Art on your sleeve

This episode is an audio supplement to a six-page Pop Art feature I wrote for Classic Pop magazine, issue 13, published October/November 2014. In the podcast I interview artist and designer, Bob Linney about his record sleeve artwork for The Beloved and play track excerpts along the way. We also touch on other sleeves that he has worked on and discover how he ended up forging a long time creative relationship with Jon Marsh and The Beloved. The interview was recorded over Zoom during the COVID-19 lockdown period with Bob and I in our respective studios in East Anglia and Liverpool. Apologies for the variable recording quality. The podcast also coincides with the re-release of Happiness, an album by The Beloved, and the release of a limited edition range of screen prints that Bob made available in June 2020. The prints are available to order directly from Bob Linney’s online store at: www.boblinneyposters.com/beloved-artwork Full show notes and archive at: https://www.softoctopus/podcast

In this episode I'm joined by Sarah and Brian Linnen, hosts of the Permanent Record Podcast. There are few podcasts that dig as deeply into the sounds and visuals of artists that were big in the eighties/nineties as they do. I highly recommend that you subscribe to their show at the usual quality podcast outlets and explore their considerable archive at: www.permanentrecordpodcast.com During this chat you will hear us each select one album and one single sleeve that we believe deserves greater recognition and talk about the reasons why we selected them. We also learn a lot along the way about how they were created and the designers behind the work. Our selections are as follows: Kiss like ether 1991 single by Claudia Brücken Designed by Tim Vary at Island Art The Lovecats 1983 single by The Cure Designed by Parched Art It’s called a heart 1985 single by Depeche Mode Designed by T+CP, illustration by Tamara Capellaro Parade 1984 album by Spandau Ballet Painting by David Band, photography by John Shaw, art direction by Gary Kemp Crowded House 1986 album by Crowded House. Cover Painting by Nicholas Seymour, art direction by John O’Brien 6. Read my lips 1989 album by Jimmy Somerville. Designed by Me Company We hope you enjoy the episode, if you do, subscribe at Apple Podcasts and if you’re very nice, you could even leave a review. Art on your sleeve is also available on other platforms including Spotify.

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/

This episode is an audio supplement to the 'Synthpop' special edition of Classic Pop magazine, published on 7 February 2019. In the magazine I have written an eight page feature about the best sleeve designs of the synthpop genre from the last 40 years. In this podcast, I am joined by two pop pals to talk about three of our favourite sleeve designs, some of which are included in the magazine article. The range is quite eclectic and purely personal but myself, Andrew and David all had quite a lot to say. So, plug in your earphones and enjoy. The archive of 'Art on your sleeve' is also online at: http://softoctopus.co.uk/category/podcast Further information about Classic Pop magazine can be found at: http://www.classicpopmag.com Information about the synth pop special is available at: http://shop.anthem-publishing.com/all-products/classic-pop-presents.htm

In this episode I interview the photographer, Peter Ashworth about his seminal body of work for classic pop albums by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Soft Cell, Eurythmics, Visage, Depeche Mode and many others. This interview was edited by Peter and myself from a longer conversation and was conducted inside and outside his 'Mavericks' exhibition in Liverpool, 2 June - 8 July 2018. To find out more about Peter's work, visit his website at: www.ashworth.photos To find our more about The Gallery in Liverpool, visit their website at: www.thegalleryliverpool.com

In this episode I speak with North West artist, John Petch about his artistic collaboration with OMD for the sleeve of their album entitled 'The Punishment of Luxury'. John also worked on the sleeve art for the singles that were released from the album. To find out more about John's work, visit his website at: www.johnpetch.com

In this episode I speak with Brian and Sarah Linnen from The Permanent Record Podcast about Erasure's 1988 album entitled 'The Innocents'. This 75 minute episode is edited from three x 90 minute podcasts which are also available to download from iTunes. Find out more about The Permanent Record Podcast at: www.permanentrecordpodcast.com and follow them on Facebook and Twitter. This episode of Art on your sleeve isn't specifically about record sleeve design but I did interview Paul Khera, one of the designers of 'The Innocents' and he provided some interesting background information on the design work, all of this and more is in this edit.

In this episode, I speak with Rob O'Connor whose design work will be familiar to fans of Blur, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Howard Jones, Prefab Sprout, Squeeze, Voice of the Beehive and hundreds more pop bands stretching back to the late 1970s. I spent an afternoon with Rob at Stylorouge looking back over his career and getting the stories behind many iconic records sleeves. The interview coincides with the POP ART feature in Classic Pop magazine - Issue 32.