#68 - 1984: Van Halen (1984)

Not a fan of the band, but that is a great cover.

It was done by Margo Nahas, who was commissioned to do “four chrome women dancing,” but found it too hard.

My guess is that the band might have seen this one and wanted something similar:

Instead, the band picked something from her existing portfolio. It’s actually based on a cute pic of one of Margo’s friend’s kids.

Margo did 12 other covers, mostly for more obscure bands like the above Autograph. She did, however, do ones for Seals & Croft, Toto, and Rick James.

These days, Margo is into jewelry. 

This album (officially “MCMLXXXIV,” but usually referred to as “1984”) was the last one they did with David Lee Roth, was their first best-selling album, and includes their only #1 hit, “Jump.” It’s also pretty famous for their very popular “Hot for Teacher” video.

That's Playboy Playmate Lillian Muller, 

by the way

As for the band? I guess you could call them good old-fashioned rock n roll, with a little glam and a little hair. Like I say, though, just not a big fan.

There are a couple other Van Halen covers I like, two of which emphasize the retro Art Deco look … and then there’s Van Halen III:

The band was, in order, David Lee Roth, Alex Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen, Michael Anthony 

... or, as I’ve always thought of them: Nastasia Kinski, Susan Boyle, Valerie Bertinelli, and Ted Bundy.

Couple of homages (though neither from anyone I’ve ever heard of):

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#69 - Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

Yeah, I know it’s Zeppelin. And I know it’s rather iconic. And it certainly is an incredible album.

But the cover just never did anything for me. I mean, all it is is a picture of an old guy carrying some sticks, on a wall that is badly coming apart.

And, believe it or not, that’s exactly what it is. The picture is a painting of what appears to be a wood gatherer that Robert Plant found in an antique shop in Reading. It was affixed to the interior wall of a suburban home in Birmingham in the process of coming down (both Plant and Bonham were from the area). The only thing that really makes it interesting is when the cover is all unfolded:

I think there was some thought about a contrast between the city and the country, though it reminds me more of Britain after the Blitz.

Here’s what it looks like today (roughly – the old home is long gone, and they weren’t exactly sure which side it was taken on):

The tower at least is quite definitely Salisbury Tower, in the Ladyway section of Brum. To be honest, I think this one does a better job with all that city/country stuff than the original:

The idea may have been Jimmy Page’s, who was actually involved in the design of a number of the group’s covers. Not sure who took the photo. Graphreaks gets credit for “design (coordination).”

The real interest for this one may lie more with other bits of the album. Take, for example, the interior illustration, called “The Hermit” and by Barrington Coleby. I particularly remember the one cool kid in junior high with long hair – Greg Butler? – trying to make a copy of it in art class.

Coleby took it from a Tarot card:

He had only one other album credit, and appears to be something of a genuine mystery man.

And then there are the icons:

Clockwise, from top left, we’ve got Page, Jones, Plant, and Bonham

They were meant to represent the four band members (and were picked out by themselves), and were to stand in for a title. Indeed, the album is famous as one of those that had neither title, nor band name, nor much of anything. It’s been variously called “IV,” “Zoso,” “Runes,” and “Untitled.” You can read all about the arcane possible meanings of the whole thing right here.  

As for the actual music … Well, this just so happens to be Zep’s best selling-album of all time. Having “Stairway to Heaven” on it certainly helped.

Classic Rock ranked it the best album ever (I don’t know if I’d go that far), and the RnR HoF ranked it #4 (ditto, I’m afraid).

The band have won some additional awards themselves:

Parodies? Why, of course:

I’ll let Wikipedia do the talking here for that second one: “Dread Zeppelin is an American band best known for performing the songs of Led Zeppelin in a reggae style as sung by a 300-pound (140 kg) Las Vegas Elvis impersonator.” I actually saw them once. The first one is from the band Four Non-Blondes.

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#70 - Diesel and Dust: Midnight Oil (1988)

This actually may be our first real case of an obscure band and obscure album, but an album cover that really rocks. Just in case you’re not familiar with this one (or can't read the writing on the cover), it’s Midnight Oil’s Diesel & Dust.

Rolling Stone voted it the best album of 1988. I found someone else who thought it the best Aussie album ever. Now, considering the competition is Olivia Newton John, AC/DC, the Bee Gees, INXS, Rick Springfield, Men at Work, and Air Supply … (Actually, anything by Nick Cave should get that vote, hands down.)

The photo is by Ken Duncan, a pretty well-known and very talented cameraman.

Hmm, not what I imagined

Interestingly, Duncan has no other great album credits, though he sure is a great photog:

The site is actually pretty well-known as well – the Burra homestead, in South Australia, about 100 miles north of Adelaide.

Honestly, I just am not that familiar with this band. I do know they were somewhat political. Indeed, Diesel and Dust is all about the environment and indigenous rights.

The bald guy is lead man Peter Garrett

The band did have a number of other cool covers: 

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#71 - In the Wake of Poseidon: King Crimson (1970)

King Crimson were a prog rock band very popular with the true burnouts at Gateway Senior High School in Monroeville, PA during the mid-70s. Very trippy, very psychedelic, very cult-y. Hard to believe, but they’re actually still around.

This was their second album, and came out in 1970. It went to #4 in the UK. No particular hits on this one, I’m afraid. Sample tunes include things like “Merday Morn,” “Hand of Sceiron,” and “Garden of Worm.” And their lyrics were right in tune: “Bishop's kings spin judgement's blade / Scratch ‘faith’ on nameless graves. / Harvest hags hoard ash and sand / Rack rope and chain for slaves / Who fireside fear fermented words / Then rear to spoil the feast; / Whilst in the aisle the mad man smiles / To him it matters least.”

The cover is by Dutch artist Tammo De Jongh, and is from his painting “The 12 Faces of Humankind.” It’s based on Carl Jung’s theories of archetypes (which I happened to be really into at the time), with said archetypes extending to the back cover as well.

This was de Jongh’s only album. In fact, I could find next to nothing about him. This pic, though, might possibly be of him:

I’m pretty sure these are not. It is a surprisingly common name in the Netherlands though.

I wonder if those last two are related?

With such a lengthy output, and with such a weird group, it’s no surprise that they can boast many more interesting covers. Here’s a few more I like:

That last one is from the wonderfully named Larks Tongue in Aspic. And here’s a definite oddity – a portrait of the band!

Bassist John Wetton, drummer Bill Buford, guitarist Robert Fripp

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