Show Notes
This episode is an audio supplement to Classic Pop magazine, issue 53, published on 31 May 2019. It features my 35th Pop Art feature, this time with graphic designer, Pete Barrett.
Pete is now based in Melbourne, Australia, so we caught up online to talk about his massive portfolio of pop and discover the stories behind some of his work for artists including Dexys Midnight Runners, Bananarama, Madonna, The Jam, Simply Red, George Michael and Prefab Sprout.
Find out more about Pete's current design practice at: www.hoof.net.au
The Art on your sleeve archive is also online at: softoctopus.co.uk/category/podcast
Further information about Classic Pop magazine can be found at: www.classicpopmag.com
Information about this issue of Classic Pop is available at: https://www.classicpopmag.com/2019/05/issue-53-of-classic-pop-is-on-sale-now-2/
More from Art on your sleeve
On 19 March 1990, Depeche Mode released what is still considered their finest album - 'Violator'. Anton Corbijn created its sleeve with assistance from graphic designer Richard Smith of Area. The two would go on to collaborate on dozens of sleeves for a wide range of artists, but to celebrate this seminal album's 35th birthday, I spoke to Richard about his creative involvement.
Graphic designer, painter and sleeve artist, Andie Airfix was born in Scotland but grew up in Warrington in the north west of England. After studying art and English literature at Chester teacher training college, he spent almost a year teaching art and English in Southampton. In 1970 he started travelling around the USA, Canada and Mexico, a trip funded by selling psychedelic paintings to poster companies in New York and San Francisco. On his return to the UK, he spent some time in Devon where he concentrated on painting and writing before heading off again to India for a few years.
This episode of the podcast is a bit different... Instead of our usual, reverent look back at examples of the best in record sleeve creativity, we dig into its darkest and often unexplored corners of obscurity to expose some of the worst, or at best, most bizarre record sleeves ever created.
Hello and best wishes for the festive season. My gift to you is a brand new episode of the ‘Art on your sleeve’ podcast. In this episode I speak with Paula Benson and Paul West from Form. There’s a lot that I could say about this dynamic duo and their extraordinarily diverse pop portfolio, but it’s probably easier to let them speak for themselves. So, here’s a bit of an introduction lifted directly from their website.
In this episode, I speak with Andy McCluskey, lead vocalist of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, or OMD, as they are more commonly known. Andy formed OMD with co-writer and occasional co-vocalist, Paul Humphreys, at the tail-end of the 1970s. Their self-titled debut album (and its follow-up) was released in 1980 at the dawn of electronic pop, just as synthesised sounds were easing their way into the mainstream - and this is where our story begins.