s great survivors, blessed with an ever-growing arsenal of superb, idiosyncratic songs which have seen him outlast most of the class of 77.
Overshadowed during the early days of Stiff Records by the label&#8217;s priority acts Elvis Costello, Ian Dury and Nick Lowe, the 2001 publication of Eric&#8217;s great memoir [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Wreckless Eric is one of British pop&#8217;s great survivors, blessed with an ever-growing arsenal of superb, idiosyncratic songs which have seen him outlast most of the class of 77.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4403081841_44bc1880b3_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="401" /><p class="wp-caption-text">7in sleeve, laminated card. Front cover, Whole Wide World/Semaphore Signals, Wreckless Eric, Stiff, 1977.</p></div>
<p>Overshadowed during the early days of Stiff Records by the label&#8217;s priority acts <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/2797" target="_blank">Elvis Costello</a>, <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3084" target="_blank">Ian Dury </a>and <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3004" target="_blank">Nick Lowe</a>, the 2001 publication of <a href="http://wrecklesseric.com" target="_blank">Eric</a>&#8217;s great memoir <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dysfunctional-Success-Wreckless-Manual-written/dp/1904316182/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1267610165&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">A Dysfunctional Success</a> and the use of the deathless <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whole-Wide-World/dp/B001HAGYMK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=dmusic&amp;qid=1267271018&amp;sr=1-2" target="_blank">Whole Wide World </a>in Will Ferrell-starrer <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stranger-Than-Fiction-Emma-Thompson/dp/B001Q94TM4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=dvd&amp;qid=1267611763&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank">Stranger Than Fiction</a> have provided the, er, wider world with a taste of his talents in recent years.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.wrecklesseric.com/" target="_blank"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="400" height="344" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/DSjwl8lHEVE&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DSjwl8lHEVE&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object></p>
<p>Over the coming weeks, the considerable fruits of his partnership with US singer-songwriter <a href="http://www.amyrigby.com/" target="_blank">Amy Rigby</a> can be witnessed first-hand on a series of <a href="http://www.wrecklesseric.com/live.htm" target="_blank">European live dates</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="400" height="344" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/zsxvv77eNwQ&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zsxvv77eNwQ&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object></p>
<p>In comparison with his former stablemates, Eric Goulden benefited fleetingly from the design work of Barney Bubbles, though they maintained a friendship from introduction early in 1977 to Barney&#8217;s death late in 1983; they shared common ground in having attended art schools (Goulden studied sculpture at Hull).</p>
<p>On the line from his home in France, Goulden confirms that Barney wasn&#8217;t at Stiff for the first six months of the label&#8217;s existence, when the design direction was handled by Chris Moreton.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/4389075403_8b3897f28a_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="402" /></p>
<p>&#8220;Then Barney swam into the picture,&#8221; says Goulden. &#8220;I liked him a lot. Barney was easygoing and looked kind of normal; short-ish hair and always wearing some kind of anorak. To look at him, you wouldn&#8217;t have thought this bloke had any history.</p>
<p>&#8220;He was a strange man, an acid casualty on some levels. It was unusual for someone who&#8217;d been such a part of the Ladbroke Grove/Notting Hill hippie scene to cross over and working with people like <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/2956" target="_blank">The Damned</a>.&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: center; "><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4389075359_72bbfdb049_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="131" /></p>
<p>Barney created an ident (which, like those produced for other Stiff artists, appeared on the record label). &#8220;He used the guillotine to cut jagged strips of paper which he put together to make up my name,&#8221; says Goulden. This logo was paired on the front cover of Whole Wide World with a crop from the <a href="http://www.snapgalleries.com/photographers/chris-gabrin/" target="_blank">Chris Gabrin</a> portrait from <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Various-A-Bunch-Of-Stiff-Records/release/1416413" target="_blank">A Bunch Of Stiffs</a>.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4402998601_c8341b6d28_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="206" /><p class="wp-caption-text">From the inner to A Bunch Of Stiffs, April 1977. Photo: Chris Gabrin.</p></div>
<p>For the back, Goulden was despatched to a photo-booth and ordered to improvise semaphore signals. Barney then cropped and bleached out one of the frames. &#8220;I&#8217;d never seen anything like it; he made it look incredible,&#8221; Goulden adds.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2764/4403846812_4b0667c70b_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="400" /><p class="wp-caption-text">7in sleeve, card. Back cover, Whole Wide World/Semaphore Signals, Wreckless Eric, Stiff, 1977.</p></div>
<p>&#8220;To me Barney was like The Beatles. When I was a kid you wouldn&#8217;t be quite sure of how they sounded when you first heard one of their new records. Sometimes you&#8217;d think: &#8216;They&#8217;ve lost it,&#8217; because it was so unexpected, and Barney was a bit like that. Every time he did something new, it was so over-the-top you were taken aback.&#8221; </p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4389842900_11b38d35f5_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="394" /><p class="wp-caption-text">A clutch of 1977 Stiff labels with personalised labels.</p></div>
<p style="text-align: left;">One of the five subjects of the 60in x 40in day-glo posters Barney and Gabrin created for the Stiffs Live Stiffs tour of late 77, Goulden was around when the pair collaborated on the sleeve for Music For Pleasure.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 450px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/3914724567_e6dd67533a_o.jpg" alt="" width="440" height="146" /><p class="wp-caption-text">12in sleeves. Back cover and inner &quot;lino&quot; shots, Music For Pleasure, The Damned, Stiff, 1977.</p></div>
<p style="text-align: left;">&#8220;I went with him to a lino shop in Westbourne Grove where he bought the roll which is on the inner sleeve,&#8221; says Eric. &#8220;The Damned were made to lie on it at Chris&#8217;s studio and shot from above, so it looked like they were standing up. Very odd, but it worked brilliantly.&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: center; "><object width="400" height="344" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/8jS7AD-lqwA&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8jS7AD-lqwA&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object></p>
<p>One of Barney&#8217;s great lost designs was the sleeve for Goulden&#8217;s unreleased 1977 Stiff EP, Piccadilly Menial. With the catalogue number LAST3, this was to comprise the title track, Excuse Me, Personal Hygiene and Rags &amp; Tatters .</p>
<p>&#8220;It was on graph paper and in the style of an architectural drawing,&#8221; says Goulden, who recalls  it was akin to the <a href="http://www.ider.herts.ac.uk/school/courseware/graphics/Axonometric.html" target="_blank">axinometric</a> lettering Barney created for <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/SoftBoys" target="_blank">The Soft Boys</a>. The EP was replaced in the schedule with <a href="http://www.wrecklesseric.com/reconnez_cherie.htm" target="_blank">Reconnez Cherie</a>,  the B-side of which was the Benny Hill theme tune-quoting Rags &amp; Tatters.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2799/4403939650_94e62c3c9f_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="302" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Music press half-page advert, The Soft Boys tour, 1978.</p></div>
<p>&#8220;Barney had angles to him,&#8221; says Eric. &#8220;People would say &#8216;Oh it&#8217;s just Barney, a bit of a wacky image with some splashes and other esoteric stuff&#8217; but in fact he thought things through and was way better than his imitators, of course. Unfortunately, in that way, he inadvertently created the look of the 80s, which was horrible and gaudy.&#8221;</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/4403921230_db2eb334f6_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="703" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Dansette, detail, front cover Musical Shapes, Carlene Carter, F-beat, 1980</p></div>
<p>Poignantly, Goulden saw Barney not long before his death in November 1983. &#8221;I visited him at his house off the <a href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;q=balls+pond+road+islington&amp;oe=UTF-8&amp;redir_esc=&amp;um=1&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;hq=&amp;hnear=Ball's+Pond+Rd,+Islington,+Greater+London&amp;gl=uk&amp;ei=wVuOS5a-Hozw0gTrtdHqDA&amp;sa=X&amp;oi=geocode_result&amp;ct=title&amp;resnum=1&amp;ved=0CAoQ8gEwAA" target="_blank">Balls Pond Road</a>,&#8221; says Eric. &#8220;He got <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nuggets-Original-Artyfacts-Psychedelic-1965-1968/dp/B000E6ET1G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=music&amp;qid=1267611671&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">Nuggets</a> out and played it really loud on this <a href="http://www.dansettes.co.uk/" target="_blank">Dansette </a>on legs in the basement.&#8221;</p>
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			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3263/feed</wfw:commentRss>
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		<item>
		<title>Kirsten wins the signed copy of Will Birch&#8217;s Ian Dury biography</title>
		<link>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3251</link>
		<comments>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3251#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:33:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Paul Gorman</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/?p=3251</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[By the sign of the Do It Yourself 1979 paint splodge badge ye shall know that we have a winner in our competition for a SIGNED copy of Will Birch&#8217;s fantabulous Ian Dury biography.
