Sleeveface… Your favourite records on your face
Another day, another amazing blog. It’s an entire blog based on people using record sleeves to cover their faces, thereby “extending” the image. And it’s brilliantly called…. Sleeveface.
We’re not sure of the psychology behind this, but it’s a great way to celebrate the art form of the record sleeve.
We’ve curated their photos to show you some of our favourite photos from classic Music Heritage UK acts. Enjoy and don’t forget to explore more on the Sleeveface blog!
Music Rich List 2012 is out!
The Sunday Times Rich List is out over the weekend and it’s music section has been released early to the press. This lists the top individuals by wealth within the music industry.
The top position goes to music businessman Clive Clader who made over £1bn from the sale of his record label Zomba to BMG in 2002.
Sir Paul McCartney has reversed what happened with his previous wife (the divorce cost him around £25m) and actually increased his wealth through his marriage to freight magnate Nancy Shevell by £150m.
Other people of note on the list include George Harrison’s widow Olivia and son Dani who are sharing £180m, while Ringo is in 13th place with £160m. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are also on the list, as is Sting, Sir Elton John and Sir Tom Jones.
1 Clive Calder - £1.35bn
2 Sir Cameron Mackintosh - £725m
3 Sir Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell - £665m
4 Lord Lloyd-Webber - £590m
5 U2 - £514m
6 Simon Fuller - £375m
7 Simon Cowell - £225m
8 Sir Elton John - £220m
9 Michael Flatley - £192m
10= David and Victoria Beckham - £190m
10= Daniel Ek - £190m
10= Sir Mick Jagger - £190m
13= Olivia and Dhani Harrison - £180m
13= Sting - £180m
15 Keith Richards - £175m
16 Jamie Palumbo - £170m
17 Denis and Caroline Desmond - £165m
18 Ringo Starr - £160m
19 Sir Tim Rice - £144m
20 Sir Tom Jones - £140m
Sunset Boulevard’s British Invasion ‘74/’75
Another amazing post from the Voices of East Anglia blog. Apologies for blatantly plagiarising the idea, but it’s just too good not to share these amazing pictures.
The blog showcased some of the advertising billboards on Sunset Boulevard between 1974 and 1975. At the time Los Angeles had become the centre of the global music industry from a financial and creative perspective. Acts like James Taylor, the Eagles, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell had all relocated to the area and British acts were quick to see the importance of the West Coast from a marketing perspective too.
Below are some of the amazing Billboards that graced this infamous Los Angeles strip. Thanks to the VoEA blog and to Larry the Frog for uploading these to his flickr account!
What we love about the photos is not only just how ridiculously oversized and over the top they are, but also the details - the houses hidden behind them, the cars which are a mix of 1970s sports cars and more classic American autos, and, of course, the blue, blue skies.
English “supergroup” Bad Company
Elton John’s sold out gig…
Mott the Hoople and David Bowie close to the Roxy and the Whisky a GoGo, now infamous local music clubs
Cat Stevens’ Budda inspired album…
The Who’s Odds and Sods…
Donovan’s Sold Out gig
Another Elton advertising his greatest hits (in the mid-70s!)…
Rod Stewart’s Smiler…
George Harrison’s own Dark Horse Records which released all of his music post 1976.
Eric Clapton’s 461 Ocean Boulevard with fake palm tree.
Joe Cocker looks a little sad…
Ladies and Gentlemen… The Rolling Stones - their original film release, it has since been remastered and released on DVD.
Bill Wyman’s questionable Monkey Grip…
Rick Wakeman’s journey to the centre of the earth…
Yet another Elton John billboard with his trademark oversized glasses…
Maggie Bell, England’s Number One female vocalist… (really?…)
Meet the Parents - 70s Rock star style
Some amazing photos from the Daily Mail last week showing some of the 1970s most loved performers at home with their family.
These were taken to form part of a LIFE Magazine feature and they’ve been recreated in this Daily Mail piece online.
If anything it shows how awful home furnishings were at the time - check out the wallpaper of Elton John’s parents. Truly awful.
Joe Cocker and his Mother in her Sheffield home
Donovan and his parents in their home in the North
Eric Clapton with his Grandmother
Elton John and his Step-Father and Mother in their London flat.
Riders on the Storm
The Smoking Gun has been sharing these documents with the web for a while, but we thought that it was well worth exploring these again. They have made a name for themselves in revealing the demands and whims of some of Rock’s greatest acts.
The documents outline what promoters need to provide to the performer, their entourage and other rules and regulations. We’ve gone through them for you below to highlight some of the more interesting demands made by the creme of the UK music rock scene while on tour in the USA.
The Beatles
This original document from their tour of the USA in 1965 makes many demands on security (perhaps the influence on Macca’s rider - see below), which given the state of beatlemania at the time, is understandable. They asked for “at the very least 150 uniformed officers”. In addition to this they also required a portable TV and four beds in their dressing room, and a removable roof for the stage if the concert is played outside.
