Collecting: A Rationale The First Transistor Radios—1950s Collecting Pop Culture Matchcovers and Matchbooks Pushy Furniture More Pushy Furniture Kitchen Collectibles More Kitchen Collectibles Still More Kitchen Collectibles Vintage Televisions Nameplates and Lettering More Nameplates and Lettering Collecting the Wacky Nothing New Under the Sun Disposable Panties and Other Gems Our Disposable Culture Bathroom Collectibles More Bathroom Collectibles Luggage Labels, Airlines Records, Album Covers More Records Personal Music Players The Sony Walkman Trashy Novels Communists and Bomb Shelters Flashlights Wall Decor Music Guides / Lists / Top 40 Radio Crystal Radios Knockoffs and Ripoffs On the Table On the Table, More! Microphones Pocket Calculators Pocket and Portable Tape Recorders Drinks, Anyone? More Drink-related Foolishness The Box It Came In Lost In Translation Early Video Games Cigarette Packs More Cigarettes and Smoking Advertising Illustration More Advertising Illustration Small Computers Walkie Talkies Greeting Cards More Greeting Cards, Valentines A Collection of Clocks The Way Things Were More of the Way Things Were Board Games and such Collecting Variants Toy Guns, Space Guns More Toys Collecting Design Tubes and Transistors Collecting Batteries More Batteries Hearing Aids Garage / Utility Collectibles Collecting the Awful Architectural Illustration Religious Tracts Vintage Clothes “Fine” Art, Big Eyes, and Portraits “Fine” Art in the abstract


Record album covers: Crass commercialization of '60s youth culture in the packaged hippies dubbed 'The Love Generation.' Ever wonder where the values and hopes of the 1960s went? This should give you a clue. Groovy Summertime, Imperial LP-9351, Art Direction: Woody Woodward, Design: Andrew C. Rodriguez, Photography: Ivan Nagy, Fashions by Zeidler & Zeidler & The Flare. From the web's largest private collection of antiques & collectibles: https://www.ericwrobbel.com/collections/records-2.htm

More Records and Album Covers

Part of the fun of collecting is comparing and classifying the objects collected—best of its type, worst of its type, etc.

With album covers, I’ve found the best and the worst to be the most interesting to me. I don’t mean to judge these things and I don’t mean “worst” in a disparaging way. If an object stands out to me as being amateurish or cheesy, well, at least it stands out! In a world where conforming, mind-numbing mediocrity reigns supreme, that is saying something.

Record collecting: Album covers were not created as 'art,' they were created to sell records--to sit on the shelf and vibrate until you picked them up. This James Brown cover does that very well, even if it looks somewhat cheesy. I contend it has a terrific charm that would probably be lost if it were 'better.' James Brown and His Famous Flames, King 909. From 'More Records' at the web's largest private collection of antiques & collectibles: https://www.ericwrobbel.com/collections

And so we have these enthusiastic examples of album cover art that are very different from other records in my collection. But what these may lack in beauty or good design, they more than make up for in verve. And it should be remembered that album covers were not created as “art,” they were created to sell records—to sit on the shelf and vibrate from their own internal energy until you picked them up and took them to the cash register. The James Brown and the Velvetones covers shown here do that extremely well, even if they look somewhat cheesy. That cheesy quality may in fact account for most of their appeal. I contend that these two especially have a charm that might well be lost if they were “better.”

Record collecting: Album covers were not created as 'art,' they were created to sell records--to sit on the shelf and vibrate until you picked them up. This Velvetones cover does that very well, even if it looks somewhat cheesy. It has a terrific charm that would probably be lost if it were 'better.' Grimes Records LP 103, photo by Art Leon, Johnson-Leon Studios, Hollywood. From the web's largest private collection of antiques & collectibles: https://www.ericwrobbel.com/collections/records-2.htm

If you’ve ever wondered where the values and the grand hopes of the 1960s went, the other two covers here should give you a clue. For pure crass commercialization of the ’60s youth culture, it would be hard to top the packaged hippies here dubbed “The Love Generation.” Giving it the old college try were the purveyors of the Kiddie Au Go-Go record. The temple known as the music business has long been infested with the moneychangers and here it is on full display. And that is what makes these two even cheesier still than the other ones.

Record collecting, album covers: This dime store record attempts to cash in on the '60s youth culture its makers probably loathed. Kiddie Au Go-Go / Nursery Rhymes with the Teen Dance Beat of Today! / The Mod Moppets, Happy Time Records (Pickwick International) HT-1037. From 'More Records' at the web's largest private collection of antiques & collectibles: https://www.ericwrobbel.com/collections/records-2.htm

And here are the details: The Love Generation / including Groovy Summertime, Imperial LP-9351, Art Direction: Woody Woodward, Design: Andrew C. Rodriguez, Photography: Ivan Nagy, Fashions by Zeidler & Zeidler Ltd. & The Flare; James Brown and His Famous Flames / Please, Please, Please, King 909; The Velvetones, Grimes Records LP 103, photo by Art Leon, Johnson-Leon Studios, Hollywood, California; Kiddie Au Go-Go / Nursery Rhymes with the Teen Dance Beat of Today! / The Mod Moppets, Happy Time Records (Pickwick International) HT-1037.




©Copyright 2008-2020 ericwrobbel.com. All rights reserved.