Congratulations to Kirsten Sharvin whose correct answer to the question below was plucked from the ceremonial ID fez.
Q: What is the title [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By the sign of the Do It Yourself 1979 paint splodge badge ye shall know that we have a winner in our <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3084" target="_blank">competition</a> for a SIGNED copy of Will Birch&#8217;s fantabulous Ian Dury <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ian-Dury-Definitive-Will-Birch/dp/0283071036/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1264879882&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">biography</a>.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4365293695_4811c0b1cd_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="422" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Photo: Tom Sheehan.</p></div>
<p style="text-align: left; ">Congratulations to Kirsten Sharvin whose correct answer to the question below was plucked from the ceremonial ID fez.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ff00ff;"><strong>Q: What is the title of the B-side of Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick?<br />
A: There Ain&#8217;t Half Been Some Clever Bastards</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left; ">Send us your address Kirsten and we&#8217;ll get Will a-scribblin&#8217; and Sidgwick &amp; Jackson a-postin&#8217;.</p>
<p style="text-align: left; ">Commiserations to every one else; there will be another brahma comp coming along soon.</p>
<p style="text-align: left; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: left; "> </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Wud Wud! When Barney got the (Chilli) Willis&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3213</link>
		<comments>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3213#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:29:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Paul Gorman</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Album artwork]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Graphic design]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Illustration]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[1975]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Dr Feelgood]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Jake Riviera]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[John Coleman]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Kokomo]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Martin Stone]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Naughty Rhythms]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Paul Conroy]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Red Hot Chilli Peppers]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Revelation Enterprises]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[The Glastonbury Fayre]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Tom Sheehan]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/?p=3213</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thanks to photographic ace and all-round good chap  Tom Sheehan for this splendid Chilli Willi And The Red Hot Peppers poster.
This portrays the band&#8217;s founders Martin Stone and the sadly long-departed Phil Lithman in footloose minstrel mode, in line with their appearance on the inner sleeve of Barney-designed debut album Kings Of the Robot Rhythm.
In Tom&#8217;s poster, they&#8217;re not such a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks to photographic ace and all-round good chap  <a href="http://www.tomsheehan.co.uk/" target="_blank">Tom Sheehan</a> for this splendid Chilli Willi And The Red Hot Peppers poster.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/4346524713_d6ca3de5d4_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="514" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Poster. Chilli Willi And The Red Hot Peppers, 1972. (c) Tom Sheehan Collection.</p></div>
<p>This portrays the band&#8217;s founders <a href="http://www.terrascope.co.uk/MyBackPages/MightyBaby.pdf" target="_blank">Martin Stone</a> and the sadly long-departed <a href="http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=snakefinger" target="_blank">Phil Lithman</a> in footloose minstrel mode, in line with their appearance on the inner sleeve of Barney-designed debut album <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B0002XNL8I/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1265991417&amp;sr=8-1&amp;condition=new" target="_blank">Kings Of the Robot Rhythm</a>.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4350403113_f61deb623d_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="554" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Detail, 12in inner sleeve, Kings Of the Robot Rhythm. Phil Lithman and Martin Stone. Photo: Daisy Grinchin.</p></div>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2802/4350402843_a13d938249_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="204" /><p class="wp-caption-text">12in paperboard sleeve, front and back, Kings Of The Robot Rhythm, Chilli Willi And The Red Hot Peppers, Revelation Enterprises, 1972.</p></div>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4027/4351149012_4084df9d8d_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="398" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Label, Kings Of the Robot Rhythm. </p></div>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4049/4351148850_d651e9e957_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="388" /><p class="wp-caption-text"> Detail from permissions/rights label copy.</p></div>
<p>In Tom&#8217;s poster, they&#8217;re not such a skip and a jump from the space-hopping character (a self-portrait?) Barney included in his artwork for the same year&#8217;s triple album <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Various-Glastonbury-Fayre-The-Electric-Score/release/552348" target="_blank">The Glastonbury Fayre</a>.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4349298444_c22cf6c194_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="601" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Detail, artwork, The Glastonbury Fayre, Revelation Enterprises, 1972.</p></div>
<p>Kings Of the Robot Rhythm was the second release on Revelation Enterprises, the label launched by Barney&#8217;s former Friends colleague, music editor John Coleman, to raise funds to pay off the debts from the previous year&#8217;s festival (at which Stone&#8217;s former band <a href="http://www.actionmightybaby.co.uk/" target="_blank">Mighty Baby</a> performed).</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2785/4346524801_6a4364ae32_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="190" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Poster detail, 1972.</p></div>
<p>South Londoner Tom recounts how he became a fan of  the Willis during a spell working first for the parks department and then The Star &amp; Telegraph in Sheffield - and loved to replicate the &#8220;Very Amazing Cut Out N Colour Me In&#8221; bowtie Barney provided on Kings Of The Robot Rhythm&#8217;s charming insert.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4348513275_758f6488e0_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="403" /><p class="wp-caption-text">12in brown paper insert, Kings Of the Robot Rhythm, Chilli Willi And The Red Hot Peppers, Revelation, 1972.</p></div>
<p>This gloried in the recommended hues: &#8220;Colour me ruby redneck&#8221; is the instruction for the rail on which the cowgirl rests, and &#8220;acupulco gold&#8221;, &#8220;blue bird blue&#8221; and &#8220;juke box emerald&#8221; are just a few of those suggested for the sun rays.</p>
<p>&#8220;I traced around it and made &#8216;bowties&#8217; for me and my friends to wear to Willis gigs,&#8221; says Tom, one of Britain&#8217;s <a href="http://www.tomsheehan.co.uk/images.html" target="_blank">highest rated music photographers</a>.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/4348513401_6911f69775_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="361" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Insert detail, Kings Of The Robot Rhythm, 1972.</p></div>
<p>Note how the insert&#8217;s desert horizon is recalled in the landscape on <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/109" target="_blank">the drumhead</a> he painted for the Willis&#8217; drummer Pete Thomas a couple of years later.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 450px"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3306/3222611044_4fe7de31de_o.jpg" alt="" width="440" height="440" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Drumhead, 1974. (C) Pete Thomas Collection.</p></div>
<p>Tom is also the proud possessor of a number of original Willis stickers; in <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reasons-Cheerful-Life-Barney-Bubbles/dp/095520173X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1265994361&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank">Reasons To Be Cheerful</a>, the band&#8217;s manager <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/2797" target="_blank">Jake Riviera</a> points out how successful these were at spreading the word about the band at grass roots level in the early to mid-70s.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4347270088_64a3ee1c06_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="501" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Stickers 1973-75. (c) Tom Sheehan collection.</p></div>
<p>Barney produced a number of variations, along with badges, cards and posters. </p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4348513947_7787e5d6c6_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="400" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Three stickers and a badge, 1972-74.</p></div>
