tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70010495836600927252024-02-22T08:11:11.457-08:00Band Logos - Brand Upon The BrainLogos, Symbols, Icons and Emblems In Popular MusicDavid Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.comBlogger345125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-2760397885792695132022-10-25T20:01:00.000-07:002023-12-24T20:05:24.293-08:00Logo #242: Björk<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGgxd-Gc3PZQoAtsT3Bwkbse7nz-OXT46OVQTvjcIZfFXWSGzZNCISjlOJrk38skjcgp6mw7CL9XH4s0ucLDLlQDof1JdJxE1yqm8OgOJZiUA387L0xPFuaXAhbb7stQQU6Iai6y5524k/s1600-h/bjoe.bmp" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196833428496073506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGgxd-Gc3PZQoAtsT3Bwkbse7nz-OXT46OVQTvjcIZfFXWSGzZNCISjlOJrk38skjcgp6mw7CL9XH4s0ucLDLlQDof1JdJxE1yqm8OgOJZiUA387L0xPFuaXAhbb7stQQU6Iai6y5524k/s320/bjoe.bmp" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" /></a> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Paul White designed this icon for Björk, looking nothing so much as a swan stifling a sneeze, in 1993. Her latest effort is the beautiful and amazing "Wanderlust" video. Shame there's no song to go along with the video, though - the phrase "there's no "there" there" rather comes to mind. So, to alleviate your intense letdown, here's the Swedish Chef. Bjork bjork bjork. I really wanted to give this post to Front 242, but they never had a distinctive band logo. I tried. Honestly I did. Somewhat relatedly, the Guardian has a recent article mooing and prostrating themselves before the supposedly dying art of record sleeve design. Tempest, teacup, etc. You know what's really dying? Flexidiscs. No, wait.</p>David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-48328845248202866272012-05-31T20:07:00.003-07:002020-09-12T18:18:20.188-07:00The Beatnuts: Logo #336<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHW70uEgtdu4sUX_gJ_LQ1q4TRjSy6MJBh0yn7lW0KTRkdR-Pr-6xUfD0TAN9G39oQnWXqsddw_X3NyDR8in9NGv0TH0zI0L2ZbeC45tEjOx-MF0J-Y987kfkjjqWq325w85Sosic_jEA/s1600/beatn.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHW70uEgtdu4sUX_gJ_LQ1q4TRjSy6MJBh0yn7lW0KTRkdR-Pr-6xUfD0TAN9G39oQnWXqsddw_X3NyDR8in9NGv0TH0zI0L2ZbeC45tEjOx-MF0J-Y987kfkjjqWq325w85Sosic_jEA/s320/beatn.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The Beatnuts' logo - which first appeared on the cover of their breakout 1993 EP Intoxicated Demons - was detourned from the Reid Miles-designed cover for Hank Mobley's essential 1965 Blue Note LP The Turnaround. Simple, red, direct and eminently tattooable - it's everything a good logo should be. It's also open to interpretation; is it the forked tail of deviltry? Is it a rudderless life suddenly seized by the blessing of pragmatism? Pick your poison.<br />
<br />David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-31418618463243866322012-05-04T17:11:00.002-07:002023-11-12T16:34:07.341-08:00Crucifix: Logo #335<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECEaMehJC8NnlBEAkgzB2ZV_fu6uoIrJFoMuwCgpU1fkwQ81uGalyk1Aelm7KDD5Ru_WJIR_aZLmsPINwbDqM6E7EaIPw-wb57H8MJQs9X8hNDUnwE1a_o5PIZnrGwQBxK0AksUzfxxI/s1600/cruc.gif" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECEaMehJC8NnlBEAkgzB2ZV_fu6uoIrJFoMuwCgpU1fkwQ81uGalyk1Aelm7KDD5Ru_WJIR_aZLmsPINwbDqM6E7EaIPw-wb57H8MJQs9X8hNDUnwE1a_o5PIZnrGwQBxK0AksUzfxxI/s320/cruc.gif" width="268" /></a></div>Designed by anarcho-punk band Crucifix (detourned from Gerald Holtom's original 1958 symbol of the British nuclear disarmament movement) for their 1983 album "Dehumanization," issued by the Corpus Christi label, the sub-label owned by Crass. The mushroom cloud is here used as a wise and incisive presentation of the modern cross on which we were all hellbent on crucifying ourselves back in 1983. Here's Crucifix live in concert before they broke up in 1984. If I'd had to perform in front of a lethally bored audience like that one, I'd want to hang it up, too. Here's a faintly illuminating interview with Sothira Pheng, Crucifix's fiery Cambodian lead singer; it apparently dates to just before "Dehumanization" was issued. Pheng has some entertaining things to say about the episode of "Quincy" in which the punk rock menace was "revealed." I wonder if any other punk bands were interviewed about that particular network television event at the time. Here's another clip, riddled with clichés as it is, with traditional heavy William Forsythe playing the lead singer of Pain on the "CHiPs" punk rock episode. Another ridiculous scare attempted by squares. Time passages.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-38455500709214615162012-04-30T14:52:00.002-07:002023-11-12T16:34:33.733-08:00Prong: Logo #334<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwVWaLw1K7t32pLcT1RG5kImz1l9nDrTjn040yiZcd5KyYbk_kUUuuu2wXVIfHR-9Ux4hmLs5S1ViUBdjueyV-Xp4ecLQk0IjlQ-95NQgzXCE_8zTqst4UwNtdlFlFshQnfCUJUcHon0A/s1600/pro.