In the mid/late eighties we used to listen to a lot of Michael Franks’ 1970’s albums. I fell back in to them, and they’ll stay in rotation this time, for sure.
What I didn’t realize back then, is how nice some of his 70’s cover art is. Pretty sophisticated. Simple image, (for the most part) sans serif type. Almost ahead of his time, but I guess the point was to reflect the timelessness of his music.

Michael Franks (BRUT, 1973)

The Art of Tea, (Reprise, 1976)

Burchfield Nines (Warner Bros., 1978)

One Bad Habit (Warner Bros., 1980)

I’m flattered and honored that Mono. cares enough about my desires to let me go on about my passion for books. Book power!

http://mono-zine.com/index.html#timgroen

First I was reluctant to post this, because I’m not in the habit of unzipping and showing everybody my moodboard. But it’s already in air anyway, and I have no pretenses about being so original that nobody else is thinking about the same things I think about. That’s what zeitgeist is all about.
So here it is; lately I’m looking at everything I do (everything visual, that is) through a very specific lens: the 1950’s reinterpreted by designers in 1979 through 1981. Calling these graphics ‘post-punk’ falls a little short; Fiorucci for example was hardly post-punk, neither was it exactly disco, it was just Fiorucci.

Of course this fascination of mine is fueled by nostalgia; this period neatly defines when and how my taste took shape. But nostalgia is only part of it; I really, sincerely appreciate these graphics and I’m so happy to see how it all held up, thirty years down the line.

Above: Ronny 1981, Mathématiques Modernes (by Pierre et Gilles) 1980

I’ve been talking a lot about the 50’s-through-the-1980-lens lately, and I noticed that some people need a little visual to really understand what I’m talking about – because you weren’t 13 yet in 1980! Let me illustrate it with some album covers. The first two B-52’s albums are excellent illustrations of the look, even though their styling arguably references the ’square’ sixties, rather than the fifties, but boils down to the same thing. That first cover changed my life.

Above: The B52’s debut album, 1979, and Wild Planet, 1980

Punk already mined the 1950’s, just like the earlier 1970’s mined the 1930’s and 1940’s (think Biba, Roxy Music, Ossie Clark and Kraftwerk). But it wasn’t until the end of the decade, and the beginning of the next, when designers were really beginning to feast on a bonanza of mid-century fun. It didn’t last forever, the other part of the early eighties brought us embryonic Goth, and New Wave turned to an altogether darker direction (a logical swing-reaction). But that didn’t matter to me and my friends. We were hooked pretty hard core on mid-century by then, and sometimes I feel like we’ve just been fine tuning ever since.

Above: Bananarama, Aie A Mwana, 1981. Note the Festival of Britain vibe of the graphics, and Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True, 1977. This shows that the fifties fascination was already in motion (thanks to the always amazing Barney Bubbles).

Above: Duggie Fields “The Habit of the Iconic Heroine Addict” 1979

Above; An assortment of Fiorucci graphics. The fashion company, in turn, was heavily influenced by British pop genius Eduardo Paolozzi, as Philip Brophy pointed out to me (see the the link to Brophy’s article on post-punk graphics below). Paolozzi’s mix of magazine clippings, camp and bright colors certainly created a roadmap for many late seventies/early eighties designers. What new wave bands and underground fashion designers did was major, but the influence of Fiorucci’s fifties flavor can’t be underestimated. They brought it to the masses. And then it sizzled out. And then it was considered lame, and then forgotten, and then the cycle starts again. Amen.

Links:
>Duggie Fields
>Barney Bubbles, influential like no other.
>Eduardo Paolozzi, the one and only.
>A 1990 Philip Brophy essay on Post-Punk Graphics, check out his visual examples as well.
>Stephen Kasher Gallery, New York: RUDE AND RECKLESS: Punk/Post-Punk Graphics, 1976-82

And if you want a musical soundtrack while you’re pondering the above, get yourself the songs Disco Rough by Mathématiques Modernes, and If You Want Me To Stay by Ronny, both on itunes.

Above: Tim Groen: Jojanneke and Femke, Amsterdam.

“For many designers it’s a given that they do not use fur,” says Femke Dekker, curator/DJ, and partner, along with DJ Jojanneke Wannabeastar, in the Amsterdam-based initiative, Fur Free. “By all means, approach these designers,” she continues, and urges fellow fashion activists: “Because they might never mention their fur apprehension in a press release, but you can be that platform for them.” The Fur fighting ladies of the Amsterdam underground are continuously evolving and improving their approach; they have vowed to never repeat themselves, because predictability is lethal when you need to reach the design community. An elaborate display of fur free fashions by Dutch designers was staged in the 19th century indoor botanical gardens of the Amsterdam Zoo. Amsterdam International Fashion Week will never be the same, much to the chagrin of the fur industry, which hilariously–and pathetically–attempted to stage a “pro-fur protest” at the Fur Free Fashion exhibition opening. I sat down to talk about progress with Femke and Jojanneke, in between fashion weeks.

