This is a very interesting topic and great piece on something I haven’t seen raised before.
Most of these examples are cringeworthy, but I’ve always loved that Roxy Music one, which strikes me as campy and sexy without being fetishized. And that Grace Jones cover is brilliant.
I also like the Roxy Music cover with Jerry Hall as a mermaid/sea creature on the rocks. One of my favorites is the UK Blind Faith cover with a topless waif on the cover holding a toy airplane outdoors. I think what makes it interesting is that it makes no sense.
I think almost all of this, whether brilliant or creepy, is in the taste of the beholder, as are all things sexual. We all have boundaries, and things that edge close to the boundary we find titillating, but we are disgusted once that thin line is crossed. Eno’s “Here Come the Warm Jets” is an interesting example. It features a still life that includes a portrait of the artist behind a smaller playing card that depicts a man in a top hat watching a woman squatting to urinate. You love it or you hate it. (The title track, according to Eno, has nothing to do with this. It is a mostly instrumental tune with the warm sound of flying aircraft. )
A fun read - I hope you’ll also consider a different male gaze - the homoerotic. The Smiths are classic for this imagery. Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Prince (you did a bit here) all present not only gender bending but eroticism that catches the eye, perhaps for gay men and women. Ultimately, I ask whether the image informs the music. Thankfully you’ve raised this. It’s easy to take the image out of context. But ultimately, beyond the sexual tension the image can raise, there is an element of gratitude in seeing what you consider beautiful or important and perhaps not well accepted universally in a popular artist. I wish I could say more about the female gaze upon the female - perhaps someone with more experience could give some pointers?
I would add Blind Faith’s self-titled to the list of creepy pedophilia album covers. It tries to be artsy in the same way “Houses of the Holy” is but fails, in my opinion.
What an excellent summary and selection of covers - 'the tackiness scale of nude covers is usually in perfect harmony with the music itself' rings so true.
One of my favourites is Supernature by Goldfrapp. Like the music, it is a mix of coy and camp; a topless Alison is covered up and obscured - by a glittery phallic forest! Haha
This is a great topic and one that needs, I think to be talked about. I grew up in the 1970's and 80's when there was some great, and crass album art coming out. Innovative some of it. Blind Faith (fail for me, turned me off), but I was fascinated by Bow Wow Wow's "Jungle" cover which was so controvertial when it came out - rightly so. And then there's "Buckingham Nicks" vs "Two Virgins." And the "Jump" single cover art in the UK which wasn't a nude but was totally male gaze. Can't wait to read your newsletter about this. As a male I have always struggled as I find the female form beautiful and there is this line of voyerism, and mysoganistic male gaze, and art.
Buckingham Nicks, never seen that one, this one fits into this for sure. Two Virgins is a curious example because event though it's nude, it is asexual, which is fascinating in its own right. Jungle is a great cover!
Buckingham Nicks is well worth considering in this context because of Stevie Nicks’ (sadly unsurprising) story about being coerced by Buckingham and the photographer into doing the shoot topless.
Excellent post, Dina. Do you know the musician Jobriath? He was the self-proclaimed "first true fairy of rock 'n' roll." His self-titled debut album (1973) cover featured him naked in full supine position, front and back. Some have said that it inspired Bowie's Diamond Dogs cover. Elektra Records signed him to a massive deal and even reprinted the full cover of the naked glam artist on a billboard in Times Square. You can read all about him here:
Also check out the Tom Waits' album cover for Small Change (1976). Tom is sitting in a showgirls dressing room. All she is wearing is "Pasties and a G-String," a song on said album.
