Urban Waste: Logo #309

Fondly-remembered New York hardcore band Urban Waste had their logo designed by Billy Phillips & John Dancy in 1982 for the cover of their 7" EP on Mob-Style Records, although doubtless the band was using it as early as 1981, when they began. They reunited in 2002 and played the long-lost CBGB's, almost 20 years after this 1983 live action. Looking back at that performance almost 25 years ago, they all seem so earnest and sincere. Someone should survey all those old HC musicians and ask how they feel now, compared to two or three decades ago. "Time," as Thomas Paine once observed, "makes more converts than reason."

Cyclic Law: Logo #308

Canadian dark ambient band (and label) Cyclic Law founder Frédéric Arbour designed their own logo. Arbour: "It consists of the Jera Rune, a Norse symbol symbolizing seasonal cycles, birth and death and renewal...the Cyclic Law of eternal return. It was conceived in 2001." We trust he means the logo, not the Law.

Venom: Logo #307

Created by Venom bassist / singer Conrad "Cronos" Lant in 1982 for the cover of the "Black Metal" LP. Venom Central reports: "All of the Venom artwork and Venom logos on the early Venom album and single record sleeves were all designed and illustrated by the band's singer Cronos (Conrad Lant)."

Orbital: Logo #306

Designed originally by Fultano '90 in, surprise surprise, 1990.

Grey Wolves: Logo #305

Designed by Trevor Ward of Grey Wolves and perfected from 1988 through 1992. Ward: "I can't claim to have come up with the Celtic cross - this came a few thousand years before me - but it was me who cut out the wolf's head pic and stuck it in the middle along with the rune/lightning bolt. This was also a long time ago, when we use to mess around with symbols a lot more than we do now." Grey Wolves - a.k.a. The Blackshirt Orchestra, Brutal Love, Irritant, Lebensborn, Nails Ov Christ, No Lie G.I., Opera For Infantry, Tactical Aid Group - have constantly pumped out the most abrasive, politically incorrect, intense music, mostly on cassettes for the past twenty or so years. They show no signs of stopping. Their records have great titles: "A Wealth Of Misery," "Open Up Wounds," and "Many Are Called But Few Get Up," and for that they are highly recommended.

Pennywise: Logo #304

Pennywise had their visual "meh" designed by Fred Hidalgo in 1991. Hard to believe they've been going for 21 years now; the band's the age of a grown-up but they're still spastic nerfbags.

I really have nothing more to say than that. Just because I showcase a band doesn't mean I always have to like 'em. Here are some things I actually do like.

Ima Robot: Logo #303

The eponymous robot for the band Ima Robot was designed by Alex Ebert. Ima Robot Central reports, "It's based on a painting he did years back. We first started using it around 2001." The robot symbol - looking nothing so much as a hieroglyphic of the robot from the 1957 film "Kronos" - started showing up on walls and utility boxes in the early years of the 21st-century (I know - that does sound impressive) throughout Los Angeles. Looked like it'd be a new entry in the street art sweeps that, at the time, included Buff Monster, Skullphone and the endlessly tedious dyad of Shepard Fairey and Robbie Conal. Sadly, not to be. Just another band - but one with a well-presented public image.

The Song of the Moment - much as it pains me to say so - is "Actor Out of Work" by the painfully perfect St. Vincent.

Ian Dury and the Blockheads: Logo #302

There's an Ian Dury movie in the works. Ian's to be played by Andy Serkis, the man who mastered the ways of Gollum, King Kong, and Martin Hannett. The Blockheads face logo was designed in 1977 by the indefatigable - well, almost - Barney Bubbles (born Colin Fulcher, June 30, 1942 - November 14, 1983). There's also a new book on the astonishing range Barney's art, called "Reasons to be Cheerful." Ultimately, like the Sex Pistols and Whitesnake logos, the sum of the logo's parts remains greater than its whole - Holism rides yet again.

This Day in Birth:
Sir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, etc. etc. (May 8, 1926)
Philip Bailey (Earth, Wind & Fire; May 8, 1951)
Lex Barker (was Tarzan; May 8, 1919 - May 11, 1973)
Kelan Phil Cohran (AACM; May 8, 1927)
Dagmar Dimitroff (Die Tödliche Doris; May 8, 1960 - Jul. 14, 1990)
Jean Giraud (Moebius; May 8, 1938)
Keith Jarrett (May 8, 1945)
Bill Legend (born William Fifield, of T. Rex; May 8, 1944)
Lob (Instagon; May 8, 1965)
Richard McAllister (Pentagram; May 8, 1955 - May 26, 2006)
Myst (born Volker Kahrs, of Grobschnitt; May 8, 1951 - July 20, 2008)
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. (May 8, 1937)
Mickey Ruskin (Max's Kansas City; May 8, 1933 - May 16, 1983)
Tom of Finland (born Touko Laaksonen; May 8, 1920 – Nov. 7, 1991)
Alexander Arthur Van Halen (May 8, 1953)
Danny Ray Whitten (Crazy Horse; May 8, 1943 - Nov. 18, 1972)
David T. Wiley (Human Hands; May 8, 1954 - September 8, 1988)

Contravene: Logo #301

Eric, bassist for Phoenix anarcho / peacepunk band Contravene: "We found the basis for it in a book of Japanese design motifs. We changed a few things about it, added the peace and equality signs and our name and that was that. As for when it first appeared, I believe our design came about in 1999. The original Japanese motif has been around much, much longer."

This Day in Death:
Nigel Christopher Preston (Sex Gang Children, The Cult; April 4, 1963 - May 7, 1992)

Timothy R. "Tim" North (Crash Worship, Rhythm & Noise; September 17, 1960 - May 7, 2003)