A Slight Detour from Comic Art: Where Has Original Album Cover Art Ended Up? (i.e., Derek Riggs, Ed Repka, etc) 1 1

[F For Fake]

On 10/5/2023 at 9:26 AM, delekkerste said:

Here's my sole piece of album cover artwork - Elvis Costello's National Ransom (2010).by Tony Millionaire.

Love it. The musical artist, the visual artist, and the artwork itself. Terrific.

[F For Fake]

On 10/5/2023 at 9:20 AM, delekkerste said:

 Wish I would have known about that sale!  

The original cover art to Quiet Riot's Metal Health sold in 2021 for $44.8K (I didn't hear about it until after the auction ended). 

Well, now I feel like a dunce. I am a child of the 80's (born in 77), and have seen this album cover a million times. And yet, until this very moment, I never realized that this wasn't a photograph!

[vodou]

On 10/5/2023 at 9:23 AM, delekkerste said:

Some fellow art & music lovers discussed this one when it was up for sale. The description is a bit misleading - it's Kelly's original concept for the album, but, it wasn't painted until shortly before his death. 

The real one:

$25,875 paid for an original KISS painting of the Love Gun album cover by K.W. Kelly. Also included is a black wood heavy-duty display stand [lot # 1727, auction estimate $10,000/15,000]

https://www.kissasylum.com/kissauction/highlights.shtml

[delekkerste]

The Duran Duran documentary that came out during the pandemic showed keyboardist Nick Rhodes with Patrick Nagel's original art for the Rio album cover (not sure if he's the owner or not). That and Roger Dean's cover for the 1st Asia album are probably the two pieces that I would want above all others and would make my inner '80s child very happy.  

 

 

Edited October 5, 2023 by delekkerste

[Bronty]

On 10/4/2023 at 9:50 PM, MattTheDuck said:

I've been looking for the original album cover art to the released version of Spinal Tap's Smell the Glove, but it's hard to weed out counterfeits.

 

That's a Malevich - Oleg would be all over that one.

Edited October 5, 2023 by Bronty

[Bronty]

On 10/5/2023 at 9:54 AM, vodou said:

The real one:

$25,875 paid for an original KISS painting of the Love Gun album cover by K.W. Kelly. Also included is a black wood heavy-duty display stand [lot # 1727, auction estimate $10,000/15,000]

https://www.kissasylum.com/kissauction/highlights.shtml

good info.   Back in 2000 it seems.

[Bronty]

On 10/5/2023 at 9:52 AM, F For Fake said:

Well, now I feel like a dunce. I am a child of the 80's (born in 77), and have seen this album cover a million times. And yet, until this very moment, I never realized that this wasn't a photograph!

Very cool piece.   Very memorable.

[Bronty]

On 10/5/2023 at 3:10 AM, Brian Peck said:

 

One of my visits I saw the original pencil drawings for the Dark Side of The Moon cover. 

Asking was 1,000,000. 

 

SFAE years back was selling the original art by Vargas to Candy-O cover for the Cars album.

 

Yeesh, 1m for pencils.

What was the price on the Vargas if you recall?

[Bronty]

On 10/5/2023 at 5:09 AM, Brian Peck said:

Frank Zappa Over-nite Sensation cover painting by Dave McMacken

From the collection of Len Callo

https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=736072

Terrific.   McMacken was a talented illustrator.   Passed away not too long ago unfortunately.

[Bronty]

On 10/5/2023 at 9:42 AM, tth2 said:

The OA for Led Zeppelin I sold at Christie's for $325k in 2020.

some interesting notes from your link

"Stipple tracing with Rapidograph pen on a single sheet of tracing paper, 177 x 177mm, affixed to a larger sheet, 204 x 262mm (slight cockling, extremely faint spot).

The original artwork for the first Led Zeppelin LP: one of the most iconic album covers of all time. George Hardie was still a graduate student at the Royal College of Art when his friend, photographer Stephen Goldblatt recommended him to Led Zeppelin in 1969. After rejecting his initial ideas, Jimmy Page suggested that Hardie adapt Sam Shere's jarring 1937 photograph of the Hindenburg disaster. Hardie set to work rendering the image in stipple on tracing paper, evoking the feel of a low-resolution newsprint photo. Led Zeppelin paid Hardie £60 for his work"

[Bronty]

On 10/5/2023 at 9:55 AM, delekkerste said:

The Duran Duran documentary that came out during the pandemic showed keyboardist Nick Rhodes with Patrick Nagel's original art for the Rio album cover (not sure if he's the owner or not). That and Roger Dean's cover for the 1st Asia album are probably the two pieces that I would want above all others and would make my inner '80s child very happy.  

 

 

Nice to see a clear image of the original.

I'm not sure I could pick one above all others but my mind comes back to Ultimate Sin.    Cheesy but fun and I've always liked it despite the eau de fromage.   I guess owning the tape and seeing the image a million times has decided for me.

 

Lots of other cool ones like Struzan's Sabbath, and Riggs' Iron Maiden - Powerslave and what have you.

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2023 by Bronty

[tth2]

On 10/5/2023 at 4:54 AM, Bronty said:

There's the old Velvet Underground banana as well.   a couple different versions of that.

https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5559661

 

I would guess that the actual art used for the cover would be the most valuable album OA out there (because it's Warhol).  Second place would be the "Revolver" cover OA.