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwVWaLw1K7t32pLcT1RG5kImz1l9nDrTjn040yiZcd5KyYbk_kUUuuu2wXVIfHR-9Ux4hmLs5S1ViUBdjueyV-Xp4ecLQk0IjlQ-95NQgzXCE_8zTqst4UwNtdlFlFshQnfCUJUcHon0A/s1600/pro.jpg" /></a></div>Designed by Prong lead singer and guitarist Tommy Victor in 1987. They're on tour again, as of this writing - playing impressively small venues, which just seems really bizarre because, well, they're Prong. Metal seems like it should be performed out in an amphitheater or at an observatory; there's a regal aspect to that particular music that remains underutilized. Call it "Live (Voltage) at Red Rocks."<br /><br />I've posted more here in the past two weeks than I have in the past two years. I don't know whether to celebrate or be ashamed. I'll just pass the entertainment savings on to you and leave it at that.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-49795535111497352902012-04-24T15:34:00.000-07:002023-11-12T16:35:09.946-08:00The Grateful Dead: Logo #333<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpt_j9TBFc1jJ5xfJlxFUXEIy_0XTAm6OVD56aFv2eOH9rUC05R7IEUzmsEd-1EBdtw5skAbrzQF5sYCBIv3OAOyDAMXWJQklC02qfCmpo-5Hp6XwAq0PrGOrVeeh35jIqQSINkn0sChU/s1600/gf1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2yFbppCdDnmiTIO6GZLws8-624nEbtN9f_GjNtVA4amADGGzmDtpUAiQ4PiFxQVV8uhkP_owYQjQYlYpbV243u6EvoCYT0TjdghROhymMWsP0NSOfvvXFHLkA65LnPik4eE0GvUdD3U/s1600/gf1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2yFbppCdDnmiTIO6GZLws8-624nEbtN9f_GjNtVA4amADGGzmDtpUAiQ4PiFxQVV8uhkP_owYQjQYlYpbV243u6EvoCYT0TjdghROhymMWsP0NSOfvvXFHLkA65LnPik4eE0GvUdD3U/s1600/gf1.jpg" /></a></div>I had hoped to get this up by 3:33 p.m., but, well, you know. Imagine beating a dead horse for the rest of your life.<br /><br />The Grateful Dead had three main logos that accompanied them through their long journey in life. The "Stealie" skull-and-lightning was designed by Owsley Stanley and Bob Thomas in 1969.<br /><br />Alton Kelley and Stanley "Mouse" Miller designed the flower skeleton in 1971, while Bob Thomas designed those famous dancing bears in 1973.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKgnzdg5QDFnCmR6UGMsLOeVEncFvjscVnu_lGyY1sTAsJ9UqAK8GHRA8oqV0WvPXSJf_ASruumXCnlnJKIk9x8VHKqtYkN8VMXJvfHRV-cLxkjoslpr9zcS4gYPvbUD9LbDEX-oaiiI/s1600/gf3.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKgnzdg5QDFnCmR6UGMsLOeVEncFvjscVnu_lGyY1sTAsJ9UqAK8GHRA8oqV0WvPXSJf_ASruumXCnlnJKIk9x8VHKqtYkN8VMXJvfHRV-cLxkjoslpr9zcS4gYPvbUD9LbDEX-oaiiI/s320/gf3.jpg" width="231" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZoL7fhXO__69TCA_gcLNIbfo7BvKmjdsH9-TeEhklh6EapXVjL31GnZaAFKGmPRcp_R9xhn_hpj8NL-_lhb1AdqEYqKWUPF8qg-dyYoyUfFo76dL2CNv-MlTel3dR2ciP_A9r9UHs1ow/s1600/gf2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZoL7fhXO__69TCA_gcLNIbfo7BvKmjdsH9-TeEhklh6EapXVjL31GnZaAFKGmPRcp_R9xhn_hpj8NL-_lhb1AdqEYqKWUPF8qg-dyYoyUfFo76dL2CNv-MlTel3dR2ciP_A9r9UHs1ow/s1600/gf2.jpg" /></a>David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-79058882429533247452012-04-24T00:29:00.001-07:002023-11-12T16:35:26.373-08:00Medeski Martin & Wood: Logo #332<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEXlZEZITPcRz4KfUwF7034KOEtpNLdp4delk2kWZjPXiod49vFjxzo2odjJzHxmEVCBo_wcaeQGuwGJBe5wzqu1V9BMjWiGTNSX8HVAIQsGd0P7Q8DDNHyvWXErpKabcJjMugGmembM/s1600/mmw.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEXlZEZITPcRz4KfUwF7034KOEtpNLdp4delk2kWZjPXiod49vFjxzo2odjJzHxmEVCBo_wcaeQGuwGJBe5wzqu1V9BMjWiGTNSX8HVAIQsGd0P7Q8DDNHyvWXErpKabcJjMugGmembM/s1600/mmw.jpg" /></a></div>Designed by drummer Billy Martin for the cover of Medeski Martin & Wood's 1995 release "Friday Afternoon in the Universe." One of their best-known songs is "Uninvisible." Also in the band: pianist John Medeski and bassist Chris Wood. They're another band about which it's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since they've been around. I seem to recall this particular logo represents a martini glass. I hear stories and over 20 years they're either etched in acid in the steel of my memory or they crumble like photographs made entirely of volcanic ash just by my thinking of them.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-8786605968984417052012-04-24T00:06:00.001-07:002023-11-12T16:35:55.805-08:00F.Y.P: Logo #331<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRSl-AQRyWRWKVtHsG6vjVBUUrbi6thQg-aY3axWfc_y7IO3YQJNBx5VXk4qBkI__x6LXErKq4lLzLISRVya1FKoGO11xL88dqDX75Y3L0dKTWoZ2UaURw_4UY3V7dJVV00TmVmEtThog/s1600/fyp.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRSl-AQRyWRWKVtHsG6vjVBUUrbi6thQg-aY3axWfc_y7IO3YQJNBx5VXk4qBkI__x6LXErKq4lLzLISRVya1FKoGO11xL88dqDX75Y3L0dKTWoZ2UaURw_4UY3V7dJVV00TmVmEtThog/s1600/fyp.jpeg" /></a></div>F.Y.P's logo was designed by band founder Todd Congelliere for the band's second demo in 1988. This particular version in that lovely shade of almost-IKB comes from the "Extra Credit" EP from 1991. Congelliere: "I just wanted something that had something to do with (the number) 5, 'cos the band was called 5 Year Plan." Begun in a bedroom in Torrance in the late '80s, F.Y.P was conspicuously lighthearted, an ironically stark contrast to the almost 15 years of that pragmatically grim SST work ethic that seemed to become shorthand for punk rock in the South Bay area of L.A. in the '80s. It wasn't as intense as what happened to Rocco Roll of The Absentees, though.