David Van Tieghem is a percussionist, composer, performer and sound designer, keyboardist, performance artist, video artist, actor who has free-lanced with the likes of Steve Reich& Musicians, Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno & David Byrne, the Manhattan Percussion Ensemble, Stevie Nicks, Jon Gibson, Talking Heads, Robert Fripp, Scott Johnson, Robert Gordon, Duran Duran, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sergei Kuryokhin, Pink Floyd, John Cale, Chris Spedding, Richard Peaslee, Nona Hendryx, Jerry Harrison, Yoshiko Chuma & the School of Hard Knocks, Adrian Belew, Merce Cunningham, Graciela Daniele, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, the Big Apple Circus, Ned Sublette, Lenny Pickett, Michael Nyman, David Moss, Robert Ashley, and Peter Gordon's Love of Life Orchestra and probably many more and but I’m already kinda out of breath. No! Wait, I have just about enough left to say the most important thing: He is an experimental rock artist. Which is what brings me to the first of the two psychedelic record covers featured today.
In 1986 the track was picked and experimented upon by Mr. Van Tieghem to the max. Have a listen to his track which I’ve provided below.
The designer has done a fab job with the sleeve cover and the art is pretty psychedelic. The psychedelic painting on the cover was by Bruno Schmidt/Celso Adolfo and the photo of the painting was taken by Tseng Kwong Chi, a photographer quite active in the East Village art scene in the 1980's.
This record (1): In A Gadda Da Vida by David Van Tieghem 12” Single, 1986, Wide Angle Records Larry Saltzman on guitar. Mr. David Van Tieghem on everthing else that includes Percussion, Vocals, Producer, Analogue Synthesizer, Digital Synthesizer and Electronic Percussion Body Painting: Bruno Schmidt/Celso Adolfo Front Cover Photo: Tseng Kwong Chi Cover Design: Dromette
The second record is by Iron Butterfly who originally released In A Gadda Da Vida, the LP in 1968. It is considered one of the greatest albums of the late 60s psychedelic rock explosion. The title track, which really ought to be: In The Garden Of Eden, but when performed by Iron Butterfly under the influence of alcohol or drugs or so they say, spewed forth as: In A Gadda Da Vida and so it remains today. This 17 minute track was one of the most decisive acid rock song of that era and having sold more than 30 millions copies worldwide, Iron Butterfly will forever be remembered as the first heavy metal band.
On my search for information regarding the cover art and design I discovered some interesting information and I quote: “It was the time of psychedelic music – music associated with mind-altering, hallucinogenic drugs. Butterfly imagery was cool at the time, part of the “counter-cultural” fare and quite acceptable. As for the “iron” part, well yes, that was psychedelically appropriate, too. But perhaps you had to be doing drugs to grasp the full meaning and context of how “heavy” it all was….”
This record (2) In A Gadda Da Vida by Iron Butterfly 12” LP, Atco, 1968 Photo: Stephen Paley Sleeve Design: Loring Eutemay
June 29, 2012 Alien Sex Fiend was formed by Nik and his wife Christine Wade (The Fiends). They hung out at a club in London called the Batcave where they met their future band mates: David James on guitar, Johnny Freshwater on drums. Their music can be best described as Gothic Rock or Death Rock with some post-punk and electronic thrown in. They're still active today and have been booked for shows all throught out the UK and Europe.
This featured record: E.S.T. Trip To The Moon World’s first 11 inch single 1984 Anagram Records (11 ANA 25) Sleeve design and art work by Nik Fiend (Wade)
All artwork for the albums sleeves is created by Nik Fiend/Wade who is also a very successful artist. He describes his work as a form of self discovery. Using all types of mediums to create his artwork from oils, watercolours, paper collages, acrylics, indian ink, felt pens, airbrushes, ultra violet paints and anything else he can get his hands on, he experiments with colour and textures to create his mind-expanding masterpieces. The tools of Nik's work range from his hands to palette knives, matchsticks or simply blobbing paint tubes on a picture, "I like to challenge what is considered acceptable," Nik comments, "When I started to work with oils the first thing I read in an art book was 'Do not use black', so of course I ran out and got a load of black paint!"
Throughout the last two decades Nik has continued exploring the realms of computer art, both through works created entirely in the digital realm and also by the manipulation of photographs, drawings and paintings. "It hasn't replaced any of the other methods that I use, I still paint and draw as I always have, it's simply an additional form of creativity" he says. (Some of this information is courtsey of the Alien Sex Fiend website)
Go to www.ricsrecordsrack.com for more information. The singles is in super mint condition and still available.
The best and most accurate information on The Danse Society can only come from the band itself. Here is their bio from their website.
The Danse Society are a post punk (the precursory term for Gothic rock ) group from Barsnley, England, active from 1980. The original line-up included Steve Rawlings (voice), Paul Nash (guitar), Lyndon Scarfe (keyboards), Tim Wright (bass) and Paul Gilmartin (drums). Lyndon Scarfe was replaced by David Whitaker (formally of band Music for Pleasure) after the Heaven is Waiting Album.