Other extremely valuable covers would be "Boston" and some of Roger Dean's Yes covers and also his cover to "The Magician's Birthday".

[delekkerste]

On 10/5/2023 at 10:14 AM, Bronty said:

Nice to see a clear image of the original.

I think it would be Ultimate Sin for me.    Cheesy but fun and I've always liked it despite the eau de fromage.

Yeah, the Nagel is stunning...I'm not sure there's *any* piece of comic or illustration art out there that I would love to have more than that one.   That painting, the Erol Otus D&D Basic Set (1980) art, X-Men #94 cover...those are probably top 3 on my Ultimate Comic/Illustration Art Want List. 

The Ultimate Sin is a cool album cover...do you remember the video for Shot in the Dark (which riffs off the album cover)? That video was perpetually #2 behind Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home" on the Dial MTV call-in countdown for months! 

The Iron Maiden album covers are great...the futuristic Somewhere in Time one is my favorite of the lot. 

Edited October 5, 2023 by delekkerste

[tth2]

On 10/5/2023 at 9:20 PM, delekkerste said:

The original cover art to Quiet Riot's Metal Health sold in 2021 for $44.8K (I didn't hear about it until after the auction ended). 

Wow, I had no idea this was a painting!  I also can't believe it sold for only $44.8k!   I think the owner would've done much better consigning it to Heritage.

[Dr. Balls]

On 10/5/2023 at 1:25 AM, Brian Peck said:

The only album artwork I own is from Crowology the last alum the Black Crowes released before the 7 year hiatus. Alan Forbes did the artwork, he had worked with then for 20 years since just after they started, he would do the art for their posters and most of their merchandise. I have been friend with Alan for years. Was lucky enough to acquire the art from him.

 

3 Original Cover Artworks

 

Original Inside Artwork

 

 

Original Back Cover Artwork Songs  (all hand lettered)

 

3 Original Band and Guests Credits (all hand lettered)

 

CD cover

That is a super cool package!

[Bronty]

On 10/5/2023 at 10:20 AM, delekkerste said:

Yeah, the Nagel is stunning...I'm not sure there's *any* piece of comic or illustration art out there that I would love to have more than that one.   That painting, the Erol Otus D&D Basic Set (1980) art, X-Men #94 cover...those are probably top 3 on my Ultimate Comic/Illustration Art Want List. 

The Ultimate Sin is a cool album cover...do you remember the video for Shot in the Dark (which riffs off the album cover)? That video was perpetually #2 behind Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home" on the Dial MTV call-in countdown for months! 

The Iron Maiden album covers are great...the futuristic Somewhere in Time one is my favorite of the lot. 

Huh!   I don't remember the Shot in the Dark video.  I may have been just a couple years too young at that point.   I bought the tape a couple years after release (I was around more for 'Girls, Girls, Girls' than 'Home Sweet Home.)'

Somewhere in Time in the best one, I agree, but Powerslave is the one I owned!

 

Edited October 5, 2023 by Bronty

[Bronty]

On 10/5/2023 at 10:24 AM, tth2 said:

Wow, I had no idea this was a painting!  I also can't believe it sold for only $44.8k!   I think the owner would've done much better consigning it to Heritage.

double doesn't seem unreasonable. 

[Dr. Balls]

On 10/5/2023 at 8:20 AM, delekkerste said:

Yeah, the Nagel is stunning...I'm not sure there's *any* piece of comic or illustration art out there that I would love to have more than that one.   That painting, the Erol Otus D&D Basic Set (1980) art, X-Men #94 cover...those are probably top 3 on my Ultimate Comic/Illustration Art Want List. 

The Ultimate Sin is a cool album cover...do you remember the video for Shot in the Dark (which riffs off the album cover)? That video was perpetually #2 behind Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home" on the Dial MTV call-in countdown for months! 

The Iron Maiden album covers are great...the futuristic Somewhere in Time one is my favorite of the lot. 

Between Playboy, Miami Vice, Duran Duran and aggressive licensing in the 80's and 90's (I worked at a Prints Plus frame shop in the mall in Denver, and framed at least 5 of his prints a week), his work is burned into everyone's brain from age 40-up. If the 80's had one graphic image to sum up everything about it - it'd probably be a Patrick Nagel painting.

[Dr. Balls]

On 10/5/2023 at 8:57 AM, Bronty said:

Somewhere in Time in the best one, I agree, but Powerslave is the one I owned!

 

Poring over the details in SIT and Powerslave was half the fun of those covers when I was a kid - but Killers is my go-to favorite. The violence, the moody lighting and the gigantic image of a ferocious Eddie with his axe nail it for me.

[Bronty]

On 10/5/2023 at 10:24 AM, tth2 said:

Wow, I had no idea this was a painting!  I also can't believe it sold for only $44.8k!   I think the owner would've done much better consigning it to Heritage.

The details in both the auction description and this article https://www.revolvermag.com/culture/quiet-riots-metal-health-story-behind-cover-art are highly underwhelming, but to me it seems this may well be a hybrid; don't feel bad.    A few artists at the time would use a photograph as, essentially, underpainting and then airbrush on top of it and/or add traditional brush accents to be able to play with color and other elements.     Sort of like taking a photo and manipulating it in photoshop now, I guess.   At which point.... maybe 45k was the right number.

Edited October 5, 2023 by Bronty