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-67096528077967679052012-04-17T20:11:00.007-07:002023-12-02T17:12:35.923-08:00Plastikman: Logo #330<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKnnaR5GMQTtlzIGrYBGnslO7C4QuK2LQIWG5tPqHW1cIdZgIbkfjzLzPKd_WSnLz_6e4a_m7Efh-iYS5dIyvhQgyNVhmVqC72HThnAlbFmnFAyniimThnNGNKI-xrCloybkLncvM-OTo/s1600/plastik.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732574025635899506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKnnaR5GMQTtlzIGrYBGnslO7C4QuK2LQIWG5tPqHW1cIdZgIbkfjzLzPKd_WSnLz_6e4a_m7Efh-iYS5dIyvhQgyNVhmVqC72HThnAlbFmnFAyniimThnNGNKI-xrCloybkLncvM-OTo/s320/plastik.gif" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 306px;" /></a>Designed by California artist Ron Cameron in 1991 and appropriated by Dominic Ayre for Plastikman in 1993. There's been a considerable amount of debate as to the provenance of this logo over the past twenty (!) years - Ayre was accused of filching it from some mysterious skateboard artist until Cameron himself helpfully cleared everything up here: "I did this for my own skateboard company called Strike (through Acme Skateboards), for the “Street Worker” model in 1991. Someone re-scanned it and sold it to Richie Hawtin in 1992 and claimed ownership. Richie found me around 1997, and everything was settled all cool-like. I’ve been friends with Richie since, and Plastikman is re-issuing the 1st LP in 2010, with actual plastic toys of this character - one for each song title, 12 total. "David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-25767859769781875362012-04-17T19:20:00.009-07:002023-12-02T17:12:49.618-08:00Flogging Molly: Logo #329<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtRrUsJxPi7R0Xy4N971FT_-jEVipTLSSUEf3Ahk1863w5IXPsT2RtOGnCahyGhFrgzvXcsksPnwvMqnZ3GegY2R39YKHryf_Y0tRDYcC4wwhCjS8KlM2goIuRwwKsah_3EJbd9dT9lZA/s1600/flomo.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732561278122225250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtRrUsJxPi7R0Xy4N971FT_-jEVipTLSSUEf3Ahk1863w5IXPsT2RtOGnCahyGhFrgzvXcsksPnwvMqnZ3GegY2R39YKHryf_Y0tRDYcC4wwhCjS8KlM2goIuRwwKsah_3EJbd9dT9lZA/s320/flomo.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a>Designed by Flogging Molly in 1998 with the assistance of graphic design artist Brian Peterson. Founded at Molly Malone's pub on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles - and named by virtue of the fact that they played there so often and so loudly - the band celebrates their 20th anniversary next year. Singer Dave King got his start with the metal band Fastway (alongside members of Motörhead and UFO) and is married to Bridget Regan, the band's fiddler and tin whistler. I hope she tells people at cocktail parties that she plays tin whistle for a living.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-82673044060015493982012-04-13T14:35:00.007-07:002023-12-02T17:13:23.991-08:00The Accüsed: Logo #328<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4ruzf32-wSRjDv37eHKXLfCa0xQ-NLXqqjjj1U8GnVMxU9MjVrgkxguhbzR6RHOJHzZq91B1PiLP7ArEqZzkRhqFdYCe7Il78ThsNNKQgTKjFq4H4Vok9STuEPqgU5w845vdFQvhlLY/s1600/accus.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5731002388464901442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4ruzf32-wSRjDv37eHKXLfCa0xQ-NLXqqjjj1U8GnVMxU9MjVrgkxguhbzR6RHOJHzZq91B1PiLP7ArEqZzkRhqFdYCe7Il78ThsNNKQgTKjFq4H4Vok9STuEPqgU5w845vdFQvhlLY/s320/accus.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 191px;" /></a>Martha Splatterhead was drawn and created by The Accüsed's guitarist Tom Niemeyer in 1984. For several years, The Accüsed broke up, but Niemeyer? Not dead! The explosion of metal bands is, however, inversely proportionate to the mascots they bring with them. If you wanted to point fingers at "false" metal, you could do worse to accuse - so to speak - those who are more obsessed with letters than with monsters. This is a fairly interesting hometown read in the Pacific Northwest Inlander (there's a mouthful for you) on The Accüsed from last year. Niemeyer: "(Martha) recently made her on-screen debut in our latest video, 'Hemline.' Now she’s got the acting bug, so anything’s possible…and anything you can imagine is nothing compared to what we have planned for Martha's fans!" Which would be ominous if it weren't so cheerful. The various incarnations of Martha over almost 30 years can be seen here, with early nods to the crossing-over of punk and metal that was such a big deal in the '80s. Remember getting all mad about that? Me, either.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-3416815165146088332012-04-12T19:24:00.009-07:002023-12-02T17:13:45.130-08:00Blues Traveler: Logo #327<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5MIjqlBl4qAHzVbEuyPAZwMr8YOLZxMNtSiDhyd_K-0B00NZRVUg2OngMv6uJs2kjBKj4UgIV8K1kbo1TkXLdn8PrDHwRd40UJckWSCUJJpE1CJoA8FHPGggaOOEFVkKQlHzHRElw4Xg/s1600/btrav.