You’ve opened up an unending conversation here Dina given the inexhaustible supply of examples. What about the subset of female nudes (or male if there are any?) where the model is covered in food stuffs? Did Herb Alpert start it with Whipped Cream and other delights? And what about when the artist poses herself? The best example I can think of being Deborah Conway’s Bitch Epic. Conway might not be that well known to American audiences but as well as being one of the best songwriter/performers Australia has produced this provocative ex model didn’t mind covering herself in liquid chocolate (it was actually Nutella) for her cover art. I think much like Grace Jones’s Island Life, Bitch Epic’s cover is both striking and amusing. And the music is Alive and Brilliant.
Ok this was topic I honestly had never considered and I was skeptical about your position, but I really enjoyed the journey this took me on. What a delight!! It's really interesting the differences between the empowering nudity and the exploitative nudity. My mother in law is an album art designer and we often long for the days of those fantastic covers instead of the tiny Spotify square we get now. Another reason to delight in vinyl
A wonderful post Dina, and some excellent examples of this sub-genre of album art.
I've been a fan of Roxy Music for a long time, probably drawn in as a teenage boy by the covers when the albums were released but became a big fan of the music ... come for the covers, start for the songs.
I wrote a similar piece a few years ago on the male gaze in photographic equipment advertising.
What an interesting topic for discussion - and well-handled I thought. Although I did miss inclusion of Robert Palmer’s “Pressure Drop” cover, mainly because the manager of the record store where I worked at the time ordered me not to put it in the window with the rest of the new releases.
I had to go dig my LP out of the closet: Design and Photography by Graham Hughes. Of course the CD and reissues omit this info. I miss the days of 12” covers with full credits. Thanks for the article I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Brilliant. I read it out loud to my wife, who I have photographed nude in the past and present. We had some great laughs too. Loved the Hendrix cover's story and Selena example, you got the irony and difficulty spot on... and "tastefully."
This is a very interesting topic and great piece on something I haven’t seen raised before.
Most of these examples are cringeworthy, but I’ve always loved that Roxy Music one, which strikes me as campy and sexy without being fetishized. And that Grace Jones cover is brilliant.
None of them are cringeworthy.
let's not forget Blind Faith, which treads into probable illegal territory (https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Faith-CD-not-vinyl/dp/B077MN1HXY).
That’s a tricky one for sure.
I also like the Roxy Music cover with Jerry Hall as a mermaid/sea creature on the rocks. One of my favorites is the UK Blind Faith cover with a topless waif on the cover holding a toy airplane outdoors. I think what makes it interesting is that it makes no sense.
I think almost all of this, whether brilliant or creepy, is in the taste of the beholder, as are all things sexual. We all have boundaries, and things that edge close to the boundary we find titillating, but we are disgusted once that thin line is crossed. Eno’s “Here Come the Warm Jets” is an interesting example. It features a still life that includes a portrait of the artist behind a smaller playing card that depicts a man in a top hat watching a woman squatting to urinate. You love it or you hate it. (The title track, according to Eno, has nothing to do with this. It is a mostly instrumental tune with the warm sound of flying aircraft. )
That's a funny cover, Eno, I never noticed the small photo.
A fun read - I hope you’ll also consider a different male gaze - the homoerotic. The Smiths are classic for this imagery. Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Prince (you did a bit here) all present not only gender bending but eroticism that catches the eye, perhaps for gay men and women. Ultimately, I ask whether the image informs the music. Thankfully you’ve raised this. It’s easy to take the image out of context. But ultimately, beyond the sexual tension the image can raise, there is an element of gratitude in seeing what you consider beautiful or important and perhaps not well accepted universally in a popular artist. I wish I could say more about the female gaze upon the female - perhaps someone with more experience could give some pointers?
I would add Blind Faith’s self-titled to the list of creepy pedophilia album covers. It tries to be artsy in the same way “Houses of the Holy” is but fails, in my opinion.
What an excellent summary and selection of covers - 'the tackiness scale of nude covers is usually in perfect harmony with the music itself' rings so true.
