RIGHT NOW WE LOVE (NOVEMBER)
submitted by Duncan

Cover of XTC's Go 2 Album from 1978 / designed by Hipgnosis

I am not a fan of XTC's turgid white boy rock but I have to say that the cover for their 1978 album 'Go 2' stands out as my favorite piece of music packaging.

Designed by dodgy surrealists Hipgnosis this cover is the antithesis of their usaul floating eyeballs and slick visual effects. I am pretty certain that it is the work of the amazing Peter Christopherson who left Hipgnosis at the beginning of the 80's and went on to join Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV and finally founded the great gay art rock outfit, Coil.

Anyway, this is definitely the smartest album cover ever. Instead of employing the usual seductive visual bubble gum prefered by record companies it offers a long text discussing the nature of the album as a product and the music fan as a consumer. On the one hand it explains and mocks the design /marketing process while on the other hand it points out the double bind of using an explanation of marketing tricks as a sneaky way to sell a product. Great stuff.

Keep the cover - throw the record away...

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