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730706109805111890" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5MIjqlBl4qAHzVbEuyPAZwMr8YOLZxMNtSiDhyd_K-0B00NZRVUg2OngMv6uJs2kjBKj4UgIV8K1kbo1TkXLdn8PrDHwRd40UJckWSCUJJpE1CJoA8FHPGggaOOEFVkKQlHzHRElw4Xg/s320/btrav.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 283px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a>Blues Traveler's smoking cat was drawn by Tim Vega for the cover of their 1990 debut album. Joan Osborne sang back-up on that album; the peripatetic Osborne was an unknown and worked with New York avant merchants If, Bwana (!) at the same time. Blues Traveler arcana states that sometime around 1987, a black cat showed up at one of their jam sessions and became their de facto mascot. I wonder whatever happened to that cat. I can't say that I've paid attention to Blues Traveler in the slightest, but they do seem to make a whole lot of people happy - just like Peter Frampton did once; you can see them in all those amazingly massive concerts he used to do - and I can still hear John Popper's harmonica from "Run-Around" rattling around at the back of my head. So that, as they say, is something.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-58387730617598763802012-04-12T17:39:00.012-07:002023-12-02T17:13:58.381-08:00Queen: Logo #326<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibF94dFj0eQwk_u2l0E56gNH___VGscK2TMSPtwpOVJCFC58ihyphenhyphenNvLy6gURlgVTqRXINkvJGibF3QcEZ-8mlpdb6Uy8z5U3wIvp7EKw66Jgyql8Z-R-owjayxKoNuEBpnj5JR93HLWedo/s1600/Queen.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730678708945631074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibF94dFj0eQwk_u2l0E56gNH___VGscK2TMSPtwpOVJCFC58ihyphenhyphenNvLy6gURlgVTqRXINkvJGibF3QcEZ-8mlpdb6Uy8z5U3wIvp7EKw66Jgyql8Z-R-owjayxKoNuEBpnj5JR93HLWedo/s320/Queen.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 278px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a>It bores me not to do this blog.<br /><br />I had no idea there were so many followers of what I've written. I sincerely appreciate your interest and enthusiasm, one and all. Thank you.<br /><br />Queen's suitably regal regalia was designed by Freddie Mercury in 1973, before the release of their debut album. Brian May: "That QUEEN logo, and the crest, were both entirely Freddie's design. He had been a student at Ealing Tech, of course...and those designs stayed with us, through various modifications, for many years. Freddie had a great eye for design." Like the fairies and the Phoenix, Queen had a flair for summoning up the great Britain of yore - a place of romance and hard-scrabble mystique that lives on within the folk tradition. It's a tradition that was revitalized by Queen through an eclectically electric vein of sonic sorcery that no one seemed to notice at the time. Magic has a tendency to hide itself.<br /><br />Brian May once said, "You have to get away from the idea that playing music is a competition. You should just keep on doing what you think is an interesting thing to do." Wise words for any artist, really.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-17328819062504241282011-04-18T20:09:00.000-07:002023-12-02T17:14:08.466-08:00Interstitial #9: Number Nine...Number Nine...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGp8wKr6Z5nixS9VI6i9wk1MqA47DJHp0_X5DiTQXk9oANX5Kxs3FCS05vPe2IoI6q95BgmnmL8cEdT1RGOjNJybtaMhbYNpl6NfPGW25Qj95J0oIKxn-OnkX_ag0i6GqqVyBvVPslcMo/s1600/ringwear+-+from+Bulbmassacre%2527s+Tumblr.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597127250549746850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGp8wKr6Z5nixS9VI6i9wk1MqA47DJHp0_X5DiTQXk9oANX5Kxs3FCS05vPe2IoI6q95BgmnmL8cEdT1RGOjNJybtaMhbYNpl6NfPGW25Qj95J0oIKxn-OnkX_ag0i6GqqVyBvVPslcMo/s320/ringwear+-+from+Bulbmassacre%2527s+Tumblr.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 310px;" /></a>Yes, now getting it ready and so on and so on. Some people, like American porn actress Viper, take three months to have their December deaths announced - I am nothing if not incredibly thorough.<br /><br />Meanwhile - also in December - the passing of Judge Trev from Inner City Unit, who graciously provided the origin story of the band's logo way back in 2008. Meet your heroes at least once in your life - free of expectation and adulation, of course, let disappointment be your lifeblood forever after.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-84768943237185876392011-01-02T02:12:00.000-08:002023-12-02T17:14:20.285-08:00Interstitial #8: The Passings of the PastOne of my great manias is the making of lists. In the next couple days I'll do a round-up of who we lost in interesting culture in 2010. Occasionally it takes concerned relatives a few days to realize that they haven't heard from this recluse or that, like Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton's solitary demise in 2009. No one knows what day he died, precisely. Sad, true, etc. I suspect the coroner could have guessed, but he'd probably have had to ask the bugs.