<p>There was also Up Periscope, the proto-fanzine  and newsletter to which Willis fans could subscribe.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2677/4350402927_f8bcc6ef29_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="186" /><p class="wp-caption-text">&quot;The Atom Age Good Read&quot;: Masthead artwork, 1973.</p></div>
<p>Barney also created  posters  (in the style of Continental transport designs of the 20s and 30s.) for the hard-touring musicians (one year alone, Chilli Willi performed 370 gigs). These contained spaces for promoters to insert venues and dates.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img class=" " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4351148784_99bf1fa7e6_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="256" /><p class="wp-caption-text">&quot;By night and day here these weirdos come to play.&quot; Gig poster, 1973.</p></div>
<p>In 1974 Chilli Willi released their stirling second album <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bongos-Over-Balham-Various-Artists/dp/B000F3T7Z6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=music&amp;qid=1265994966&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">Bongos Over Balham</a> via a deal with Charisma associated label Mooncrest/B&amp;C.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4346525163_2605d68c1b_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="355" /><p class="wp-caption-text">A4 artwork, Chilli Willi And The Red Hot Peppers card, 1972.</p></div>
<p>In January 1975 the band was added to the bill of the Naughty Rhythms package tour with soul/funk ensemble <a href="http://soulfunkjazz.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/kokomo-kokomo-1982/" target="_blank">Kokomo</a> and the dynamic <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/2640" target="_blank">Dr Feelgood</a>.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2728/4346524909_6997aa0f5a_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="433" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Naughty Rhythms roundel, 1975. (C) Tom Sheehan Collection.</p></div>
<p>Barney produced the delightful artwork for the tour, including the cheery banana lady whose tailfeather-shaking  is accompanied by the phrase &#8220;Wud Wud&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;That was such a Barney touch,&#8221; says Naughty Rhythms booking agent Paul Conroy.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4346525015_0ec6cd851c_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="392" /></p>
<p>We&#8217;re grateful to Tom - who came to know Barney once he started working for the music press  in the mid-70s - for giving us an opportunity to celebrate this wonderfully eccentric and sorely overlooked British band.</p>
<p>Wud Wud!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Kill City: Electrifying artwork and a murderous join-the-dots advert</title>
		<link>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3166</link>
		<comments>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3166#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:33:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Paul Gorman</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Advertising]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Logos]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Photography]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[1963]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[1978]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Andy Warhol]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Bomp]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Caramel Crunch]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Iggy Pop]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[James Williamson]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Kill City]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Little Electric Chair]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Mark Lungo]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Radar]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Weegee]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/?p=3166</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At the beginning of 1978 Barney Bubbles was installed at Jake Riviera&#8217;s offices at 60 Parker Street on the Holborn/Covent Garden borders, above Radar, a new independent imprint set up by ex-United Artists honchos Andrew Lauder and Martin Davis.
Radar was the new home of Riviera-managed Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe. Barney designed the label&#8217;s amazing logo as [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>At the beginning of 1978 Barney Bubbles was installed at <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/1672" target="_blank">Jake Riviera</a>&#8217;s offices at 60 Parker Street on the Holborn/Covent Garden borders, above <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3004" target="_blank">Radar</a>, a new independent imprint set up by ex-United Artists honchos Andrew Lauder and Martin Davis.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4068/4330644562_2e0c29e76d_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="407" /><p class="wp-caption-text">7in sleeve. Front cover, Kill City/I Got Nothin&#39;, Iggy Pop &amp; James Williamson, Radar, 1978.</p></div>
<p style="text-align: left;">Radar was the new home of Riviera-managed <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/2797" target="_blank">Elvis Costello</a> and <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/2855" target="_blank">Nick Lowe</a>. Barney designed the label&#8217;s amazing logo as well the sleeves and ad campaigns for many of the releases, including first single, Lowe&#8217;s <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/barney-bubbles-the-single-sleeves" target="_blank">I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass</a>, and first album, Costello&#8217;s <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/735" target="_blank">This Year&#8217;s Model</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The second album release was <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Iggy-Pop-James-Williamson-Kill-City/release/500368" target="_blank">Kill City</a>, a great collection of demos recorded in 1975 by former Stooges Iggy Pop and <a href="http://www.straightjameswilliamson.com/" target="_blank">James Williamson</a> licensed by Lauder from the late Greg Shaw&#8217;s splendid LA indie <a href="http://www.bomp.com/x/" target="_blank">Bomp!</a>, who supplied finished album artwork by one David Allen.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4330644488_924c5e5b87_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="156" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Left: Little Electric Chair, 1965. Big Electric Chair, 1967.</p></div>
<p>But fresh packaging was needed for the <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001FBBBTM/ref=dm_dp_trk1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1265317449&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">storming title track </a>released as a single in February 1978, and Barney produced a front cover recalling the <a href="http://www.warhol.org/education/electric_chair.html" target="_blank">Electric Chairs</a> by Andy Warhol (whose deadpan series of  images of the implement of death appeared over a decade starting in 1963, the year of the final death-sentence executions in New York State).    </p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2754/4330644896_407d6f2b9e_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="409" /><p class="wp-caption-text">7in sleeve. Back cover, Kill City/I Got Nothin&#39;, Iggy Pop &amp; James Williamson, Radar, 1978.</p></div>
<p style="text-align: left;">The vivid pink screen of the front splashes (in signature Barney style) onto the back cover, a monochrome image of a bizarre crime scene, where the body appears to have been impaled on a parking meter. Riviera clearly remembers Barney drawing the outline on the pavement, while design cohort <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/2590" target="_blank">Caramel Crunch</a> delighted in adding the &#8220;bullet-holes&#8221;.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="400" height="360" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/Fy_xOvepuss&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Fy_xOvepuss&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;border=1" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object></p>
<p>We&#8217;re indebted to eagle-eyed reader <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/2382" target="_blank">Mark Lungo</a> for pointing out that the Kill City single sleeve was a likely Barney creation and also that the cover image is that of the execution of murderess <a href="http://www.executedtoday.com/2009/01/12/1928-ruth-snyder-judd-gray-electrocution-photograph/" target="_blank">Ruth Snyder</a> in 1928 (see Mark&#8217;s comment below).  </p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4030/4329911223_fab19b0272_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="547" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Full-page advert, New Musical Express, February 17, 1978.</p></div>
<p>Naturally, the fun didn&#8217;t stop with the sleeve. Barney reproduced the back cover  for the ad campaign, adding a join-the-dots puzzle fluttering in the position of the body over the crime scene. </p>
<p style="text-align: left;">This was captioned with a faux <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/arts/design/20expl.html?pagewanted=print" target="_blank">Weegee</a>/crime dept-style teleprint caption flagging up the album release: <em>&#8220;Kill City STOP straight sell STOP in town STOP open heart STOP out now STOP ++++Iggy Pop and James Williamson STOP KIll City STOP on Radar STOP Rad 2+&#8221;</em></p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4329911355_a2187038ee_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="555" /><p class="wp-caption-text">NME ad with dots joined and single title revealed.</p></div>
