Well, the other week I finally got to see the Grant McPhee documentary, 'Big Gold Dream.' A wonderful insight into the early days of the Scottish indie, post-punk music scene (Fast Product, Postcard Records, Josef K, Fire Engines, Scars, The Associates, etc. etc.).
The documentary particularly centres on Bob Last's, Edinburgh labels, Fast Product and pop:aural; with Bob and various people, who were part of the music scene back in the late 70s early 80s, giving us the lowdown on how things were as well as how Fast Product and pop:aural came about.
An altogether fascinating documentary which I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed.
Anyhow, the whole got me looking out any discs that I still have from the Fast/pop:aural era, giving them a spin and posting some pics of the artwork and graphic design work that Bob Last came up with for both labels.
Also, by way of the documentary, you get to realise just how much Tony Wilson's Factory Records owes to Bob Last. The large part played in influencing the great Manchester label when it comes to graphic design, marketing, etc. is really quite astonishing.
One of Last's ideas was to use the image of an old ad for Silva Thins cigarettes (a brand which once sparked controversy for its sexist tagline: "Cigarettes are like women. The best ones are thin and rich" in an 1970 ad) to illustrate the plastic pop:aural bag which enveloped initial copies of the Fire Engines' 'Lubricate Your Living Room' album when it was released in 1981.
No idea of this appropriation caused anything of a stir back then or if pop:aural ever had any problems about it. Then again, I can't imagine anyone in Scotland, or even the UK for that matter, ever smoking Silva Thins cigarettes.
Special thanks to Austen Harris for reminding me of Silva Thins-pop:aural link.
.............................................................................................................
©japanese forms
No comments:
Post a Comment