CLASSIC ORIGINAL ROCK AND POP POSTERS

ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK - O.M.D., 1981

Original Dindisc, Virgin Records and Epic U.S. promo poster, 12½"x16¾".
Grafica Industria design by Ben Kelly and Peter Saville, photography Trevor Key.

This U.S. compilation brought together tracks from the band's first two albums from the year before. It's easily confused with the 1981 UK re-release of the first album, both having near identical artwork. Note the punctuated spelling of OMD.
Though most famously associated with Factory Records and the Manchester scene, with no regular income stream from the label Peter Saville had moved to London in 1979 to become art director at Virgin Record's semi-independent label Dindisc, which had signed OMD from Factory. Saville had designed the sleeve for their Factory single 'Electricity' and Dindisc founder Carol Wilson was keen to continue the connection.
Early OMD material is very hard to find.

£350.00 conservation framed.

SEX PISTOLS - PRETTY VACANT, 1977

Original Virgin Records promo poster, 27¼"x7½".

Who came up with the original 'Nowhere' and 'Boredom' buses? Jamie Reid says it was him in 1972; Berkeley, CA, Situationist group Point-Blank! say it was them in 1973. Either way, this crisply printed in-store banner is uncommon and one of Reid's best designs for the band.

Please inquire.

TOM WAITS - THE HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT, 1974

Original Arista Records promo poster, 24"x24".
Art direction by Cal Schenkel. Artwork by Napoleon (Lynn Lascaro)

Rare original poster for Tom Waits' second album. Suggestions that the artwork was a deliberate nod to Frank Sinatra's 'In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning' may be correct, that album being amongst Waits' personal favourites.

£425.00 linen backed and conservation framed.

BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS - RASTAMAN VIBRATION, 1976

Original Arista Records promo poster, 12"x35¾".
Design and graphics by Neville Garrick.

Rare Island Records U.S. promotional poster. The album was a major success in the U.S. and was, along with the accompanying tour, instrumental in Marley's unprecedented rise to global superstardom.
The original black and white portrait shot of Marley adapted for the sleeve cover was taken by Neville Garrick in the yard at Marley's house at 56 Hope Road in Kingston.

Please inquire.

THE ROLLING STONES, EUROPEAN TOUR 1973 - KÖLN CONCERTS

Original tour poster, 23⅜"x33".
Designed by John Pasche (misspelled 'Kasche'). Photography by David Thorpe.

Hard-to-find original poster for The Stones' two shows at Cologne's Sportshalle on 4th September 1973.
The band were at a live performing peak: official photographer at the time Michael Putland remembered "They were always incredible, but there was something about the band's energy on this tour.."

£475.00

THE ROLLING STONES - EUROPEAN TOUR, 1973

Original tour poster, 23½"x33".
Designed by John Pasche. Photography by David Thorpe.

John Pasche has said that after the 1930's inspirations behind his previous Stones tour posters, he was looking to do something with a Rene Magritte influence in a photographic style.
The tour began immediately after the release of 'Goat's Head Soup'.

£300.00

MARTIN SHARP - BOB DYLAN, BLOWING IN THE MIND, 1967

Original Big O Posters Inc poster, 20"x30".
Artwork by Martin Sharp and Eija Vehka Aho.

Martin Sharp: "I adored the song 'Mister Tambourine Man'. In London I had a wonderful printer, Peter Ledeboer, who was printing OZ. He loved the idea of doing posters; he was a great publisher for me. And I really loved the effects of foil, so we printed on foil stock." (in 'Electrical Banana: Masters of Psychedelic Art', Norman Hathaway and Dan Nadel.)

The artist gave credit to his Finnish girlfriend, with whom he lived at the Pheasantry in Chelsea: "I can remember my dear friend Eija Vehka Aho creating all the beautiful circles that make up Bob Dylan’s hair and which contribute so much to the work." (in 'Australian art in the National Gallery of Australia', Anne Gray.) Vehka Aho recalled creating the circles with a pair of compasses.

Martin Sharp adapted the image of Dylan from a 1965 Daniel Kramer photograph of Dylan on stage prior to his August 28 performance at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, New York.

Please inquire.