<p>When the dots are joined, they reveal the title: Kill City.</p>
<p>Arriving on the heels of the stunning brace of 77 Bowie collaborations <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Idiot/dp/B001J74ISI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=dmusic&amp;qid=1265319096&amp;sr=8-2" target="_blank">The Idiot</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&amp;field-keywords=lust+for+life&amp;x=0&amp;y=0" target="_blank">Lust For Life</a>, the album Kill City sealed Iggy&#8217;s Godfather Of Punk status and, 33 years after purchase, our original copy never strays far from the three-legged Dansette.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Of course <a href="http://www.iggypop.com/" target="_blank">Iggy</a> has been firmly ensconced back within the bosom of The Stooges these last few years, with Williamson rejoining the crew following the sad passing of Ron Asheton a year ago.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">There&#8217;s something circle-squaring about the fact that The Stooges&#8217; reunion started with three tracks on Iggy&#8217;s 2003 solo album <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skull-Ring-Explicit/dp/B001I5R1YY/ref=sr_shvl_album_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1265318595&amp;sr=301-2" target="_blank">Skull Ring</a>, one of which was named after Warhol&#8217;s 1965 <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001I5P0OC/ref=dm_dp_trk1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1265318595&amp;sr=301-2" target="_blank">Little Electric Chair</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Here&#8217;s Iggy and the boys again, as ever, giving it plenty:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="445" height="364" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/nWV6Ysumzfk&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nWV6Ysumzfk&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;border=1" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">RIP: Ron &#8220;Rock Action&#8221; Asheton and Greg Shaw.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Virgin&#8217;s world domination - blame Barney Bubbles!</title>
		<link>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3149</link>
		<comments>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3149#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:31:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Paul Gorman</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Album artwork]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Logos]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Amy Rigby]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Billboard]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Eastbourne Ladies]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Eugene Coyne]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Gong]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Johnny Rotten]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Ken Berry]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Kevin Coyne]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Marjory Razorblade]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Mike Oldfield]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Peter Hamill]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[September 1973]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Tubular Bells]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Virgin Records]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Wreckless Eric]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/?p=3149</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A 12-year-old trade magazine clipping has revealed that Barney Bubbles even played an (admittedly indirect) role in the formalisation of Richard Branson&#8217;s business interests, with one of his invoices setting in train the perma-grinning bearded entrepreneur&#8217;s journey to worldwide domination.
An issue of US music industry weekly Billboard published in 1998 carried a special section celebrating Virgin [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A 12-year-old trade magazine clipping has revealed that Barney Bubbles even played an (admittedly indirect) role in the formalisation of Richard Branson&#8217;s business interests, with one of his invoices setting in train the perma-grinning bearded entrepreneur&#8217;s journey to worldwide domination.</p>
<p>An issue of US music industry weekly Billboard published in 1998 carried a special section celebrating Virgin Records&#8217; 25th year.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2785/4319470986_40d0313465_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="312" /><p class="wp-caption-text">From Billboard, September 5, 1998.</p></div>
<p>Among those interviewed was Ken Berry, seen by many as the architect of Virgin&#8217;s financial framework and by the time of the Billboard feature, president of EMI Music. But back in 1973, Berry was a 21-year-old drifter keen to break into the music industry.</p>
<p>Berry recounted asking Virgin co-founder Simon Draper on his first day about the new label&#8217;s royalty payment system. &#8220;Simon said, &#8216;I don&#8217;t know but I&#8217;ve got something here,&#8217; and he pulled a piece of paper from his desk. It was this yellow invoice from a guy called Barney Bubbles - he used to do the album artwork - and Simon had written various numbers on the back. These were the various royalties we were supposed to pay people.&#8221;</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4319420082_cf381b0c96_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="400" /><p class="wp-caption-text">12in sleeve. Front cover, Marjory Razorblade, Kevin Coyne, 1973.</p></div>
<p>This was doubtless Barney&#8217;s meticulously prepared invoice for the design provided for <a href="http://www.kevincoyne.de/" target="_blank">Kevin Coyne</a>&#8217;s incredible double album <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Kevin-Coyne-Marjory-Razorblade/release/1528692" target="_blank">Marjory Razorblade</a>, one of Virgin&#8217;s earliest releases following its debut in May that year with Mike Oldfield&#8217;s <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Mike-Oldfield-Tubular-Bells/release/1387070" target="_blank">Tubular Bells</a>. </p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2685/4319420184_b8579ed3b0_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="249" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Artwork, Marjory Razorblade, 1973.</p></div>
<p>Marjory Razorblade contains many of the late Coyne&#8217;s greatest songs, including his musing on his time as a psychiatric nurse <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&amp;field-keywords=house+on+the+hill+kevin+coyne&amp;x=0&amp;y=0" target="_blank">House On The Hill</a>, the single <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&amp;field-keywords=marlene+kevin+coyne&amp;x=0&amp;y=0" target="_blank">Marlene</a> and the storming <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&amp;field-keywords=eastbourne+ladies+kevin+coyne&amp;x=14&amp;y=18" target="_blank">Eastbourne Ladies</a> (championed a few years later alongside tracks by Peter Hamill, Can, Big Youth and Neil Young by Johnny Rotten on Capital Radio&#8217;s summer 1977 broadcast <a href="http://www.fodderstompf.com/ARCHIVES/REVIEWS%202/capital77.html" target="_blank">A Punk &amp; His Music</a>).</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/39R3bwqvqwg&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/39R3bwqvqwg&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object></p>
<p>Another client of Barney&#8217;s, <a href="wrecklesseric.com/" target="_blank">Wreckless Eric</a>,  recently played a set of Coyne songs with his partner Amy Rigby and Coyne&#8217;s son <a href="http://www.kevincoyne.de/News.htm" target="_blank">Eugene </a> in Germany; Eric says they might do some KC songs when they&#8217;re in the UK this spring - a must-see we reckon.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/TT_M1kMBc84&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TT_M1kMBc84&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object></p>
<p>And Coyne seems finally to be receiving the widespread recognition he deserves with the release of a <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Want-My-Crown-Anthology/dp/B002LCOQOG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=music&amp;qid=1264958630&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">I Want My Crown</a>, an anthology of his work between 1973 and 1979 for Virgin.</p>
<p>So, the next time you&#8217;re waiting for a Virgin Train, working out at a Virgin Active or checking your Virgin Mobile bill, think of Barney&#8217;s small part in the transformation of a scruffy hippie label into <a href="http://www.virgin.com/" target="_blank">a global business empire</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Don&#8217;t fart before your arse is ready and win an Ian Dury biography!</title>
		<link>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3084</link>