In 1980, they recorded and released their first 7" single, "Clock," on their own newly-formed record label, Society Records.
The Seduction was their first independent album released on Society Records in 1982, a six-track album containing the live favourites "Godsend", "Ambition" and "Danse Move" as well as the atmospheric classic "In Heaven Everything is Fine". They recorded several Radio 1 sessions including a released John Peel session 'Woman's Own" and "Were So Happy" and topped the Independent Charts with the single "Somewhere".
Their most well known album, Heaven is Waiting, was released in December, 1983 by Arista. The album contained the singles "Wake Up" and "Heaven is Waiting" and a cover of The Rolling Stones song, "2000 light years from home", released in 1984 as a 12" single and as a limited edition double single. They released two further singles under Arista "Say it Again' and "Hold On". In 1986 after releasing their final album as Danse Society International, Looking Through back on their own label again the band split from Rawlings and the other band members left to form Johnny In The Clouds.
Rawlings later reappeared in 1987 as Society with the single, "Saturn Girl". After 1987, Rawlings continued to pursue his path in music in America with Meridian Dream.
2009-2010 At the end of 2009, Former members Paul Nash, Paul Gilmartin and David Whitaker met up for the first time in 24 years and decided to reform the band with the initial agreement of Steve Rawlings also re-joining the band. Over the next 9 months instrumental tracks were recorded and Steve briefly met the band in the UK in Oct 2010 but returned to America after recording just one vocal track. Plans changed when after that initial meeting, the band lost contact with Steve.
2011 In January 2011 founder of Blooding Mask vocalist Maethelyiah joined the band and recorded vocals on all 13 tracks and the official news was revealed in May 2011. Since then the album Change of Skin has been refined and mixed and was released in July 2011.
2012 Also released on good Friday 6th April: "Vatican" and "The Seduction 2012" (remake of the original The Seduction) and both videos were released at the same time.
4 official video clips were produced: "Revelation", "God Cry", "Vatican" and "The Seduction 2012".
Bassist Martin Roberts joins The Danse Society.
The band is currently working on the new album and live shows which began in May 2012 in Leipzig at the Wave Gotik Treffen will continue across the UK with confirmed dates as 2nd June in London at Slimelight, 16th June headlining the Spiderweb's Festival in Bristol and headlining the Bomfest in Barnsley on the 28th July. More dates will soon be confirmed across and outside Europe.
Here are the Singles I own: Danse/Move Heaven Is Waiting Hold On Say It Again – Special Edition Club Mix) Say It Again (Gate Fold Sleeve) Wake up
Go to www.ricsrecordsrack.com for more information. The records are in super mint condition and still available.
Manuel Göttsching playing electronic guitar and synthesizer, whose style and technique has greatly influenced today’s electronic, ambient and new age bands, founded his own band in 1970 with Harmut Enke on bass and Klaus Schulze (ex-Tangerine Dream) on drums. During the next few years he collaborated with a number of different artists including Lutz Ulbrich and Harald Grosskopf, the two with whom he made Correlation.
This record: Correlation by Ashra 12 inch LP, German Import Virgin Records, 1979, LC 3098
The sleeve Design & Photography of Correlation was by Hipgnosis, a highly talented British design group and is a good example of their well-known eccentric humor. It features a mouth (of a woman) drinking from a water fountain which looks quite sexual. At least that’s how it appears to me. Their cover art was very much in demand and they created covers for hugely popular bands like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, XTC, Peter Gabriel, etc. Pink Floyd used them for practically all their albums, of which the most famous cover, of course, was Dark Side Of The Moon.
Go to www.ricsrecordsrack.com for more information. The LP is in super mint condition and still available.
Photo and live performance earlier this year of the track Club Cannibal from the LP.
June 26, 2012 All About Eve, a British pop rock band formed in 1984 consisting of the Julianne Regan, singer, song writer, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboard player, Andy Cousin on bass guitar, Tim Bricheno on guitar.
This record December by All About Eve 7” single, Picture Disc, UK import, Phonogram,1989 UK EVENP 11
Go to www.ricsrecordsrack.com for more information. The single is in super mint condition and still available.
Below: Photo of front and back of record and Video of December.
June 25, 2012 The original version of Mannish Boy was recorded in may 1955 with Muddy waters on vocals and guitar, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Junior Wells on Harmonica and Fred Below on drums.
The photo on the record cover features a model for the Levis 501 jeans in the retro commercial that used ‘Mannish Boy’ to promote the jeans. The advert was made in 1988.
Go to www.ricsrecordsrack.com for more information. The singles is in super mint condition and still available.
Photo of front and back of record.
