I really enjoyed this Richard, thank you. As I think about the evolution of iconic record labels and their actual center label art evolution, I sometimes trick myself into seeing an artist's evolution with that label as well. One example -- the classic simplicity of the basic green Warner Brothers label, present on Van Morrison's Astral Weeks through Hard Nose the Highway albums; then the switch to the "see all the palm trees we have in Burbank!" sunny label starting with "It's Too Late to Stop Now," then the new, clean, boring tan label starting with Wavelength and rolling into the 1980's. In my mind I no doubt associate the earliest green label with his greatest music (per what I value), see some of the wobble start to show with the palm trees, and see him competing with a host of other label mates in the more generic later WB years, with a further slide in uniqueness and artistry. I love all those records, including the later ones, but the point I guess is that I formed an association with the center art label evolution and the evolution of my appreciation of the artist's work along the way.
On a popular culture level you no doubt remember the classic scene in the movie "Diner" where the married male protagonist, during a disagreement with his wife (in part due to her having screwed up the order in which he kept his records, which he took as a serious affront). In his confused and frustrated anger, he quizzed his wife about what was on the flip side of any of his 45s -- and he knew the name, date, and record label of each one. He concludes the scene by specifically naming the song that was playing when he first me her at a high school party, to prove his point, and to further mystify her. It's a scene I'll never forget, because it so accurately showed the obsessiveness of record guys (like you and me) which is a complete mystery to most sane wives or partners, who just don't see the big deal. YouTube link to the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXjCtgiUEu8
Thanks for the response, James. That's a brilliant account of the evolution of artist and label. I'm going to think on that and whether I have equivalents. Well, I have those Van Morrison records, but I hadn't thought about them in this way. I guess I've thought about it a bit with Dylan, whose releases are also complicated by the Columbia/CBS imprints and even a brief foray to Asylum in the 1970s. This also has me thinking about different imprints internationally as I'm aware some of my UK Dylan pressings are on differnet imprints to the US equivalents. I did like how, for Triplicate, the label was designed as if it were an old Columbia 78. That seems to fit both with Dylan singing Tin Pan Alley standards and with his own aging, though I haven't thought much more about the label/artist evolution in the way you've outlined. Thanks for that!
Oh, and the Diner scene. Like much of High Fidelity, that's just too painful! 'You never ask me what's on the flip side!'
Great article, Richard! Purely for design and visuals alone, my absolute favorite center label art has to be Vertigo with that killer swirl. I also like Fly Records, which released the first couple T.Rex albums as well as records by Budgie, The Move, and Procol Harum (and several others).
Thanks Michael! The Vertigo swirl is a great example of designing a label logo for movement. For a follow-up post, I'm thinking of doing some videos of labels spinning and that would be a great one to use. I'd fortgotten about Fly - thanks for reminding me. I used to have LPs by T. Rex and Procul Harum on that label but don't have them any longer. Just looked them up on Discogs - great design!
I really enjoyed this Richard, thank you. As I think about the evolution of iconic record labels and their actual center label art evolution, I sometimes trick myself into seeing an artist's evolution with that label as well. One example -- the classic simplicity of the basic green Warner Brothers label, present on Van Morrison's Astral Weeks through Hard Nose the Highway albums; then the switch to the "see all the palm trees we have in Burbank!" sunny label starting with "It's Too Late to Stop Now," then the new, clean, boring tan label starting with Wavelength and rolling into the 1980's. In my mind I no doubt associate the earliest green label with his greatest music (per what I value), see some of the wobble start to show with the palm trees, and see him competing with a host of other label mates in the more generic later WB years, with a further slide in uniqueness and artistry. I love all those records, including the later ones, but the point I guess is that I formed an association with the center art label evolution and the evolution of my appreciation of the artist's work along the way.
On a popular culture level you no doubt remember the classic scene in the movie "Diner" where the married male protagonist, during a disagreement with his wife (in part due to her having screwed up the order in which he kept his records, which he took as a serious affront). In his confused and frustrated anger, he quizzed his wife about what was on the flip side of any of his 45s -- and he knew the name, date, and record label of each one. He concludes the scene by specifically naming the song that was playing when he first me her at a high school party, to prove his point, and to further mystify her. It's a scene I'll never forget, because it so accurately showed the obsessiveness of record guys (like you and me) which is a complete mystery to most sane wives or partners, who just don't see the big deal. YouTube link to the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXjCtgiUEu8
Thanks for the response, James. That's a brilliant account of the evolution of artist and label. I'm going to think on that and whether I have equivalents. Well, I have those Van Morrison records, but I hadn't thought about them in this way. I guess I've thought about it a bit with Dylan, whose releases are also complicated by the Columbia/CBS imprints and even a brief foray to Asylum in the 1970s. This also has me thinking about different imprints internationally as I'm aware some of my UK Dylan pressings are on differnet imprints to the US equivalents. I did like how, for Triplicate, the label was designed as if it were an old Columbia 78. That seems to fit both with Dylan singing Tin Pan Alley standards and with his own aging, though I haven't thought much more about the label/artist evolution in the way you've outlined. Thanks for that!
Oh, and the Diner scene. Like much of High Fidelity, that's just too painful! 'You never ask me what's on the flip side!'
Great article, Richard! Purely for design and visuals alone, my absolute favorite center label art has to be Vertigo with that killer swirl. I also like Fly Records, which released the first couple T.Rex albums as well as records by Budgie, The Move, and Procol Harum (and several others).
Thanks Michael! The Vertigo swirl is a great example of designing a label logo for movement. For a follow-up post, I'm thinking of doing some videos of labels spinning and that would be a great one to use. I'd fortgotten about Fly - thanks for reminding me. I used to have LPs by T. Rex and Procul Harum on that label but don't have them any longer. Just looked them up on Discogs - great design!