THE B-52s - THE B-52s, 1979

Original Warner Bros. Records promo poster, 23"x35".
Art direction Su Ab Surd (alias for Tony Wright). Photography by George DuBose.

Notably scarce and in excellent condition.

£350.00.

THE ROLLING STONES - UNDERCOVER, 1983

Original Rolling Stones Records promo poster, 20"x30".
Art direction by Peter Corriston, art by Hubert Kretzschmar.

The last of Corriston's four-in-a-row sleeves (three with Kretzschmar) for the band in the dynamic period kicked off by the recording of 'Some Girls'.
This is a harder to find poster for the album.

£175.00.

THE JAM - SETTING SONS, 1979

Original Polydor US in-store card promo display, 12"x12".
Design by Bill Smith.
Photography by Andrew Douglas.

The photograph is of Benjamin Clemens' 1919 bronze cast sculpture 'The St John's Ambulance Bearers'. The image relates to the album's planned concept of three childhood friends reunited after war.

£250.00 conservation framed.

PAUL WELLER - STANLEY ROAD, 1995

Original pre-release promo poster, 40"x60".
Artwork and collage by Peter Blake, cover design Simon Halfon.

Peter Blake's painting of a young Paul Weller with a photo of his older self, surrounded by images from childhood, Mod talismans, poetry and art.

Please inquire.

THE JAM - SOUND AFFECTS, 1980

Original Polydor U.S. in-store card promo display, 12¼"x12¼".
Design by Bill Smith and The Jam.
Photography by Andrew Rosen and Martyn Goddard.

The sleeve design was a pastiche of the BBC's series of sound effects LPs, one of which Paul Weller had apparently come across at Polydor's studios: see an example.

Original promo material for the album is uncommon, this card display format particularly so.

SOLD - please inquire if you'd like us to source this for you.

DEXY'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS - SEARCHING FOR THE YOUNG SOUL REBELS, 1980

Original promo poster, 60"x40".
Design by Peter Barrett.

The image of the boy, as featured on the album cover, was later identified as Anthony O'Shaughnessy, photographed during the evacuation of Catholic neighbourhoods in Belfast during the riots of August 1969. The example we featured in our original 2006 Rock Explosion exhibition generated considerable interest when it was picked by BBC Northern Ireland, leading to interviews with Anthony O'Shaughnessy (the boy in the image) and his meeting with Kevin Rowland. Very scarce poster.

See the television news feature.

PATTI SMITH - ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE, 1976.

Original Rolling Stone Magazine promo poster, 20"x29"
Photography by Bill King.

Interesting and scarce poster advertising Rolling Stone's 1976 feature on Patti Smith written by Dave Marsh: 'The Coal Stove visions of a factory girl'.

Bill King was a celebrated American photographer. His distinctively exuberant and joyful style for Vogue and Vanity Fair broke conventions for fashion photography at the time.

SOLD - please inquire if you'd like us to source this for you.

PATTI SMITH - HORSES, 1975

Original Arista Records promo poster, 24"x34".
Photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe.

£850.00 conservation framed.

JETHRO TULL - MINSTREL IN THE GALLERY, 1975

Original Chrysalis Records promo poster 30.5"x23".

£225.00

THE ROLLING STONES, TATTOO YOU, 1981

Two original Rolling Stones Records promo posters, each 12 ¼"x12 ¼".
Design by Peter Corriston, Photographs by Hubert Kretzschmar, Paintings by Christian Piper.

Peter Corriston also designed the superb sleeves for 'Some Girls' (again with Hubert Kretzschmar) and Led Zeppelin's 'Physical Graffiti'.

These are the superior card stock printings.

£250.00 conservation framed.

THE CLASH - CLASH ON BROADWAY, 1991

Two original card stock Epic/Legacy Records promo posters, each 12 ¼"x12 ¼".
Design by Josh Cheuse. Photography (band) Penny Smith, (Broadway) Bob Gruen.

Great design for the well received 64 track box set compilation. 'Clash on Broadway' strongly reaffirmed the band's impact and legacy after the unsatisfactory coda of 'Cut the Crap' only a few years previously.

£180.00 conservation framed.

WHAM! - BRIXTON ACADEMY, 24 June 1986

Original press photograph 10"x8".
Full press details (curiously with two incorrect dates) on reverse.