Ad for Levis 501 Muddy Waters and the Rolling Stones – Mannish Boy
Here are two UK bands, the March Violets, an English Goth band from Leeds and still active today and Freur, from Cardiff, Wales, an art rock band that went on to form their second band, later which they named Underworld (electronic). Both bands used similar textured covers for their records:
Snake Dance by March Violets 7”single 1983 (Rebirth - RB21)
AND
Doot Doot by Freur 12”single 1983 (CBS Inc. -A 13-3141) (Already featured in the May 27th Blog for Textured Covers)
Apparently this design was very popular in 1983 or maybe the printer had a large inventory of snake skin textured cardboard.
Go to www.ricsrecordsrack.com for more information. All these singles are in super mint condition and still available.
Below Picture and video of the live performace by March Violets of Snake Dance in 2010.
This is the debut album by the English rock group Pink Floyd made under founder Syd Barrett's leadership. The album contains whimsical lyrics along with psychedelic instrumental songs.
Piper At The Gates Of Dawn Pink Floyd 12” LP 33 rpm 1967 – ST 5093 Released by Columbia/EMI in the UK & Tower/Capitol in USA
Up-and-coming society photographer Vic Singh was hired to photograph the band for the album cover. Singh shared a studio with David Bailey, and asked Jenner and King to dress the band in the brightest clothes they could find. Singh was also friends with Beatles guitarist George Harrison, and once the band had been relaxed with several joints, he shot them with a prism lens that Harrison had given him (see photo).
As per his own words about the creation of the cover: “I was spending the afternoon with George Harrison at his house in Easher near London as I was leaving he gave me a prism lens, saying he did not know what to do with it, perhaps I could use it for something. The prism lens was lying around unused in my studio for some time until one day the manager of the Pink Floyd (who were a new group at that time) rang me and asked me if I could shoot the record cover for The Piper. I had met the band at a party previously so I agreed and asked their manager what they had in mind for the cover? He said it was up to me to work something out.
After listening to The Piper music, which was very different and far out at that time, the prism lens seemed to be the answer. As the lens splits the image it goes a bit soft, so I asked the band to bring bright trendy clothes (fashionable at the time) which would stand out with color and contrast in the photos. The photos were taken in my studio on a white background evenly lit with David Cecil studio strobe, Camera was Hasselblad with the prism filter stuck over a 50mm Planar lens. I first shot quite a few Polaroid images using a polaroid back, it was a bit tricky positioning the band as the 4 figures split up and melted into each other. Finally I was happy and shot the cover on Kodak Ektachrome 100ASA Daylight color film.”
Singh also goes on to say: “It was unusual and different, and they were delighted with it, and Syd did his own little drawing on the back cover.”
Go to www.ricsrecordsrack.com for more information. All these singles are in super mint condition and still available.
Picture of the actual prism used to photograph cover by Vic Singh. Below that is the cover itself. I have also included a video of "The Scarecrow".
June 22, 2012 Cappella, an Italian eurodance act formed in 1987 started out as The Cappella-Project and was the brain child of Italian producer Gianfranco Bortolotti of Media Records. They first created the track "Bauhaus/Push The Beat" which became a mega hit after which came "Helyom Halib" which established them as a top eurodance band.
The act went through a number of line-up changes over the years but it was most successful in the early 1990s when it was fronted by British performers Kelly Overett and Rodney Bishop. Their biggest hit was "U Got 2 Let the Music" reached number 2 in the UK in 1993.
Some of their other hits include: You Used To Hold Me U Got 2 Know I Keep Loving You Move On Baby
This record: Everybody by Capella 12”Single, 33 rpm released by Media Records 1991
Go to www.ricsrecordsrack.com for more information. All these singles are in super mint condition and still available.
Here is picture of the cover, the audio for Everybody and below that is a video of another of their hits: "Move It Up"
June 21, 2012 OMD is my favorite band from the 80’s and today I present to you the 12” singles collection I own. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark or OMD as they are known are a British group from Wirral, England formed in 1978 by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys. They played a genre of music which could be termed as new wave / synthpop.
Their US hit, "If You Leave" was written for the movie "Pretty In Pink".
They broke up for a while then reformed in 2006 to begin a very successful touring phase in 2007 which they still continue to do so even today. Obviously they're hugely popular in the US as most of their 2012 concerts dates are already sold out.
OMD's most recent studio album History of Modern was released in 2010 and according to their website they going to begin working on a new album in December to be entitled: English Electric.
Here’s a list of the singles' covers appearing in the picture below in somewhat of a clockwise order.
If You Leave Enola Gay Dreaming Tesla Girls La Femme Accident Stand Above Me Organization Pandora’s Box Genetic Engineering Talking Loud And Clear Sailin On The Seven Seas Locomotion Never Turn Away Joan Of Arc The OMD Remixes In The Dark Secret Architecture Telegraph Junk Culture Dreaming Shame (Forever) Live And Die Maid of New Orleans We Love You So In Love Pacific Age
Go to www.ricsrecordsrack.com for more information. All these singles are in super mint condition and still available.
Here is a collage of the covers I own as well as some of their videos of which Enola Gay was my favorite.
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