		<comments>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3084#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:15:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Paul Gorman</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Advertising]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Album artwork]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Competitions]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Graphic design]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Illustration]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Photography]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Posters]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Single sleeves]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Typography]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Blockheads]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Chris Gabrin]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Davey Payne]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Fred "Spider" Rowe]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Glen Colson]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Hit me With Your Rhythm Stick]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Ian Dury]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Jukebox Dury]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[New Boots & Panties!!]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Norman Watt-Roy]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Peter Jenner]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Sir Peter Blake]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Stiff]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[What A Waste]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Will Birch]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/?p=3084</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As highlighted in Will Birch&#8217;s tremendous Ian Dury biography, the creative relationship between the late singer and Barney Bubbles was one of the most fruitful in the history of pop.

Of similar ages with deep art school roots, Barney and Dury commenced their partnership in the spring of 1977 just as both were heading for the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As highlighted in Will Birch&#8217;s tremendous <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ian-Dury-Definitive-Will-Birch/dp/0283071036/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1264879882&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">Ian Dury biography</a>, the creative relationship between the late singer and Barney Bubbles was one of the most fruitful in the history of pop.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2792/4313541978_f1e5ba1e0d_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="615" /></p>
<p>Of similar ages with deep art school roots, Barney and Dury commenced their partnership in the spring of 1977 just as both were heading for the top of their game, with Barney installed at Stiff after a hiatus of more than a year and Dury preparing to unleash the career-defining records and performances which brought him enduring national treasure status.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4313542334_3ceb5a3351_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="525" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Back cover photograph by Chris Gabrin.</p></div>
<p>Unlike his treatment of others, Dury was never-less-than respectful of Barney. &#8220;Barney was easily the most incredible designer I&#8217;d ever come across,&#8221; Dury told Birch.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4316533040_cbe638569f_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="602" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Poster for Sex &amp; Drugs &amp; Rock &amp; Roll, Stiff Records, 1977. Tom Sheehan Collection.</p></div>
<p>Dury said Barney &#8220;scared the shit out of me. He was righteous. He didn&#8217;t have the faults or the ego and he made me feel second class. I wanted his approval in a strange kind of way&#8221;.</p>
<p>And, as Birch details, when <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/2797" target="_blank">Jake Riviera</a> departed Stiff with <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/1285" target="_blank">Nick Lowe</a> and <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/2748" target="_blank">Elvis Costello</a> at the end of 1977, remaining partner Dave Robinson was left with Dury&#8217;s recently released <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Ian-Dury-New-Boots-And-Panties/master/36641" target="_blank">New Boots &amp; Panties!!</a> as his main chance for commercial survival.</p>
<p>The decision was made to throw all resources behind the polio-stricken performer and his band The Blockheads. Barney art-directed a sustained marketing and promotional campaign made up of several elements: his Blockhead logo, numerous press ads, several posters, a songbook and a tour programme. Together these helped maintain the album&#8217;s presence in the charts for more than a year and set up hits <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Ian-Dury-And-The-Blockheads-What-A-Waste/master/101634" target="_blank">What A Waste</a> and number one smash <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Ian-Dury-And-The-Blockheads-Hit-Me-With-Your-Rhythm-Stick/release/215230" target="_blank">Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick</a>.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4313542260_3a1a7117a1_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="559" /><p class="wp-caption-text">NME, February 4, 1978: Ian Dury and Davey Payne.</p></div>
<p>The cover of Birch&#8217;s book is a delightful rendition by Dury&#8217;s friend and mentor <a href="http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&amp;artistid=763&amp;tabview=bio" target="_blank">Sir Peter Blake</a>, while on the back is a photo by <a href="http://chrisgabrin.com/" target="_blank">Chris Gabrin</a> from sessions for a series of music press ads.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4068/4316009561_6f41aa3b19_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="536" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Melody Maker, February 4, 1978: Fred Rowe and Ian Dury.</p></div>
<p>These are littered with Dury&#8217;s skewiff humour and guttersnipe poetry and feature some of the  possible titles he had drawn up for his debut solo album.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/4312806299_c9f99ff83e_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="541" /><p class="wp-caption-text">NME January 28, 1978: Ian Dury and Charley Charles.</p></div>
<p>Gabrin&#8217;s monochromatic clarity  and his strong working relationship with both parties was an important element in the Dury/Bubbles dialogue. &#8220;We were working full-pelt at the time,&#8221; said Gabrin the other night. &#8220;There was so much to do to keep up with press ads and tours.&#8221;</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2686/4313542520_9a3bb45677_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="268" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Right: Melody Maker, January 28, 1978: Norman Watt-Roy and Ian Dury. Left: Sounds, February 4, 1978: Ian Dury and John Turnbull.</p></div>
<p>Gabrin&#8217;s band portraits of Dury and The Blockheads (and minder Fred &#8220;Spider&#8221; Rowe) hit the UK&#8217;s music weeklies in February 1978.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2709/4313542120_ccb0a89760_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="602" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Poster, Stiff Records, 1978.</p></div>
<p style="text-align: left;">A Gabrin photograph from an earlier session (which Barney had overlaid with a lurid orange screen for one of five giant posters for the Stiff tour) was used for a standard sized poster to hammer home the album&#8217;s availabiity. The year ended with more band shots in the incredible fold-out programme for the December 1978 Hanky Pantie tour.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4312806459_fff2143f85_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="549" /><p class="wp-caption-text">8&quot; x 6&quot; tour programme cover, December 1978.</p></div>
<p style="text-align: left;">The matchstick portrait cover was even used for the manufacture of hankies (to be knotted and worn on the head). A couple of Stiff employees - maybe Paul Conroy or Andy Murray can identify them? - sport these in the Top Of The Pops audience for Dury and The Blockheads&#8217; triumphant performance of Hit Me.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2777/4312806149_5562f0a2cd_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="319" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Ian Dury &amp; The Blockheads perform Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, Top Of The Pops, December 1978.</p></div>
<p>By 1983, when Dury was filmed by director Franco Rosso for a Channel 4 documentary, the wordsmith was in a very different place. </p>
<p> <object width="400" height="344" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/2PcZmL1wdaE&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2PcZmL1wdaE&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object></p>
<p>On one of his regular separations from The Blockheads and main writing partner Chaz Jankel, Dury&#8217;s career was about to hit the skids as he recorded the half-baked <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Ian-Dury-And-The-Music-Students-4000-Weeks-Holiday/release/383374" target="_blank">4000 Weeks Holiday</a>. During the making of the film, management company Blackhill collapsed, but there are some sequences where it&#8217;s office can be seen decorated with Barney&#8217;s designs.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4312806553_012a67d653_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="136" />As well as Blockhead logo stickers there are posters for Do It Yourself and also the spoken-word album Blackhill&#8217;s Peter Jenner  released on Charisma by cricket commentating legend John Arlott.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2712/4312806511_3f68eef74d_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="136" />This was cooked up with Charisma publicist and Barney&#8217;s friend Glen Colson, who recalls how he came up with such faux cricket positions as &#8220;Wayward Short Leg&#8221;.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4316532910_358455134c_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="585" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Poster, Charisma Records, 1982.</p></div>
