RIP Lou Teicher -- Makeout Music King

Lou Teicher, half of the piano duo Ferrante & Teicher, whose florid and sentimental versions of movie themes and love songs made them gods of easy listening and earned them wide popularity beginning in the 1960s, died on earlier his month in Highlands, N.C. He was 83 and lived in Sarasota, Fla.

The album cover above really expresses what Ferrante & Teicher were all about -- makeout music for your parents (or grandparents). After "Bonanza" was over, get the kids in bed, mix up a pitcher of martinis, dim the lights and cue up the Ferrante & Teicher. Yeah ... it was definitely Mom and Dad time.

Robert Goulet, R.I.P.

I know I am only posting obits right now -- and I promise that will change soon -- but Robert Goulet went to the big casino yesterday. Above is one of my favorite Goulet album covers -- the man lounging in his Plycraft recliner, surrounded in a room wrapped in tin foil. I own that very same recliner, but even if I manage to wrap a room in tin foil, I could never be as suave as that cat.

Thanks for the memories, Bobby.

Presenting The Goldwaters

Ever heard of these guys? The album is dreadful, but the cover makes me laugh. Believe it or not, I actually found an interview with one of the members on conelrad.com.

Sez the site: "In the pantheon of strange political gimmicks, The Goldwaters would have to rank fairly high on the list. Right up there with Michael Dukakis "boxer" action figures. The idea to assemble a conservative folk combo, have them record a bizarre, nearly unlistenable album and then put the group on the road with the 1964 Republican nominee for President was the warped brainchild of the Nashville-based Bates Brothers, Buford and Mark Clark. To fulfill their unique vision, the brothers recruited four kids with moderate musical skills from nearby colleges. The result was the Republican answer to the Chad Mitchell Trio."

If you're hooked, go read more. If not have a laugh and go on your merry way.

Anybody Want Pancakes?

One of my all-time favorite album covers -- combining my love of children's television in breakfast foods in one tasty combo.

Album Cover Du Jour

Back in the 50s, analysis (or terapy as Tony Soprano would call it) was on everyone's minds. And of course, once we Americans identify a cultural trend, we must immediately begin to ridicule it. And what better way to poke fun at it than a collection of humorous songs? Unfortunately, the cover is the best thing about album.

An Appreciation: Alex Steinweiss

I began collecting Alex Steinweiss album covers before I even knew who he was. All I knew is I had these really cool old albums that made brilliant use of typography and color. Then I found For The Record: The Life and Work of Alex Steinweiss by Jennifer McKnight-Trontz, Alex Steinweiss and Steven Heller and I finally had a name to put with this brilliant work.

Working as an art director for Columbia Records in 1939, he invented a seemingly obvious idea -- the illustrated album cover. Although this form of product packaging seems obvious today, it was a great breakthrough back then. Sales of albums with Steinweiss covers sold much better than those without. One reissue of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony saw sales increase 847 percent in the six months after it was issued with a Steinweiss cover versus the six months before when it had a traditional "tombstone" cover. Later, with the advent of the 33 rpm record, he helped invent the cardboard album sleeve we know today.

Although he later left Columbia, he went on to design covers for the London, Decca and Everest labels. During his heydey from 1939 to the mid-1950s, he designed some of the most unique album covers ever using typography, color and illustrations.

This is a good example of one of his early album covers. Fletcher Henderson was only one of the jazz greats that Steinweiss designed covers for. Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman albums also received the Steinweiss treatment.

This Larry Adler album has a Russian constructivist feel. Notice how the type is arranged and how the hands are in white.

This Frankie Carle album is one of the best-known examples of his work. Because offset printing was still new (and very expensive), Columbia printed its covers by letterpress, which limited Steinweiss to three or four flat colors and two plates of halftone. Steinweiss made the most of these limitations.

This one is almost Abstract Expressionistic, with hints of Picasso and Pollock. Pink and gold and black? Very bold.

He wasn't just a master of typography. He was also a master illustrator.

One distinctive feature of a Steinweiss album cover was use of the handwriting font he developed: Steinweiss Scrawl. You can see it on the covers below. It's the curly cursive writing. This grew out of his need to meet tight deadlines by using handlettering.

Steinweiss Scrawl was used by other Columbia designers, too. This album may not be a Steinweiss, even though it uses the Scrawl font. Steinweiss didn't often use photographs, and the typography isn't as dynamic as his other covers. Still, it's a beautiful two-color cover.

Black, gray and pink. Very MCM.

Love the can-can girl.

Another nice two-color effort.

Alex Steinweiss is still alive and living in Florida.

Alex Steinweiss Resources

Alex Steinweiss: Visual Communication Techniques brochure

Alex Steinweiss' AIGA bio

The Remington Site: Alex Steinweiss Album Cover Design Techniques

Music For Dining

It’s Friday. You probably have plans for tonight. Perhaps a special lady friend is coming over for the evening. Start off with canapes and Martinis. A little Brubeck on the hi-fi. But before you sit down for your steak tartare, don’t forget the appropriate music. That’s where this little baby comes in. Put it on the turntable, and she will be putty in your hands by the cherries jubilee. You can thank me later.

Ode to Julie London

Julie London told Life Magazine in 1957 that she had "only a thimbleful of a voice, and I have to use it close to the microphone. But it is a kind of oversmoked voice, and it automatically sounds intimate."

And intimate it was. Like so much of 1950s popular culture, there was a thin veneer of respectability on top and oceans of roiling sexuality underneath.

When she sings a line like “Don’t Smoke in Bed,” it ain’t no public safety warning. It’s enough to make Smokey the Bear blush.

It’s hard to believe she was married to Jack Webb and Bobby Troup -- two guys who seemed pretty square on the outside. In fact, I remember her on Emergency back in the 1970s. She didn’t seem that smoky to me then, but, of course, I was more interested in the fire trucks.

Upon further review, Webb and Troup were actually a couple of jazz hounds. In fact, Troup produced many of Julie London’s albums and even wrote such classics as “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” and “The Girl Can’t Help It.” And I became more interested in Julie London than fire trucks.

For more on Julie, check out Java’s Bachelor Pad and Brian’s Drive-In Theater. Below are some Julie London album covers from my collection (My favorite is the middle).