Original photograph from Wham!'s warm up gig at Brixton Academy before their farewell show at Wembley Stadium four days later.

£185.00 conservation framed.

WHAM! - FAREWELL CONCERT, WEMBLEY STADIUM 28 June 1986

Original press photograph 10"x8".
Full press details on reverse.

Original photograph from Wham!'s farewell concert at Wembley Stadium.

£185.00 conservation framed.

WHAM! - AIDS DAY BENEFIT, WEMBLEY ARENA 1 April 1987

Original press photograph 10"x8".
Full press details on reverse.

George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley reunited in spirited fashion for the International Aids Day Benefit Concert in support of The Terrence Higgins Trust the year after Wham! broke up, performing 'Everything She Wants'. This shot shows the moment - clearly visible on the video of the event - when George called Andrew on stage.

£185.00 conservation framed.

KRAFTWERK - COMPUTER WORLD, 1981

Original Warner Bros. Records promo poster, 24"x24".
Design by Emil Schult. Photography by Günter Fröhling.

The last of Kraftwerk's pioneering albums, 'Computer World' had a seminal impact on U.S. Electro, Hip Hop and Detroit Techno.

£385.00 conservation framed.

THE STYLE COUNCIL - MY EVER CHANGING MOODS, 1984

Original US in-store card promo display, 12¼"x12¼".
Design by Paul Weller, Simon Halfon.
Photography by Peter Anderson.

Peter Anderson moved from Scotland to London in 1980 and soon secured regular work for the NME, where he met Paul Weller to shoot the paper's Avengers pastiche 1982 Christmas cover. Both valued a degree of sponteneity and humour, and Weller commissioned Anderson for a photo shoot in February in France - a chilly Boulogne convincingly passing for springtime Paris.

£145.00 conservation framed.

THE ROLLING STONES - IT'S ONLY ROCK'N ROLL, 1974

Original Rolling Stones Records promo poster, 23 ½"x16½".
Art by Philip Castle.

The album cover painting was created by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert but the actual promotional material artwork – featuring a much more striking image interpreting the lyrics “If I could stick my pen in my heart and spill it all over the stage” - was created by British Pop Artist Philip Castle in a style that could sync with Peellaert’s artwork.
Amongst many other commissions, Philip Castle created the famous poster artwork for 'A Clockwork Orange' and 'Full Metal Jacket' for Stanley Kubrick. He also created the ‘teardrop’ on David Bowie’s shoulder on Brian Duffy’s album cover photograph for ‘Diamond Dogs’.

This poster is hard to come by.

Please inquire.

THE ROLLING STONES - STONE AGE, 1971

London Records sleeve proof, 24½"x13½"

Rare original 1971 sleeve proof, on the London label for release in Japan. Although later compilations outside of the band's control were of low quality, 'Stone Age' put together an interesting selection of more obscure or not previously released sides from the band's 64-66 archive.

£485.00 conservation framed.

THE CLASH - LONDON CALLING, 1979

Original CBS promo poster, 42"x44".

The superb original U.S. poster, a Warhol-inspired take on the famous LP cover. Pennie Smith's shot of Paul Simonon smashing his bass was captured at New York City's Palladium (Smith needed persuading that the shot was acceptable). Ray Lowry's lettering invoked Elvis's debut LP. The ambitious double album threw down the gauntlet to the heavyweights of the past, Dylan, The Beatles, The Stones.

Please inquire.

PINK FLOYD - DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, 1973

Original Harvest/Capitol promo poster, 36"x24".
Design and photography: Hipgnosis. Illustration: George Hardie for Hipgnosis.

Original in-store promo poster, illustrating the band's previous lp releases. The origin of probably the most famous album sleeve of all time stems from the band's desire to avoid another photographic image in favour of a simpler graphic. Hipgnosis's Aubrey Powell found inspiration in a prism image in a 1950's French book of early colour photography. This is the only original 1973 poster design for the album we've yet encountered.

£485.00 conservation framed.

SEX PISTOLS - FUCK FOREVER, 1986

Original Hamilton exhibition poster, design by Jamie Reid.
26"x38.5".