<p style="text-align: left;">By the time the documentary was screened in 1984, Barney had died at his own hand.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">&#8220;Barney Bubbles told me a few straighteners towards the end of his life,&#8221; said Dury, towards the end of his own. &#8220;Barney told me: &#8216;You were a horrible piece of work in those days Ian.&#8217; I said: &#8216;Barney, I didn&#8217;t want to be&#8217;.&#8221; </p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/4316533124_974b3048a1_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="200" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Left: 12&quot; cover, Jukebox Dury, Stiff, 1981. Right: 7&#39; cover, What A Waste, Stiff, 1981.</p></div>
<p style="text-align: left;">A couple of years earlier, Barney had delivered his views on Dury&#8217;s behaviour via the designs for 1981 greatest hits <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Ian-Dury-And-The-Blockheads-Jukebox-Dury/release/1067882" target="_blank">Jukebox Dury</a> and it&#8217;s single, the reissued <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Ian-Dury-And-The-Blockheads-What-A-Waste/release/1352938" target="_blank">What A Waste</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Gone is the affection of the New Boots &amp; Panties!! era. In it&#8217;s place, with stark contrasts, the bleached-out image renders Dury as Frankenstein&#8217;s monster, while the jaunty razor-blade earring is now used for chopping out coke, lobotomising the artist.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Will Birch&#8217;s book is a fully rounded portrait of this extraordinary man, and is heartily recommended.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Here&#8217;s a chance for you to get your hands on a <strong>FREE </strong>copy <strong>SIGNED </strong>by the author.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Send your answer  to the question below to <a href="mailto:thelook@rockpopfashion.com" target="_blank">thelook@rockpopfashion.com</a> - we&#8217;ll be announcing the winner&#8217;s name on February 14 .</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ff00ff;"><strong>Q: What is the title of the B-side of Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick?</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Good luck!</p>
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		<title>Design 4 Music&#8217;s success (and a Heeps Willard connection revealed)</title>
		<link>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3087</link>
		<comments>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3087#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:21:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Paul Gorman</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Album artwork]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Exhibitions]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Graphic design]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Illustration]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Photography]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Stage/set design]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Typography]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Art Vinyl]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Big Active]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Billy Bragg]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Blanket Of Secrecy]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Design 4 Music]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Gerard Saint]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Glastonbury Fayre]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Heeps Willard]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[In Search Of Space]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[isomorph]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Kate Moross]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Malcolm Garrett]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Midnight Juggernauts]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Music For Pleasure]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/?p=3087</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday&#8217;s Design 4 Music symposium was a roaring success, with all tickets selling out and a stellar cast of contributors providing insights into many different aspects of this vast subject.
The closing panel on Barney Bubbles&#8217; legacy proved entertaining and at times revelatory even from my perspective; I lined up with three leading designers: Barney&#8217;s one-time [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yesterday&#8217;s <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3032" target="_blank">Design 4 Music </a>symposium was a roaring success, with all tickets selling out and a stellar cast of contributors providing insights into many different aspects of this vast subject.</p>
<p>The closing panel on Barney Bubbles&#8217; legacy proved entertaining and at times revelatory even from my perspective; I lined up with three leading designers: Barney&#8217;s one-time colleague <a href="http://www.malcolmgarrett.com/" target="_blank">Malcolm Garrett</a> and Barney fans <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/2532" target="_blank">Kate Moross</a> and <a href="http://www.bigactive.com/" target="_blank">Gerard Saint</a>.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2737/4315570021_a52dcd40cb_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="389" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Label detail with band logo, Music for Pleasure, The Damned, Stiff Records, 1977.</p></div>
<p>Gerard showed off the copy of <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Music-Pleasure-Damned/dp/B000063IQK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=music&amp;qid=1264863488&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">Music For Pleasure</a> he has owned since he was a 12-year-old punk in Devon (and spotted that Barney extended the design detail to the label). This chimed with Kate since Music For Pleasure was the key which unlocked her appreciation of Barney&#8217;s ouevre.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/4316326642_62c1d1d64f_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="266" /><p class="wp-caption-text">24&quot; x 36&quot; card. Outer foldout sleeve, The Glastonbury Fayre, Revelation, 1972.</p></div>
<p>And Malcolm displayed some choice designs including <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Glastonbury-Fayre-Festival-Various-Artists/dp/B000PDZAXY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=music&amp;qid=1264863522&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank">Glastonbury Fayre</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Search-Space-Remastered-Hawkwind/dp/B00005MCX0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=music&amp;qid=1264863572&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank">In Search Of Space</a> and <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/2882" target="_blank">Your Generation</a>, as well as an intriguing art questionnaire filled in by Barney in 1981; he - along with other artists including Peter Blake - had been mailed it by a student friend of Malcolm&#8217;s. It&#8217;s been promised for the next edition of <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reasons-Cheerful-Life-Barney-Bubbles/dp/095520173X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1264868074&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">Reasons To Be Cheerful</a>, which is fab.</p>
<p>Meanwhile an encounter with Andrew Heeps - whose framing company <a href="http://artvinyl.com" target="_blank">Art Vinyl</a> staged a mini-exhibition - provided yet another example of how Barney connections are every which way.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2663/4315639405_a657b45ef1_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="396" /><p class="wp-caption-text">12in laminated card. Front cover, Walls Have Ears, Blanket Of Secrecy, FBeat, 1982.</p></div>
<p>Andrew only recently discovered that his grandfather founded construction company Heeps Willard. <a href="http://www.wrecklesseric.com/" target="_self">Wreckless Eric</a> (exclusive interview <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3263" target="_blank">here</a>) mentioned just the other week that it was an HW sign in Barney&#8217;s Islington neighbourhood in the early 80s which provided him with his final - and possibly most charming - nom-de-design, appearing as a credit on releases by <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/2590" target="_blank">Billy Bragg</a> and <a href="http://home.comcast.net/~planetmahers/bos.htm" target="_blank">Blanket Of Secrecy</a>.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2786/4316393266_0dd14fb4d0_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="277" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Credits, Walls Have Ears, 1982.</p></div>
<p>&#8220;I was knocked out when my dad told me about his father&#8217;s company,&#8221; said Andrew. &#8220;He gave Barney the name and here I am immersed in vinyl and one of Heeps Willard&#8217;s biggest fans!&#8221;</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 453px"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3507/3911531487_5ab9a2d5f7_o.jpg" alt="" width="443" height="303" /><p class="wp-caption-text">7&quot; card with foil imprint. Into The Galaxy, Midnight Juggernauts, Isomorph, 2009.</p></div>