<br /><br />Have a happy 2011. If you live, of course.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-38754432527310729582010-12-09T19:39:00.000-08:002023-12-02T17:14:34.701-08:00Uncle Slam: Logo #325<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiA7tq7sermaFaNEnBYGCdjciRsvvU4OfREe-0sgXyWwQ7y4OE0kzHDChNsWE-47Grg000jX-11pH7z04p7mNovtOSDy3O5ssbR9-X-Znko-b1eHz0JMPpR8js3rNOobhIiG8uk0hDdGg/s1600/uncle.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548894245699396514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiA7tq7sermaFaNEnBYGCdjciRsvvU4OfREe-0sgXyWwQ7y4OE0kzHDChNsWE-47Grg000jX-11pH7z04p7mNovtOSDy3O5ssbR9-X-Znko-b1eHz0JMPpR8js3rNOobhIiG8uk0hDdGg/s320/uncle.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 305px;" /></a>Originally designed by James Montgomery Flagg in 1917 and appropriated by the inestimable Ellie and Tom Hughes and Mike Seiff in 1988. Uncle Slam were purveyors of that weird '90s hybrid of thrash metal and punk that puzzled and angered a lot of people. In mid-'90s Los Angeles, caught between hair metal and the waning days of punk, not an enviable place to be. Their "Say Uncle" LP, for which this illustration - in which Uncle Sam appears to be gathering up funds to find John Connor - was destined. "Say Uncle...or die!" was the rallying cry that ranks up there with "skate or die" and "Sophie's Choice."David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-51725418078724855752010-12-06T22:24:00.000-08:002023-12-02T17:14:48.193-08:00Flux of Pink Indians: Logo #324<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYuSyifhYcEzCEApR39qNp-7kWTYcCz_UkInonslNaOA1amezpH_uMLInSWucTLSMjkvtghtlWEF-YkQZrKKBGz6lUsy5XeZnBp_UbCic8CGY77BLYX22Td5huMWvujJtPJFjzCBXVkkc/s1600/flux.GIF" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547823578532143618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYuSyifhYcEzCEApR39qNp-7kWTYcCz_UkInonslNaOA1amezpH_uMLInSWucTLSMjkvtghtlWEF-YkQZrKKBGz6lUsy5XeZnBp_UbCic8CGY77BLYX22Td5huMWvujJtPJFjzCBXVkkc/s320/flux.GIF" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 301px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a>This mix of Native American imagery and the peace symbol was designed for Flux of Pink Indians in 1981 by Exitstencil Press, Crass' in-house design firm founded by Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher. I write "Native American" because, by inference and the time in which it was cast, likely "Indian" means "Native American" - although one never knows. So by what signifiers do we infer that these are two Indians? The "head-dresses" could just as easily be mohawks; are the raised knees part of a dance? They could just as easily be climbing the angles of the peace sign - which just as easily could be a teepee. The fringes might be frocks. Mssrs. Rimbaud and Vaucher maintain a stony silence on the matter - smoke signals notwithstanding.<br /><br />Keep in mind that Derek Birkett, the bassist of Flux of Pink Indians, co-founded One Little Indian, the record label that last year signed Paul McCartney. Long and winding roads that intertwine are what make life worth living, ultimately.<br /><br />Apropos of something, here's a nice piece on Clinton Riggs, the Tulsa PD captain who created the yield sign in 1950.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-46820096739689370252010-12-03T13:47:00.001-08:002023-12-02T17:15:14.943-08:00NON: Logo #323<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXYOlTcudECmAT-fV5DddY7iV_roesmAxOdoYgC6rwgpJJ3QtdIx0cnlEGVh6lyStiOgsOFQJqfKm2TI5XXPLAB1keOWBUEUDewHadu0ybocTfSrhjFWoMBMgWhwRRprh69hQGv5gofNo/s1600/NON.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546576157749648722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXYOlTcudECmAT-fV5DddY7iV_roesmAxOdoYgC6rwgpJJ3QtdIx0cnlEGVh6lyStiOgsOFQJqfKm2TI5XXPLAB1keOWBUEUDewHadu0ybocTfSrhjFWoMBMgWhwRRprh69hQGv5gofNo/s320/NON.png" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a>1980 was a banner year for logos. Roughly the same time Boyd Rice adapted the wolfsangle for his Industrial noise act NON, the following musicians were also developing, drawing, and detourning symbols that would become their own logos:<br /><br />7Seconds<br />45 Grave<br />Adam and the Ants<br />Anti-Nowhere League<br />Bad Manners<br />Bad Religion<br />The Beat<br />Circle Jerks<br />Circle One<br />Conflict<br />Devo<br />Die Tödliche Doris<br />The Effigies<br />Einstürzende Neubauten<br />Hüsker Dü<br />Ill Will<br />Inner City Unit<br />Instagon<br />Iron Maiden<br />Judas Priest<br />Laibach<br />Men Without Hats<br />Klaus Nomi<br />Reagan Youth<br />Sisters of Mercy<br />Stray Cats<br />This Heat<br />White Spirit<br /><br />I like lists. Think of all the collective creative brainwaves that energized the world thirty years ago, making it a better and more interesting place - terminal obscurity notwithstanding. "Iconoclast," Larry