Tim Groen: With AIFW SS2011 behind us, on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the success of last season’s Fur Free event?
Femke Dekker & Jojanneke Wannabeastar: (in unison) 13! (laugh).
FD: Because we’re both pretty convinced of our aesthetic and our production capabilities, I think we knew we’d be creating something beautiful. But without an audience that doesn’t mean anything. The opening party and the exhibition saw throngs of people, and tons of attendees—including some fur-wearers!—told us that they were massively impressed with this Fur Free event.
JW: Every single fashion blog wrote us up favorably, which is major, and we weren’t really expecting that to happen. Of course we had been working on this show for two months, so when everything comes together, and looks fantastic on the actual evening, because you’ve approached the right people to work with you–from the exhibited designers to the goodie bag sponsors–that’s when the level of teamwork you just experienced, sinks in.

TG: Do you think that you changed the opinion of people who previously had no particularly negative connotation with fur?
JW: Well, the goal of the exhibition is encourage people to consider their actions; to question how we deal with the environment—what kind of choices we make. Ideally they’ll start wondering: “Why is this so important?” And while we specifically target the unethical fur industry, it’s just a part of a broader call for consumer consciousness. When photographer Erwin Olaf checked the event out, he told me, “You’ve got me thinking about everything I’m consuming,” I felt quite pleased with myself, because that’s exactly it!
FD: Months ago, in the previous season, we had nothing but flyers; it was a bare-bones manifestation of what we want to do. People must have been thinking, “Oh, those two crazy chicks with their flyers, dabbling in the margins of activism. Whatever. Let’s see what they can do…” So I think that everybody was completely blown away by what we did in season II. Blown away by the fact that we produced a legitimate exhibit, one that could hold its own in comparison to any other event. This was the season that made it clear that we are being taken seriously by the press, as well as by the fashion industry.

TG: So going by that remark, and knowing that you have plans galore, I guess it’s safe to assume you’ll keep growing…
FD: Because of the impressive level of individuals that wants to be affiliated with us, we were able to turn the tables 100%. Instead of us demonstrating at some fur show, we have the fur industry protesting in front of our doors, with their sad little banners! The hilarious difference is that they had to pay their protesters! But yes, we will continue to grow because we made a choice to be accessible. Rather then calling for rough, loud activism, we want to present something intriguing and beautiful.
JW: Not that there’s anything wrong with loud anti-fur activism, but we’re about something else at Fur Free.

TG: Finally, any tips for other Fur Free activists who want to be heard by the fashion industry?
JW: In order to be heard by fashion folks, emphasize the not using of fur, rather then the cruelty behind fur. Shifting the emphasis in this way makes your point much more palatable. Create a counterpoint to the violence that is fur, collect names and gather likeminded people and mount a show, or publish a magazine or something. We all know that using fur is morbid and dumb, but there’s a time and a place to use that angle. For something like this, it’s totally about a professional, creative and productive approach.
FD: You’re trying to reach an audience that is conceptually and visually jaded. They aren’t receptive to stories about baby foxes in traps, or bloody seal cubs. What they are receptive to is Fashion! So offer them something from within their own discipline, something that feels relevant to them.

Links:
>Fur Free, the site.
>An impression of the first Fur Free exhibition in Amsterdam.
>The accompanying print-publication.
>My Little Underground; Femke’s site.
>Wannabeastar.DJ, Jojanneke’s site.
>Why no fur? Good question. Educate yourself and get busy!

Meant as throwaway material for teenage fans, I think these are actually amazing, formal portraits.

The Russian Tea Room was chic and fabulous when it opened its doors in the late 1920’s. By the time it closed in the mid-1990’s it had changed hands multiple times and had become a shadow of its glamorous self. It is open again now, but that is just not the same thing.

Anyway, in the early 1970’s, the amazing and influential Milton Glaser created graphics for the Russian Tea Room. They were super cool, and used on matchbooks, menus, promotional postcards, in ads, etc. I own one of the postcards, and I found evidence of it having been a series but I’ve never come across them.

Now, if the Russian Tea Room were smart, they’d realize that the Glaser visuals are an important part of their heritage. After all, the early 70’s were good times for the place. They use one illustration for their print ads (thankfully with the original ’70’s type intact), and that’s better then nothing, but their site is an un-stylish mess, and it doesn’t tie in to the Glaser stuff at all. But who knows, if we’re lucky, the current print ad is a sign of things to come; perhaps they are dusting off their Glaser archive.

I’m assuming this beautiful hand-penned logo was created by Glaser. It says “I’m made by hand and I’m folkloric, yet sophisticated.” The current Russian Tea Room Logo is a generic-looking mess of initials.

A 2011 newsprint ad, I have no complaints.

An early 1970’s color variation on the same illo. Cover of a matchbook.

An image of another postcard Milton Glaser designed for the Russian Tea Room.

The Russian Tea Room Welcomes the Newport Jazz Festival. 1972.

If you live with someone who just bought two big boxes of After Dark magazines, you learn important things. For instance, I bet you did not know that David Bowie loved the 1974 cover portrait of Toni Basil -by Eric Stephen Jacobs- so much, that he commissioned the photographer to shoot (and airbrush) the cover for Young Americans (1975).
So beautiful.