His approach inspired many and freed them from the shackles of clinical, humourless style.”
“Aldridge blew all of that out of the water. “He disrupted the status quo of graphics of the period an imitation of ‘Swiss style’ with a strict, logical structure, which left little elbow room for personal expression,” Dempsey tells Design Week. He remembers Aldridge’s style as one of “flamboyance”, which epitomised the “swinging sixties”. Mike Dempsey, graphic designer and founder at Studio Dempsey, is an avid fan of the late Aldridge and one who had the opportunity to work with him. With his free-thinking illustration background, Alan’s book covers were fast and loose, taking Penguin fiction covers into a new era.” “He was refreshingly anti-conformist and his work was creative, vibrant and entertaining. “Alan Aldridge’s couple of years at Penguin in the mid-1960s mirrored the spirit of the times,” says Jim Stoddart, Penguin Books’ current art director. His trippy, radical illustrations broke the conventions of the time, replacing Penguin’s sober, orange and sepia covers of the 1950s with garish proclamations of colour and obscureness, which allegedly outraged high-profile authors of the time. His covers for classic science fiction titles by authors such as J.G.Ballard and Theodore Sturgeon were not always well-received. One of the most enduring images of the 1960s is Aldridge’s magazine cover where he hired an Austin Mini and stayed up all night transforming it with spray-paint illustrations. His career in design and illustration began as fiction art director of Penguin Books in 1965, alongside a stint creating covers for the Sunday Times Magazine alongside the likes of Sir Peter Blake and David Hockney.
Born in east London in 1943, he left school at 14, and before landing a break at Penguin Books, pursued a number of odd-body jobs including insurance clerk, barrow boy at Stratford market and cargo unloader at London docks. Once dubbed by Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic, “part Aubrey Beardsley, part rock star”, Aldridge’s design style was as decadent, outrageous and revolutionary as his 19th century equivalents, illustrator Beardsley and writer Oscar Wilde.Īldridge had no formal training in art or design. The graphic designer, who worked on everything from album artwork and illustrated hardbacks for The Who and The Beatles, through to Penguin’s science fiction book covers, has died aged 73, and leaves behind him an influential legacy on 20th century pop culture. The crown Michael Jackson claimed in the 80s was worn previously by Elvis and Elton.By Sarah Dawood Febru3:45 pm Novem11:43 amĪlan Aldridge’s colourful, surreal, and psychedelic graphic style presents a lasting image of the 1960s and 1970s. But nothing as strong as what he did during that period.Įvery album has something worthwhile to listen to on it.
Almost anything that follows has half the appeal to me. You don't get PINKY and so on.īLUE MOVES is one of my favorite EJ albums. You don't get CANDLE IN THE WIND or HARMONY without those first three I mention. A double album with four singles and so many songs people know that were never cut. ROCKETMAN and HONKY CAT along with CROCODILE ROCK and DANIEL from Don't Shoot Me are the foundation of his 70s reign. The song is more famous now than ever.Īfter this, Elton's pop songwriting is solidifying. The only love song there, also his strongest pop song to that period. TINY DANCER showcases Bernie's writing and the music hooks you in and never lets go. A refinement of the pop-sensibility from YOUR SONG to a soundtrack. MICHELLE'S SONG, FRIENDS and the subtle THEME (THE FIRST KISS) SEASONS. You get what I consider Elton's best ballad. For an album without any singles cut from it, it is extremely well-known. Tumbleweed gives us AMOREENA, COME DOWN IN TIME and the not-written by Bernie LOVE SONG. The closest thing to another love song there was FIRST EPISODE AT HEINTON, and as much as I treasure that song, it wasn't a very good love song. YOUR SONG was an anomaly on the self-titled ELTON JOHN. I've had a long-standing belief that the most IMPORTANT EJ albums in order are TUMBLEWEED CONNECTION, FRIENDS and MADMAN ACROSS THE WATER. Many 60s & 70s albums were concept oriented.
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