Sometimes, my friends, fate smiles upon you. Such was the case for me recently when I stumbled upon a series of 1980s Star Trek illustrations in chalk pastel, some of which I will now share with you. Credit for these goes to artist Doug Little, who apparently produced these for commemorative posters around the time of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Enough chit chat, let’s boldly go. By the way, I’ve saved the best for last.

Awww. Posing for the sweetest prom photo I’ve ever seen are Dr. McCoy and the salt creature from the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “The Man Trap.”

Yes, this is Khan and Gonzo. And Gonzo is holding a yo-yo that actually says, “Khan Is a Yo-Yo.” Let that seep for a few minutes.

Of course! All we had to do to figure out what was on the missing segment of the Watergate tapes was to get Spock to do the mind-meld on Richard Nixon. Who needs to bother with a pesky Congressional subpoena?

Fear not, Republicans, because the GOP is redeemed thanks to the Great Communicator. Ronald Reagan looks strangely right in his Federation uniform. He’s just pretending to not see the Klingon giving him the stink-eye.

OK, so this actually makes a little sense. Yes, this is Spock with Jesus. But it’s actually Jeffrey Hunter, who played both Capt. Christopher Pike in the Star Trek pilot episode and Jesus Christ in the King of Kings movie. See? Total sense.

Hmmm. You know, I think I could throw my support behind a Khan/Vader ticket. I’m not in favor of their Kirk-killing policy, but I do like their planet-exploding policy.

And there it is. Totally innocent I assure you. I mean sure, the background is pink and Kirk and Khan are holding hands but… oh.

It took a long time before I had the nerve to finally dive into the deep, deep well that is Frank Zappa’s discography. And for me, the album that hooked me to his delightful weirdness was 1973’s Over-Nite Sensation. It’s a bizarre mix of music that is by and large straightforward and experimental at the same time. Zappa truly was a colossal talent and is missed.

And just like the music therein, the cover of Over-Nite Sensation is absolutely packed with fun details. Because there are so many of them, I’ve included an extra-large foldout version of the cover. Click for a larger version.

So we’ve got an electric hand reaching into a painting of Frank Zappa’s dressing room for a cigarette. There’s some sort of figure in white rising out of a crack in a table, and in the upper left on the wall is what looks like an old San Francisco 49ers logo. In the room are packages from McDonald’s and Bob’s Big Boy. There’s an old pair of underwear next to a rotten orange, some stage passes for Zappa and the Mothers.

Oh, and there’s a two-headed guy sitting on the bed about to… ah hell, I don’t know what’s going on here, but it’s cool.

Anyway, the illustration credit goes to David McMacken, whose name is on the little plaque at the bottom of the painting. Some of McMacken’s other credits include Kansas’ Leftoverture, the Beach Boys’ Friends, and Journey’s Raised on Radio (logo design).

People found this post by searching for:

"zappa overnite sensation", "overnite sensation", "frank zappa overnite sensation"

It probably doesn’t need to be said, but I’ll say it anyway — I cannot wait until September 18th. For that’s the day we get the first new Ben Folds Five album since 1999, The Sound of the Life of the Mind. Here is the snazzy album cover:

The rather mysterious but comical artwork on the cover is a piece called “Submerged” by artist Eric Joyner. Joyner’s work, which apparently focuses a lot on doughnuts and robots, features only the former here. It’s also reminiscent of the famous Auguste Rodin sculpture The Thinker (Le Penseur).

I’ll likely be reviewing the album, either for this site or Popdose, so keep your eyes peeled!

Related articles

• The Singles Bar: Ben Folds Five, “Erase Me”
• Discography Fever: Ben Folds
• Music from the Worst Album Covers – Ken, By Request Only
• Album Cover Gallery – End of Summer Blues

People found this post by searching for:

"ben folds five the sound of the life of the mind", "The Sound of the Life of the Mind", "ben folds five album cover", "ben folds album cover"

Yup, just like the title says, this is a gallery of vintage fruit crate labels. You can find these little art masterpieces in most antique/junk shops.

People found this post by searching for:

"fruit crate labels", "vintage fruit crate labels", "vintage fruit labels"

It’s hard to believe, but we lost Ronnie James Dio one year ago today. It seems only right to pay small tribute to his musical legacy, and so here we have 1981’s Mob Rules. It was the second and last studio album Black Sabbath released with Dio as frontman until the one-off reunion disc Dehumanizer in 1992. It’s every bit as sinister and metal as the cover indicates.