Wessel's documentary on Rice, premiered this past August to a packed house in L.A. at the New Beverly Cinema. It was overlong - in much the same way that chocoholics sometimes overindulge - and filled with the Boyd Rice legends that have been re-told through the years, entertaining though they always are. There was scant mention of Rice's longtime companion Lisa Carver throughout the film - the overall effect of which is a bit like the Old Testament written without mention of Moses. I'll always have time for Boyd's many different noises; in the '90s, he wasn't replying to many people who wrote to him in his Colorado sanctum sanctorum. He did, however, take the time to send me an impressive nastygram because I'd pissed him off with a postcard the contents of which neither of us can recall now. Now with Peter Christopherson from Throbbing Gristle having passed into the Great and Eminently Deserved Beyond, we should cherish our Industrial forefathers more than we already do (yes, Male Rape Group, too).<br /><br />God doesn't just make rainbows. He makes spitting cobras, too.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-91756342846258207322010-12-03T12:58:00.000-08:002023-12-02T17:15:30.970-08:00Aerosmith: Logo #322<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutH8wugGdxOg8VsTDfjSR3CTthok-g7X80A6wxLU72qik-eeZFTZxKMhIYlsrjdaiEGiX7uBcRVwoYb1Gi21VQ2ZYV6j70AoZqKsg0T6FxivULIDPjjVapPB39bTpHUiOFvf4RAFUYj8/s1600/aero.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546563505339802610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutH8wugGdxOg8VsTDfjSR3CTthok-g7X80A6wxLU72qik-eeZFTZxKMhIYlsrjdaiEGiX7uBcRVwoYb1Gi21VQ2ZYV6j70AoZqKsg0T6FxivULIDPjjVapPB39bTpHUiOFvf4RAFUYj8/s320/aero.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a>Designed by Ray Tabano in 1971. "Crazy" Ray was the band's original guitarist, designer of Aerosmith merchandise and cultivator of their fan-base. Fired in 1979 by Aerosmith's managers, he now runs a catering company. One stage of life doesn't necessarily follow the other, but it does sound strikingly familiar to other tales of rock'n'roll excess and egress. For all the comparisons with The Rolling Stones that Aerosmith have endured, however, the Stones' logo - lips - was about personal identity. It represented who they were. The Aerosmith logo - wings - was about personal aspirations. It represented where they wanted to go. A rather illuminating article about where Aerosmith did go is here.<br /><br />The Song of the Moment is "Alice" by Sisters of Mercy.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-73264008790605845042010-12-01T11:43:00.000-08:002023-12-02T17:15:42.642-08:00White Zombie: Logo #321<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho8uZ4y-4kFS5ilmhCaJjMuXo_7jqH4lj8bo0TFocSUJyphEKGqSpkLuwfj7Uy7AXZozTI9lRQCgvMlayq3R1YNYMmS6-cqMjkUV8IWayjL30HRyln0wRqv7SvzDGEB6gYj7N1N_tKjbs/s1600/whitzom.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548892092651533538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho8uZ4y-4kFS5ilmhCaJjMuXo_7jqH4lj8bo0TFocSUJyphEKGqSpkLuwfj7Uy7AXZozTI9lRQCgvMlayq3R1YNYMmS6-cqMjkUV8IWayjL30HRyln0wRqv7SvzDGEB6gYj7N1N_tKjbs/s320/whitzom.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 296px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 297px;" /></a>This rather handsome fellow, designed by Rob Zombie in 1992, represents everything his kind of garage metal would become and should be: shambolic, snarling, and - somewhat tellingly - single-eared. Zombie, born Bob Cummings - with a name like that, you'd change your name to "Zombie," too - puts on a hell of a Halloween show at Universal Studios and he seems incredibly earnest. Even though money has bought him all the monster movies he could ever want, lately he's like that eccentric relative who over time has crossed over from "That's your uncle?!" to "That's your uncle?!" - at which point you just grit your teeth and bear his increasingly depressing antics and pretend to text someone while he tries to make eye contact at the dinner table. White Zombie's "More Human Than Human" is still a massive, surprisingly mournful-sounding song, though.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-13200222506706141242010-09-12T22:50:00.000-07:002010-09-12T22:53:40.302-07:00Interstitial #7: Return to DetournI'll be going through all the old posts and clearing out the meta-commentaries that aren't quite so crystalline anymore (i.e. the dead links cropping up like gravestones hereabouts).<div><br /></div><div>The Chinese sure love Men Without Hats! I've received more comments about that logo than any other. Of course, they're all spam, but spammers read, feel, fall in love, buy things, and laugh just like anyone else.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's not a dead blog. Just a very, very sleepy one.