However, perhaps the most famous thing to come out of this rider is the requirement that the Beatles would not perform to a segregated crowd.
David Bowie
Compared to some of the others in this list, he’s positively normal. He eats no food (other than fruit), he makes few excessive demands. No wonder promoters are clamouring for a David Bowie live tour soon!
Eric Clapton
On Slowhand’s 1995 tour of the USA, he made one unusual request for a games room to be set up - “We are touring our own table football table that needs to be set up in this room”.
Def Leppard
Perhaps the most interesting thing to come out of this is the amount of food required to tour Def Leppard. There is a whole menu of food needed for the band at the show and for the band’s tour bus. Plus the additional headache for promoters in finding Vegan pastas and burgers and ensuring that their insane food demands are met.
With all of these food requirements is it any wonder that they need the tank of the toilets cleaned three times during the day of the show?
Boy George
He wanted 24 bottles or cans of “HIGH quality” larger. And that’s just for his own dressing room and not for his entire crew… They got an extra 48 bottles or cans.
Elton John
Elton John and his entourage use “approximately 40 kilos of ice per day” on tour and want the promoters to be sure that they know this. He also doesn’t wear a lanyard (so ensure that people at the venue know who he is), and is very picky when it comes to lighting and flowers.
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney’s 2002 tour of the USA’s rider reveals his focus on security. Dogs were meant to sweep the arena/venue for suspicious packages, a special security team was to take care of any letters, flowers or gifts that were delivered for Sir Paul, and the road to the venue was to be kept clear for six minutes before his estimated time of arrival.
Other than that, he wanted to ensure that no animal was harmed. So his people forbid any furniture which was made of animal skin or print - even going as far as banning any artificial versions of animal skin or print.
We also find out that Paul McCartney is “very fond of flowers”.
Ozzy Osbourne
He requires a “nose, throat and ear doctor on site” as soon as he is in the building. This doctor “must be able to administer if required a B12 shot and decahedron (anti-inflammatory) shot”, reveals the rider from his 1999 tour.
The Rolling Stones
There are a couple of riders here - the one below from 2005 and then one from 1997/8. I do love the 2005 one though. There are very specific instructions - this is a precision like tour with very precise demands.
Mick Jagger has an area where he warms up, the band bring “there [sic] own” snooker table on tour, there is a very specific requirement for a TV which can show the Cricket (probably quite difficult in the US) and there are requirements for separate offices for management.
The Who
Perhaps the most interesting thing to this is the amount of drinks required to put the Who on. There’s a multitude of soft drinks and tea needed across all of the rooms in the backstage area.
To be fair though, none of these come close to the hilarity that is Iggy Pop’s tour rider. I challenge anyone to read that and not laugh. Amazing stuff.
Wolfgang’s Vault - The internet music archive
Wolfgang’s Vault is a quite probably the greatest internet music resource out here.
It’s been built on the archives of Californian promoter Bill Graham who hosted almost every single major rock outfit from the late 1960s to early 1980s and was instrumental in building the major stadium acts such as the Rolling Stones.
After his death his estate brought together all of his memorabilia, recordings and photos to create the only legal online archive of its kind. Bill Graham was an archivist and collector - he apparently saved every single ticket that was handed over to him at his two Fillmore venues - and since 2003, this has slowly been making its way online through Wolfgang’s Vault. Other private collections have also been added to the site.
Despite law suits from the record companies and bands, the site survives today and is going from strength to strength. It continues to allow users to stream a number of live recordings online and from today it features video performances too.
What’s even better is that you don’t need to pay any subscriptions - this is free to access for all, the site is paid for through licensing and the sale of merchandise. This has become a resource that could only have been in the dreams of Bill Graham all those years ago.
From the last ever Sex Pistols gig, to classic Rolling Stones concerts from the eighties via the Who performing in 1970, the site offers hundreds of videos which can now be viewed online through the site. The quality might not always be top notch, but the historic significance of these gigs is undeniable.
Check out some of the Music Heritage UK acts here:
The Animals, Annie Lennox, Cream, Culture Club, The Clash, The Cure, Eric Clapton, David Bowie, Deep Purple, Dire Straits, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Freddy Mercury, Genesis, George Harrison, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Joe Strummer, Led Zeppelin, Madness, The Moody Blues, Motorhead, Mott the Hoople, Ozzy Osbourne, Pink Floyd, The Police, Queen, Ray Davies, Ringo Starr, The Rolling Stones, Roxy Music, Sex Pistols, Talking Heads, Ultravox, The Who.
This really is the site to look at as far as online archiving of music is concerned and should be used as a model here in the UK. As mentioned on this blog before, the BBC could host a site which did a similar job of releasing their musical archive.