<p>And the day wrapped nicely when the name of our <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3051" target="_blank">competition winner</a>, illustration student <a href="http://sjtggriff.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Sarah Jane Griffey</a> (who claims she never wins anything), was plucked for one of the prizes in the draw: a Kate-donated copy of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6SKNEYvZvQ" target="_blank">Into The Galaxy by Midnight Juggernauts</a>.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Kicking up the dust on Teenburger&#8217;s Red Dirt sleeve</title>
		<link>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3059</link>
		<comments>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3059#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:41:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Paul Gorman</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Album artwork]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Graphic design]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Photography]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Single sleeves]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Typography]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[1970]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[307 Portobello Road]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Apache]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Conran design]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Damned]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Fontana]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Geronimo]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[John Muggeridge]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Long Player]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Mike Bobak]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Mike read]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[never A Dull moment]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Notting hill]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Phil Smee]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Red Dirt]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Rod Stewart]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Teenburger designs]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[The Adverts]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[The Faces]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[The Word]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/?p=3059</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The current issue of The Word covers former Radio One DJ Mike Read&#8217;s sale of his huge vinyl collection.
A notable item in Read&#8217;s glorified yard sale (also discussed on The Word&#8217;s excellent website) is the 1970 eponymous album by blues-rockers Red Dirt. Released on the Fontana label, this went as soon as it arrived, ignored by [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The current issue of <a href="http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/latest" target="_blank">The Word</a> covers former Radio One DJ Mike Read&#8217;s sale of his huge vinyl collection.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2786/4310908049_6260d7311f_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="391" /><p class="wp-caption-text">12in card. Front cover, Red Dirt, Red Dirt, Fontana, 1970. Pic: John KosmicKourier.</p></div>
<p>A notable item in Read&#8217;s glorified yard sale (also <a href="http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/anyone-want-buy-120000-records" target="_blank">discussed</a> on The Word&#8217;s excellent website) is the 1970 eponymous album by blues-rockers <a href="http://www.techwebsound.com/playlistdetail.cfm?artist=453" target="_blank">Red Dirt</a>. Released on the Fontana label, this went as soon as it arrived, ignored by punters and press alike.</p>
<p>Since the 80s collectors&#8217; boom in prog and associated genres, copies of Red Dirt have become increasingly valuable; vinyl authority (and one-time colleague of Barney Bubbles) <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3004" target="_blank">Phil Smee</a> points out that they are currently go for at least £600 a pop.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4025/4311645052_b436d59a7c_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="388" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Back cover, Red Dirt, 1970. Pic: John KosmicKourier. </p></div>
<p>Red Dirt&#8217;s music has been derided, unfairly we believe.  Though sometimes workmanlike,  the quartet&#8217;s vigorous brew kept it short and sweet, shining on such tracks as Mellotron and dirty slide-laden opener Memories, the Beefheart stomp of Death Letter, acoustic bottleneck blues Song For Pauline and the mournful I&#8217;ve Been Down So Long.  <img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2699/4311645192_6f35999ee5_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="278" /> Sonically, it&#8217;s in line Rod Stewart&#8217;s first couple of solo albums as well as those he did with The Faces; this could have something to do with the presence of engineer Mike Bobak (who worked on <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Never-Dull-Moment-Rod-Stewart/dp/B00000612Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=music&amp;qid=1264695161&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank">Never A Dull Moment</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Player-Faces/dp/B000002KBG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;s=music&amp;qid=1264695130&amp;sr=8-3" target="_blank">Long Player </a>among others).</p>
<p style="text-align: center; "><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4311803280_f3363028bf_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="137" /></p>
<p>Red Dirt is blessed with a wonderful cover by Barney Bubbles, whose Notting Hill design studio Teenburger receives the credit.</p>
<p>Barney launched Teenburger Designs at the beginning of 1969 from his abode at 307 Portobello Road; for headed paper he reproduced burger wrappers, with a brown burger in a bun printed on the back. We&#8217;ll be revealing an example as one of the additions to the new enhanced edition of <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reasons-Cheerful-Life-Barney-Bubbles/dp/095520173X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1264695291&amp;sr=8-4" target="_blank">Reasons To Be Cheerful</a>; above is the header.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4311803274_958023d966_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="285" /><p class="wp-caption-text">305-309 Portobello Road, London, W11, 1970. Photo: Unknown.</p></div>
<p>Red Dirt is one of a handful of album sleeves attributed to Teenburger; some were executed in conjunction with Barney&#8217;s pal from <a href="http://www.conrandesigngroup.com/about-us" target="_blank">Conran Design</a> in the 60s, John Muggeridge.</p>
<p>The cover image is taken from a wanted poster of <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/the_films/episode_4_trailer" target="_blank">Geronimo</a>, the Apache chieftain reputed to have magical powers (though it&#8217;s clear the photo was staged - a shackle is visible around one leg) . The <a href="http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/apache/apachehist.htm" target="_blank">Apache</a> stem from the south of the US: Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma, where there are federally recognized contemporary Apache tribal governments to this day. <img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4310908235_05c11ed25e_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="554" /> Geronimo&#8217;s remains were thought - until <a href="indiancountrynews.net/index.php?...&amp;id=5818&amp;Itemid=33" target="_blank">recently</a> - to have been buried under a stone <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/1689" target="_blank">pyramid</a> monument at <a href="http://sill-www.army.mil/" target="_blank">Fort Sill</a> in Oklohoma, the state renowned for the presence of  - guess  what? - <span style="color: #ff0000;">red dirt</span> across more than a million acres, in 33 counties no less.  Sand, siltstone and shale weathering account for its hue, apparently.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 450px"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3053/3680715013_39fd90daac_o.jpg" alt="" width="440" height="217" /><p class="wp-caption-text">7in sleeve. Back and front, One Chord Wonders/Quickstep, The Adverts, Stiff Records, 1977.</p></div>
<p>Barney&#8217;s brutal enlargement of the deliberately ragged crop of Geronimo&#8217;s face brought out the half-tones, while  the dramatic contrasts are heightened by the sparing  use of the  red &#8220;blood&#8221; trickles seeping from the bullet holes emblazoning the band&#8217;s name on the design.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 410px"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2720/4311803282_2dc32d6e68_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="596" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Poster, 60&quot; x 40&quot;. The Damned, Stiff Records, 1977.</p></div>
<p style="text-align: left; ">This technique really came into it&#8217;s own seven years later when applied to the monochrome imagery of early punk, as evinced by Barney&#8217;s 7in sleeve for The Adverts&#8217; Stiff single 1977 One Chord Wonders and his large poster for The Damned that same year.</p>
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		<title>Design 4 Music: We have a winner!</title>
		<link>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3051</link>
		<comments>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3051#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:52:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Paul Gorman</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/?p=3051</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The first name out of the hat in our competition for a much-sought-after ticket to this Friday&#8217;s Design 4 Music event is: Sarah-Jane Griffey.