The cover painting is by fantasy/science fiction artist Greg Hildebrandt. It’s essentially a recreation of his 1971 work, Dream 1: Crucifiers. Here’s the original:

I’m guessing the addition of the band and album names didn’t escape your notice, but did you catch the fact that the hook on the left side of the original was changed to a crucifix for the album cover? Also, the blood stain in the fabric (skin?) was made to look more like a devil’s head on the album. Subtle, I know.

Oh yeah, here’s the title song from the album. RIP Dio.

People found this post by searching for:

"Dream 1: Crucifiers", "mob rules album cover", "greg hildebrandt", "greg hildebrandt mob rules", "black sabbath mob rules album cover", "mob rules cover art"

There’s a lot to love about Frank Sinatra’s classic 1958 LP, Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely. With its introspective, melancholy arrangements — credit famed music director and frequent Sinatra collaborator Nelson Riddle — and typically excellent vocals from Ol’ Blue Eyes, the album packs a real emotional punch. That’s probably no coincidence. Sinatra’s divorce from actress Ava Gardner was finalized during the sessions, and Riddle had recently lost both his mother and daughter.

So is it any wonder that the cover for this album looks like this?

This rendering of Sinatra as a sad, Pagliacci-esque clown was painted by Nicholas Volpe. At the first-ever Grammy Awards (held May 4, 1959), he won the award for Best Album Cover.

Related articles

• Suave font Riddle puts some swing in your docs (macworld.com)
• The Joker Is Wild… Frank Sinatra As Joe E. Lewis (Mixed Media) (popmatters.com)
• Frank Sinatra Has a Cold and Other Essays, by Gay Talese (guardian.co.uk)

People found this post by searching for:

"frank sinatra only the lonely", "Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely"

Call it 1984 or call it MCMLXXXIV— Van Halen’s sixth album is one of the great achievements in rock for the entire decade of the 1980s. It also happens to sport a pretty badass front cover:

The band’s original vision for the 1984 cover involved four dancing, chrome women. The artist that Warner Bros. wanted to commission for the cover, Margo Nahas, declined the job as it was too complex. Her portfolio found its way to Van Halen however, and when they stumbled upon a painting of hers — featuring an angel baby smoking a cigarette — they knew that was what they wanted for 1984.

The angel, who was rumored to be David Lee Roth as a child, is actually modeled after Carter Helm, the son of one of Nahas’s friends. She styled his hair with some “goop” and gave him some candy cigarettes for the modeling session. The sky in the painting is just as it was back in Malibu for the photo shoot. The only additions are the wings and marble table.

For a more in-depth look at the history behind this all-time classic cover, check out this interview with Nahas.

Related articles

• Van Halen Recording With David Lee Roth (stereogum.com)
• Van Halen Aims For Summer Release Of New Album (wzlx.radio.com)
• The Ugly and Unlistenable Death Spiral of Eddie Van Halen (Sound Affects) (popmatters.com)

People found this post by searching for:

"pictures of a van", "van halen 1984", "1984 album cover", "VAN HALEN 1984 ALBUM COVER", "1984 album", "carter helm", "van halen 1984 cover art", "1984 van halen"

There’s not much room for expounding on this week’s entry, 1969’s Beck-Ola, the second and final album from the first incarnation of the Jeff Beck Group.  It’s a giant apple in a room.  Very simple, very cool-looking.

The album art is a reproduction the second version of The Listening Room (1958) by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte.  The first (1952) has the apple in a wooden room.  Magritte’s work enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the ’60s and ’70s thanks to its inclusion on other album covers, as well as by album covers inspired by his work.

Perhaps of even more interest is the note included on the original album’s back cover – “Today, with all the hard competition in the music business, it’s almost impossible to come up with anything totally original. So we haven’t. However, this disc was made with the accent on heavy music. So sit back and listen and try and decide if you can find a small place in your heads for it.”

There’s something to be said for a little honesty in advertising.

People found this post by searching for:

"Beck-Ola", "Jeff Beck Beck-Ola", "beck ola", "jeff beck beck ola", "jeff beck album covers", "jeff beck group"