Art on your sleeve - Episode 12 - Bob Linney

06/29/20 • 30 min

This episode is an audio supplement to a six-page Pop Art feature I wrote for Classic Pop magazine, issue 13, published October/November 2014. In the podcast I interview artist and designer, Bob Linney about his record sleeve artwork for The Beloved and play track excerpts along the way. We also touch on other sleeves that he has worked on and discover how he ended up forging a long time creative relationship with Jon Marsh and The Beloved. The interview was recorded over Zoom during the COVID-19 lockdown period with Bob and I in our respective studios in East Anglia and Liverpool. Apologies for the variable recording quality. The podcast also coincides with the re-release of Happiness, an album by The Beloved, and the release of a limited edition range of screen prints that Bob made available in June 2020. The prints are available to order directly from Bob Linney’s online store at: www.boblinneyposters.com/beloved-artwork Full show notes and archive at: https://softoctopus.co.uk/podcast/

Previous Episode

Art on your sleeve - Episode 11 - Calling America

In this episode I'm joined by Sarah and Brian Linnen, hosts of the Permanent Record Podcast. There are few podcasts that dig as deeply into the sounds and visuals of artists that were big in the eighties/nineties as they do. I highly recommend that you subscribe to their show at the usual quality podcast outlets and explore their considerable archive at: www.permanentrecordpodcast.com During this chat you will hear us each select one album and one single sleeve that we believe deserves greater recognition and talk about the reasons why we selected them. We also learn a lot along the way about how they were created and the designers behind the work. Our selections are as follows: Kiss like ether 1991 single by Claudia Brücken Designed by Tim Vary at Island Art The Lovecats 1983 single by The Cure Designed by Parched Art It’s called a heart 1985 single by Depeche Mode Designed by T+CP, illustration by Tamara Capellaro Parade 1984 album by Spandau Ballet Painting by David Band, photography by John Shaw, art direction by Gary Kemp Crowded House 1986 album by Crowded House. Cover Painting by Nicholas Seymour, art direction by John O’Brien 6. Read my lips 1989 album by Jimmy Somerville. Designed by Me Company We hope you enjoy the episode, if you do, subscribe at Apple Podcasts and if you’re very nice, you could even leave a review. Art on your sleeve is also available on other platforms including Spotify.

Next Episode

Art on your sleeve - Episode 13 - Peter Coyle and The Lotus Eaters

In this episode I speak with Peter Coyle, formerly of The Lotus Eaters about the design work behind his music. When The Lotus Eaters made the top 20 in 1983 with their debut single, The first picture of you, they did so with sleeves that often used art to represent the band. In the podcast we talk about all of the band's singles, their classic album, No sense of sin and we lift the curtain on the thinking behind the art to find out who created the designs - something that was omitted on the sleeves themselves. Peter now lives in rural France but we have remained friends from when we first began working together 20 years ago, so the chat is informal, candid and at times humorous as we travel back in time to discuss Liverpool and its burgeoning post-punk music scene of the early eighties. Peter is still an active musician, recording under many names, most notably, Peter Coyle Fractal. He also has new recordings with Tony Lowe under the name of 22 Layers and we talk a little about their Travelling Alone single towards the end of the episode. This single and others are available on Band Camp. We finish the episode with an exclusive track called You & I, which we recorded together, Peter wrote the lyrics and sings over a track that I composed a few years ago. The song will be widely available before the end of 2020 but for now, enjoy this exclusive preview.