</div>David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-58344825658980066712009-11-27T14:42:00.000-08:002023-12-02T17:16:11.713-08:00Men Without Hats: Logo #320<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-alNA_3a7TQ6LLr7TWVPZ_x8GdTgbyOngFyvi2MTT3-0su65eNm4hvhalSIYmKcomXmFeZ2_p6A_QT2cWnNH3Rw4-Hz_QwdmG1BzfYaK9E213yreGYIMjIGHEk3VC2C9o33gJm7xDedU/s1600/mewiha.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408918116698627698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-alNA_3a7TQ6LLr7TWVPZ_x8GdTgbyOngFyvi2MTT3-0su65eNm4hvhalSIYmKcomXmFeZ2_p6A_QT2cWnNH3Rw4-Hz_QwdmG1BzfYaK9E213yreGYIMjIGHEk3VC2C9o33gJm7xDedU/s320/mewiha.jpeg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 318px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a>Designed by Monica Froeber for the band's 1980 "Folk of the '80s" release - although actually this logo is a rallying cry against men with hats, but it's so simple and eye-catching with the black and the red arranged so sparingly that we can forgive the semantic shortcomings and wonder whatever happened to...Monica Froeber! Men Without Hats had two rather fine pop singles - "Safety Dance" and "Pop Goes the World" - and if that's all they ever made and then vanished, they would remain avatars of perfect pop. Instead - look out casinos! Here come Men Without Hats! Cue Metallica in one, two...David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-8880123221885713812009-11-24T13:44:00.000-08:002023-12-04T21:30:23.844-08:00Distorted Pony: Logo #319<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LSYnaZelHKdKOGOBczWiJ78UACC8b08sQLyfzdf3looD1F10a4d-T7KuvhVs6ygwO_ms7Mj5DZTpgnEx9YHgDgN9cFSW8N5eiSwWmKBYbnxSp60G0d2Nyxmmjivuw-zmU8kQMcKcf7k/s1600/distpo.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548858499707462514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LSYnaZelHKdKOGOBczWiJ78UACC8b08sQLyfzdf3looD1F10a4d-T7KuvhVs6ygwO_ms7Mj5DZTpgnEx9YHgDgN9cFSW8N5eiSwWmKBYbnxSp60G0d2Nyxmmjivuw-zmU8kQMcKcf7k/s320/distpo.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 245px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a>I love following up something like Take That with something like Distorted Pony. David Uskovich, guitarist with the industrial / noise rock band, remembers: "Around '88 or '89 - maybe as early as '87 - Dora Jahr, bassist, made an abstract "pony" out of clay. She rolled the clay into ropes. I can't remember, but I think the head, body and tail were all one piece, with separate pieces for the legs and the "eye," which is that big circle in the middle of the head. It was like a 3-D version of a line drawing. She probably still has that thing. One of us, or maybe it was Robert Hammer or Theodore Jackson, had the idea to slap some black paint onto the clay pony and then press it onto a piece of paper. The results were pretty cool, as you have seen, so we decided to have some rubber stamp maker make us a rubber stamp from the original print and Bob's-your-uncle: instant portable logo-maker. We definitely used it for the first single. We were all total industrial dorks, so the fact that the Pony logo resembled the Einsturzende Neubauten logo was not lost on us."<br /><br />Distorted Pony re-united this year in Los Angeles; sometimes it takes years for people to catch on. The world needs ditch-diggers - and grave-diggers - too.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-34272115397071757912009-11-24T13:38:00.000-08:002013-09-05T17:31:44.114-07:00Take That: Logo #318<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKr7DRUJZmkRUPiApgz_Atr-Gid9LesTHJdzFyDCXsm7HnxaZ7F5gWrDFBj4wb2DSlPZavqCXKpZMihLSknNrWM8EwXFfgromrDicPaDDa2WBVYNdssUYBnZ1XahOjUDe-CY9o9XSeRpg/s1600/taket.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407787917645684402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKr7DRUJZmkRUPiApgz_Atr-Gid9LesTHJdzFyDCXsm7HnxaZ7F5gWrDFBj4wb2DSlPZavqCXKpZMihLSknNrWM8EwXFfgromrDicPaDDa2WBVYNdssUYBnZ1XahOjUDe-CY9o9XSeRpg/s320/taket.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>The one-time teen sensation's logo was designed by T&CP Associates in 1992. If ever there was a logo suffocated by its own cynicism, it's this one.David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-42829335030733957422009-11-02T17:48:00.000-08:002023-12-04T21:32:52.166-08:00Hüsker Dü: Logo #317<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45HQq2kX4mcBd-5t4bTETA2dHmRrT-3FHnsG6u-c9nMh6Of2YyeAQx7ZHWxdEMLLB-f06f94-Cu7SqVxqyqtZiljvYi_bHUhp5QSDHisz0Ezg3Ysc347pEsBHId2xCXtsPDBqjNU9JMI/s1600-h/hudu.