The very scarce Fuck Forever poster was first printed for an exhibition of Jamie's work in 1986 at Hamilton's Gallery, 13 Carlos Place, London W1.
On the back is artwork and text in black & white by Jon Savage & Jon Wozencroft, with illustrations of Jamie's work and his influences.
The original artwork was made in 1978 as a prop for 'The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle' film.

Please inquire.

GRACE JONES - MY JAMAICAN GUY, 1983

Original Island promo poster, 60"x40".
Design by Jean-Paul Goude.

V. scarce large format poster (note: this format of poster was intended for flyposting, so record companies ensured their details were left off).

Jean-Paul Goude: Would you agree that you have always had a problem with authority?
Grace Jones: Yes, definitely.... And I think that is what contributed to my masculinization. I deliberately challenged men's roles. In fact, I survived by taking on both roles.

SOLD - please inquire if you'd like us to source this for you.

GRACE JONES - NIGHTCLUBBING, 1981

Original Island Records promo poster, 36"x24".
Design by Jean Paul Goude.

Probably the single most famous image of Grace Jones, Jean Paul Goude's 1981 'Blue-black in black on brown' created as oil paint on cut up photo.
Jean Paul Goude: "Grace was very open. We worked together to create this intimidating character. I mean, she's naturally intimidating anyway...I tried to emphasize that body shape through a sort of minimalist German expressionism, with its games of shadows and its angular shapes."

Please inquire.

GRACE JONES - ISLAND LIFE, 1985

Original Island Records promo poster, 24"x24".
Design and photography by Jean Paul Goude.

Jean Paul Goude's amazing image was a brilliant illusion. The convincing yet impossible pose was created in 1978 by photographing Grace in a variety of poses, some supported by clear acrylic boxes, and then reassembling the cut-up Ektachrome transparencies: see original here.

SOLD - please inquire if you'd like us to source this for you.

GRACE JONES - SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM, 1985

Original Island/Manhattan promo poster, 36"x24".
Design by Jean Paul Goude.

Initially an NY disco diva, with designer and partner Jean-Paul Goude Grace Jones created a radical androgynous new image and musical metamorphosis, one of the most memorable of the era.
Goude can be seen creating the bold cut-up image at the beginning of the video for the single. Goude had employed a similar approach for the sleeve for Cristina's 1984 album ‘Sleep It Off’. See the original cut-up.

SOLD - please inquire if you'd like us to source this for you.

GRACE JONES - ONE MAN SHOW, 1981

Original promo poster, 39"x28".
Design by Jean-Paul Goude.

One Man Show was the name both of Grace Jones' performances at London's Drury Lane Theatre and New York's Savoy Theater in 1981 and of the video released the following year. This poster was created in formats for both.

SOLD - please inquire if you'd like us to source this for you.

THE ROLLING STONES - EUROPEAN TOUR, 1970

Original promo poster, 33"x24".
Art by John Pasche.

John Pasche not only designed the band's classic tour posters of the early 70's, but also created the 'lips' logo in 1971 for the Stones' own label. His work is among the very best of the era.
Beware: Repros are very common on this poster.

£685.00 conservation framed.

THE CLASH - LONDON CALLING, 1979

Original CBS promo poster, 24"x 24".
Design by Ray Lowry.
Photography by Penny Smith.

This UK-printed poster doesn't feature the 'Two for a Fiver' tag, meaning it was most likely intended for promotion elsewhere in Europe, in particular Ireland.

Penny Smith had spotted Paul Simonon's growing frustration with the Palladium's audience that night and her attention enabled to her - whilst backing away! - to shoot the exact moment when the bass guitar came smashing down, capturing one of the defining images in rock history.
All original UK posters on the album are notably scarce.

SOLD - please inquire if you'd like us to source this for you.

SEX PISTOLS - ANARCHY IN THE UK, 1976

Original EMI promo poster, 38 ¼" x 27 ¾".
Artwork by Jamie Reid.

Original poster for The Pistols' incendiary debut single. EMI withdrew the single after the Bill Grundy 'Today' show debacle, contributing to the poster's rarity.

SEX PISTOLS - GOD SAVE THE QUEEN, 1976

Original Virgin promo poster, 39" x 27 ¼".
Artwork by Jamie Reid.