Well done  for sending the correct answer to the following question:
Q: What is the name of Kate Moross&#8217;s record label?
A. Isomorph.
Contact us via thelook@rockpopfashion.com Sarah-Jane and we&#8217;ll put you in touch with the organisers [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The first name out of the hat in our competition for a much-sought-after ticket to this Friday&#8217;s <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3032" target="_blank">Design 4 Music</a> event is: <strong>Sarah-Jane Griffey</strong>.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2716/4278555511_a68a83ca7f_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="566" /></p>
<p>Well done  for sending the correct answer to the following question:</p>
<p><span style="color: #ff00ff;">Q: What is the name of Kate Moross&#8217;s record label?</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff00ff;">A. Isomorph.</span></p>
<p>Contact us via <a href="mailto:thelook@rockpopfashion.com" target="_blank">thelook@rockpopfashion.com</a> Sarah-Jane and we&#8217;ll put you in touch with the organisers John and Catherine to arrange ticket pick-up, etc.</p>
<p>Hard cheese to everyone else who entered; maybe we&#8217;ll see you down there? Otherwise - watch out: there&#8217;s another fab competition coming this way soon!</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Win a free ticket to the essential Design 4 Music</title>
		<link>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3032</link>
		<comments>http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/3032#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Paul Gorman</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Album artwork]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Competitions]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Graphic design]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Illustration]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Single sleeves]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Typography]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Adrian Shaughnessy]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Airside]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Art Vinyl]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Big Active]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[CHarlotte Dixon]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Design 4 Music]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Fred Deakin]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Gerard Saint]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Hyphen Press]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[John L. Walters]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Kate Morross]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Malcolm Garrett]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Paul Gorman]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Robin Kinross]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Ronald Clyne]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Spin]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[St Bride's]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Tony Brook]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/?p=3032</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;The legacy of Barney Bubbles&#8221; is the title of the finale of Design 4 Music: Music + Design, the forthcoming conference considering this &#8220;complex, passionate, sometimes obsessive relationship&#8221;.

Organised by Eye editor/co-owner John L. Walters and Central Saint Martin&#8217;s Catherine Dixon, Design 4 Music takes place on January 29 at London&#8217;s design and printed reference hub St Bride&#8217;s,  with [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;The legacy of Barney Bubbles&#8221; is the title of the finale of <a href="http://stbride.org/events/musicanddesign/" target="_blank">Design 4 Music: Music + Design</a>, the forthcoming conference considering this &#8220;complex, passionate, sometimes obsessive relationship&#8221;.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2716/4278555511_a68a83ca7f_o.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="566" /></p>
<p>Organised by <a href="http://www.eyemagazine.com/home.php" target="_blank">Eye</a> editor/co-owner <a href="http://blog.eyemagazine.com/?tag=john-l-walters" target="_blank">John L. Walters</a> and Central Saint Martin&#8217;s <a href="http://www.csm.arts.ac.uk/csm-profiles_23351_37333436343435.htm" target="_blank">Catherine Dixon</a>, Design 4 Music takes place on January 29 at London&#8217;s design and printed reference hub <a href="http://stbride.org/library" target="_blank">St Bride&#8217;s</a>,  with contributions from such important practitioners and commentators as:</p>
<p>• designer/writer <a href="http://www.shaughnessyworks.com/" target="_blank">Adrian Shaughnessy</a></p>
<p>• Gerard Saint of <a href="http://www.bigactive.com/" target="_blank">Big Active</a></p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.hyphenpress.co.uk/authors/robin_kinross" target="_blank">Robin Kinross</a> of Hyphen Press</p>
<p>• <a href="http://www.spin.co.uk/" target="_blank">Spin</a>&#8217;s Tony Brook (on Ronald Clyne&#8217;s designs for the Smithsonian Folkways label)</p>
<p>• and <a href="http://www.lemonjelly.ky/" target="_blank">Lemon Jelly</a>&#8217;s Fred Deakin, who founded creative agency <a href="http://www.airside.co.uk/" target="_blank">Airside </a>in 1998.</p>
<p>On our recommendation <a href="http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/archives/2532" target="_blank">Kate Moross</a> will talk about &#8220;The vinyl solution to making music look good&#8221;.</p>
<p>Moross, Saint and <a href="amazon.co.uk/Reasons-Cheerful-Life-Barney-Bubbles/dp/095520173X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1263721910&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">Reasons To Be Cheerful</a> contributor <a href="http://www.malcolmgarrett.com/" target="_blank">Malcolm Garrett</a> will also join me and Walters in considering the enduring legacy of Barney Bubbles in the final panel of the day, starting at 5.15pm.</p>
<p>Also on show will be a mini-exhibition of sleeve art courtesy of <a href="www.artvinyl.com." target="_blank">Art Vinyl</a>.</p>
<p>If you are able, do come along. This is shaping up to be an essential day for anyone engaged or interested in music&#8217;s visual identity through graphic design.</p>
<p>Tickets are available <a href="http://musicanddesign.eventbrite.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile John and Catherine have generously supplied us with a free ticket to the event. For a chance to win it, please send your answers to the question below to <a href="mailto: thelook@rockpopfashion.com" target="_blank">thelook@rockpopfashion.com</a> by January 22 at the latest.</p>
<p><span style="color: #ff00ff;">Q: WHAT IS THE NAME OF KATE MOROSS&#8217; S RECORD LABEL?</span></p>
<p>Best of luck and hopefully see you on the day!</p>
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