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399689047658713858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45HQq2kX4mcBd-5t4bTETA2dHmRrT-3FHnsG6u-c9nMh6Of2YyeAQx7ZHWxdEMLLB-f06f94-Cu7SqVxqyqtZiljvYi_bHUhp5QSDHisz0Ezg3Ysc347pEsBHId2xCXtsPDBqjNU9JMI/s320/hudu.png" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 301px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 300px;" /></a> Hüsker Dü was graced by this particular sigil by band member and designer Grant Hart in 1980. I received this nice note from Grant Hart some time ago, discussing in-depth the other, more identifiable logo. "In 1978-1979, I was enrolled in the Advanced Graphic Arts Program taught by Will Wachtler at South St. Paul High School. We learned to set type by hand and a few of us were taught to operate and maintain Heidelburg automatic offset presses. The details of paper and ink were stressed, as well as inspection and recycling of worn type. I did so much proofreading without running actual proofs that I could read upside-down and backwards nearly as fast as I could a printed page. It was during this time that I became involved with the two others that would form the band Hüsker Dü. Punk rock posters and the photocopier were advancing and there was a tremendous merging and emerging in and of the graphic arts.<br /><br />An early poster for a performance of the band was printed in dark orange ink. The band name was set in a medium Helvetica type with two colons from a smaller font leaded in to form the umlauts over the "u" in "Hüsker" and the "u" in "Dü." This took place between late March of 1979 and early June of the same year, when I graduated and subsequently lost access to the facilities of the high school Graphic Arts Department. It was not long before the young band had need for another poster. Having no real type to use, and not wanting to use the "ransom note" method of clipping out individual letters, I cut out the band name from the dark orange poster for the next one. To add visual impact, I carefully tore the words horizontally and pasted them together with a gap between the top and bottom portions. I wasn't experienced with the inexpensive photo-offset presses that used a plate made of paper to deliver the ink to the paper to be printed on. These machines have disappeared from the face of the Earth due to the technical advances of photocopies, but I digress. The first attempt at printing the poster failed because elements that were lighter-than-black came out mottled and not too readable. Not having time to re-design the whole thing, I took up a Sharpie felt-tip and colored in the words quickly but carefully. The next attempt at printing was a success and the band immediately recognized the result with approval. It was varied in its use, printed backwards and psychedelicized. It has been spoofed and rearranged to spell out names of nightclubs, record stores and other bands, and I have seen at least eight tattoos of it on people's bodies."David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001049583660092725.post-40166770722836670542009-10-31T02:10:00.000-07:002023-12-04T21:34:37.094-08:00Quiet Riot: Logo #316<p> </p><p>From the cover of <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinfqrbJzzhUG-T7AibyMHONRmb72iTguQxO_TDMU1wdlv3-xQO0pbKeeQF90rFKFDQRWa6xGQBvVaM8tMlgsfkdCspmFyVO7sLNf9j-BFIp4yZrW0-D0hJm_igKZcgmmUmMee5_o0M7EQ/s1600-h/quiet.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398689196816558898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinfqrbJzzhUG-T7AibyMHONRmb72iTguQxO_TDMU1wdlv3-xQO0pbKeeQF90rFKFDQRWa6xGQBvVaM8tMlgsfkdCspmFyVO7sLNf9j-BFIp4yZrW0-D0hJm_igKZcgmmUmMee5_o0M7EQ/s320/quiet.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 168px;" /></a>Quiet Riot's third album, "Metal Health," this enduring metal mascot was designed by Quiet Riot and Jay Vigon in 1983. Makes a fairly synchronistic follow-up to the previous entry about Left Insane, really. The album ultimately sold six million copies - how many of those six million people do you know? "Cum on Feel the Noize" was the big hit that everyone knows; its video came from the same cosmos of dread as Greg Kihn's "Jeopardy" video and the clip for Dio's "Last in Line." Each - Kihn's impending marriage; Peluce's menial delivery job; the kid from the Quiet Riot video waking up early and having that mask hanging over his head - seemed to have their respective menaces spawned from a sense of middle-class responsibility that none of the curly-haired heroes wanted to assume or pursue. And here you thought people thinking about heavy metal only concerned themselves with messages playing backwards. Crushing, middle-class fears factor very heavily in the dull, beige, backwards world out of which heavy metal attempts to pull its listeners. Quiet Riot's late singer Kevin DuBrow (possibly the man behind the mask) dressed up in straitjacket and mask onstage, and while that makes for great theatre, it also represents a rare moment of explicit empathy between elevated performer and downtrodden fan. Guitarist Carlos Cavazo recently discussed the album cover: "It was an idea created by the whole band. It's supposed to be a guy who goes crazy banging his head, and they had to put a straitjacket and an iron mask on him, so that he wouldn't hurt himself. I remember the mask was Rudy's [Sarzo, bass] idea. He got the idea from the movie ‘The Man In The Iron Mask."<br /><br />Here's "Night of the Living Dead," in glorious black&white. Happy Halloween, folks. All Souls' Day is just around the corner!</p>David Cotnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472819815499072942noreply@blogger.com0