One of my favourites is Supernature by Goldfrapp. Like the music, it is a mix of coy and camp; a topless Alison is covered up and obscured - by a glittery phallic forest! Haha
Tricky - Pre Millenium Tension
This is a great topic and one that needs, I think to be talked about. I grew up in the 1970's and 80's when there was some great, and crass album art coming out. Innovative some of it. Blind Faith (fail for me, turned me off), but I was fascinated by Bow Wow Wow's "Jungle" cover which was so controvertial when it came out - rightly so. And then there's "Buckingham Nicks" vs "Two Virgins." And the "Jump" single cover art in the UK which wasn't a nude but was totally male gaze. Can't wait to read your newsletter about this. As a male I have always struggled as I find the female form beautiful and there is this line of voyerism, and mysoganistic male gaze, and art.
Write on!
Buckingham Nicks, never seen that one, this one fits into this for sure. Two Virgins is a curious example because event though it's nude, it is asexual, which is fascinating in its own right. Jungle is a great cover!
Buckingham Nicks is well worth considering in this context because of Stevie Nicks’ (sadly unsurprising) story about being coerced by Buckingham and the photographer into doing the shoot topless.
Excellent post, Dina. Do you know the musician Jobriath? He was the self-proclaimed "first true fairy of rock 'n' roll." His self-titled debut album (1973) cover featured him naked in full supine position, front and back. Some have said that it inspired Bowie's Diamond Dogs cover. Elektra Records signed him to a massive deal and even reprinted the full cover of the naked glam artist on a billboard in Times Square. You can read all about him here:
https://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/graded-on-a-curve-jobriath-jobriath/
Also check out the Tom Waits' album cover for Small Change (1976). Tom is sitting in a showgirls dressing room. All she is wearing is "Pasties and a G-String," a song on said album.
We Love Roxy Music!
You’ve opened up an unending conversation here Dina given the inexhaustible supply of examples. What about the subset of female nudes (or male if there are any?) where the model is covered in food stuffs? Did Herb Alpert start it with Whipped Cream and other delights? And what about when the artist poses herself? The best example I can think of being Deborah Conway’s Bitch Epic. Conway might not be that well known to American audiences but as well as being one of the best songwriter/performers Australia has produced this provocative ex model didn’t mind covering herself in liquid chocolate (it was actually Nutella) for her cover art. I think much like Grace Jones’s Island Life, Bitch Epic’s cover is both striking and amusing. And the music is Alive and Brilliant.
Ok this was topic I honestly had never considered and I was skeptical about your position, but I really enjoyed the journey this took me on. What a delight!! It's really interesting the differences between the empowering nudity and the exploitative nudity. My mother in law is an album art designer and we often long for the days of those fantastic covers instead of the tiny Spotify square we get now. Another reason to delight in vinyl
Fela Kuti and the Africa 70 "Shakara" album cover is one of the more interesting ones of the genre.
A wonderful post Dina, and some excellent examples of this sub-genre of album art.
I've been a fan of Roxy Music for a long time, probably drawn in as a teenage boy by the covers when the albums were released but became a big fan of the music ... come for the covers, start for the songs.
I wrote a similar piece a few years ago on the male gaze in photographic equipment advertising.
I'd like to read that.
I'll dig it out and email it to you.
Haha I wondered how long before the storied male gaze would make an appearance. About 15 seconds.
Interesting article however.
What an interesting topic for discussion - and well-handled I thought. Although I did miss inclusion of Robert Palmer’s “Pressure Drop” cover, mainly because the manager of the record store where I worked at the time ordered me not to put it in the window with the rest of the new releases.
Is Pressure drop a photograph? I thought it was an illustration!
I had to go dig my LP out of the closet: Design and Photography by Graham Hughes. Of course the CD and reissues omit this info. I miss the days of 12” covers with full credits. Thanks for the article I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Brilliant. I read it out loud to my wife, who I have photographed nude in the past and present. We had some great laughs too. Loved the Hendrix cover's story and Selena example, you got the irony and difficulty spot on... and "tastefully."