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British band Hard-Fi have garnered some negativepublicity after the cover art for their upcoming sophomore release, Once Upon a Time in the West, was revealed: a yellow field with the words “NO COVER ART” in large type. The band gave a statement about “breaking the rules” or whatever to the NME, but in fact, cover art that’s anti-cover art has been around for a while.
First of all, the cover that seems to have directly inspired Hard-Fi’s art prank: San Francisco punk band Flipper’s 1982 release, Album – Generic Flipper. It’s the same Generic Yellow, and features a similar font; somehow, though, I imagine Hard-Fi’s new album won’t be quite as ground breaking.
Flipper’s generic cover concept was said to have influenced Public Image Limited’s multiple covers for their 1986 release, alternately titled Album, Cassette, or Compact Disc, depending on the format. I even own 12″ Single, featuring an extended mix of “Rise.” Flipper returned the favor by later releasing a live album called Public Flipper Limited.
Of course, the blank concept art-cover basically began with The Beatles; the 1968 release was designed by Richard Hamilton, who had put together a Duchamp exhibit at the Tate the year before.
Wikipedia says The Damned was the first band to explicitly invert the concept with their Black Album in 1980, although there’s actually quite a bit going on here. More literally black covers can be found on later releases by Prince and Metallica; for a list of albums featuring basically blank cover art, check out this list here.
Can we trace this trend back to Kazimir Malevich’s 1915 Suprematist masterwork, “Black Square?” The painting was placed in the position on the wall traditionally reserved for a religious icon, usurping the image of Christ; are blank album covers similar denials of their creators? Not that rock stars consider themselves Christ-like or anything.
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