Saturday, August 18, 2018

Visual Vinyl Hardcover – May 11, 2017 by Heerlen Schunk (Verlag Kettler)


An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10 in (25 cm) and 12 in (30 cm) 78-rpm records, single and sets of 12 in (30 cm) LPs, sets of 45 rpm records.Around 1910, 78-rpm records replaced the phonograph cylinder as the medium for recorded sound. The 78-rpm records were issued in both 10- and 12-inch diameter sizes and were usually sold separately, in brown paper or cardboard sleeves that were sometimes plain and sometimes printed to show the producer or the retailer's name. These were invariably made out of acid paper, limiting conservability. Generally the sleeves had a circular cutout allowing the record label to be seen. Records could be laid on a shelf horizontally or stood upright on an edge, but because of their fragility, many broke in storage.
German record company Odeon pioneered the "album" in 1909 when it released the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky on four double-sided discs in a specially designed package.[1] (It is not indicated what the specially designed package was.) The practice of issuing albums does not seem to have been taken up by other record companies for many years.
Beginning in the 1920s, bound collections of empty sleeves with a plain paperboard or leather cover were sold as "record albums" (similar to a photograph album) that customers could use to store their records. (The name "record album" was printed on some covers.) These empty albums were sold in both 10- and 12-inch sizes.[2] The covers of these bound books were wider and taller than the records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, like a book, and suspending the fragile records above the shelf, protecting them.
Starting in the 1930s, record companies began issuing collections of 78-rpm records by one performer or of one type of music in specially assembled collections. These albums of several 78-rpm records could include a collection of popular songs related by either performer or style, or extended-length classical music, including complete symphonies.[2]
In 1938, Columbia Records hired Alex Steinweiss as its first art director. He is credited with inventing the concept of album covers and cover art, replacing the plain covers used before. After his initial efforts at Columbia, other record companies followed his lead. By the late 1940s, record albums for all the major companies featured their own colorful paper covers in both 10- and 12-inch sizes. Some featured reproductions of classic art while others utilized original designs.
When the 10- and 12-inch long-playing records (LPs) came along in 1948, and box sets of 45-rpm records soon followed (see gramophone record), the name "album" was used for the new format of collections, and the creation of artistic original album covers continued.
  • Collects some of the most visually stunning and evocative album covers from the 20th Century
  • Features homages to numerous important designers and artists, such as Damien Hirst, Yoko Ono and Raymond Pettibon
Up until the 1940s, records were sold in plain, uniform jackets. In the post-war years, musicians and record companies discovered that graphically designed record covers had the potential to boost sales. Significantly, in the 1960s contemporary artists began to create record jackets that became an inspiration for others on account of their radical, groundbreaking designs. Many of them have become symbols recognized not only by fans but by the wider public, symbols of an era where artistic freedom, experimentation, and innovation were encouraged.This book is the first-ever comprehensive introduction to these resplendent album covers. They have been taken from the extensive archive of the Dutch designer Jan van Toorn, one of the most active collectors and a leading expert in the field. The book includes surrealist designs by Salvador Dalí; covers by famous pop artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg and Jean-Michel Basquiat; works by the Vienna-based group 'Wiener Aktionismus'; and contemporary designs by Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Banksy, and Ai Weiwei. Special importance is given to the designs from the circle of Fluxus artists, a radical sixties group who often produced music during their multimedia performances. The Fluxus artists frequently published their artwork on records, as did John Cage and Yoko Ono. Another focus of the book is Raymond Pettibon, who shot to fame when his legendary cover for the punk band Black Flag exploded into the record stores.Full of famous names and artists deserving of greater recognition, this book is the perfect gift for any vinyl-lover.

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