Friday, January 9, 2009

Cover Art Stories

As always, I thank Michael Goldstein over at www.RockPoPGallery.com for the exclusive rights to reprint this material.

Cover Story - Korn's "Korn", with photography by Stephen Stickler
Cover Story for November 30, 2007



Subject - Ko?n – Korn, a 1994 release on Immortal/Epic Records, with cover photography by Stephen Stickler


With “grunge” music filling the airwaves and dominating music television, Bakersfield, California’s Ko?n was a band that stood out from everyone else in a number of different ways. They weren’t full of angst – they were an angry band of metalheads who had discovered hip-hop beats and had a lead singer that also played the bagpipes! After being discovered by an A&R exec while playing in a nightclub, they worked on their unique musical and lyrical stylings until late 1994, when they released their self-titled debut Korn on Immortal/Epic Records.

The release of Korn also established a new genre – called “nu-metal” that showed the way for a number of bands (Godsmack, Limp Bizkit, Saliva, etc.) who had all wanted to give skate/surf kids the high-speed, beat-driven adrenalin rush that wasn’t found in the Seattle sound and to re-kindle the fire under many fans who thought that the metal genre had been buried alive or moved overseas. They toured relentlessly, opening for bands such as Ozzy Osbourne, Marilyn Manson, Danzig, Megadeth and Fear Factory and building a cult of mosh-crazy fans whose following has lasted through the years. Even with little/no radio or video support, their first album has since sold over 3 million copies (rising to #1 on the Billboard “Heatseekers” chart and as high as #72 in the Billboard “Top 200 Albums chart”) and their critical acclaim has handed them six Grammy nominations and two wins.

While Korn’s music is often filled with a sense of dark humor, the cover shot for their debut record did not tickle everyone’s funny bone for its seemed depiction of a young girl about to be lead away from her playtime at the park by a shadowy stranger (with the back-cover shot adding even more to the mystery). Brought in to use his artistic and photographic talents to develop this stunningly creepy image (and others used to illustrate the CD insert), photographer Stephen Stickler recounts what went in to making this memorable work of art in today’s Cover Story…

In the words of the photographer, Stephen Stickler (interviewed November, 2007) –

"At the time of this shoot, I was working with my friend Dante Ariola, who was a graphic designer at the time (now one of the top TV commercial directors in the world – a 2007 DGA award winner!). His company did a lot of work with Sony and Epic, and so we went up to meet the band at a recording studio in Malibu and to listen to some of the tracks. I knew right away that they were going to be huge - the music was so powerful and new sounding. And dark!

Jonathan, the singer of the band, had a pretty strange background – he had been schooled in mortuary science and had worked in the coroner’s office prior to joining the band - so his perspective was dark, to say the least. The cover concept may have been his idea, come to think of it. It was one of the few instances I can recall when the band's input was great to work with. The label was pretty hands-off on this one, surprisingly, perhaps because I had already done so much of work for them.

This shot was done specifically for the cover and the band’s management and label were involved, not conceptually, but in a supportive role. The band wasn't even there, if I recall correctly. The little girl in the shot is actually the A&R guy's (Paul Pontius) niece (8-year-old Justine Ferrara), and the shot took place in a playground located behind the label’s West Hollywood offices. ‘Uncle Paul’ and Justine’s mother were there to supervise, and I just told her to ‘look scared’.

I forget exactly where the specific idea came from, but the menacing shadow is actually Dante's. He was making strange shapes with his hands to get an eerie shape in the late afternoon sun - note the elongated shadows. You’ll note that the girl's shadow appears to hang from the shadow of the “K” in the Korn logo. We positioned it there on purpose, and the band was enthusiastic about the effect.

This was in the early days of Photoshop, so I used a manual technique of masking the film to reduce the color saturation and achieve a somewhat faded Ektachrome effect. I don't generally shoot a lot of frames, so the edit process was easy.


The shot taken for the back cover shows an empty swing swinging, and it completes the tragic story we were trying to tell. Our original submission was accepted, which again is rare. The label was happy with the outcome, but the covers we shot for their 2nd release were rejected because we pushed it too far that time out. Once the girl's parents saw the finished cover, Paul was in the doghouse for a while, or so I heard…

The band was pleased, too, which of course led to many nights of mayhem when we hung out with the band, moshing up in front, and drinking the sponsored Jagermeister backstage. I remember seeing Marilyn Manson at a Korn after party and wondering who that nerdy geek was who was trying so hard. Then a year later, he was huge!”

About the photographer, Stephen Stickler



<- Stephen, on his way to work in one of LA's trendy neighborhoods...

Stephen Stickler has worked hard to establish himself as a photographer and photo-journalist with serious credentials, having served as the Executive Editor for Bikini Magazine (“ACTION. FILM. CARS AND ROCK N. ROLL”) from 1993-1996 and then as Fashion and Photography editor for Raygun Magazine. His work has been published in many magazines, including both general interest publications (Newsweek, Life and Alternative Press) and special interest pubs in the music and fashion world, including Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Playboy, Seventeen, Maxim, Revolver, CMJ and many others.

His record label packaging work has served to promote a wide range of artists on a "who's who" list of labels including Sony, Atlantic, Virgin, Warner Brothers, Tommy Boy, Elektra, Universal, Dreamworks, MCA, Mercury and A&M, while his fashion work has improved the fortunes of companies such as Fresh Jive, Ocean Pacific, Sketchers and many others.

He currently lives and works in the LA area and, sadly for fans of his past work in the record packaging area, he’s moved on to focus his efforts and talents in more supervisory roles, i.e., directing and producing. As he puts it (and to which this author must sadly agree) - “The glory days of album photography are over, as are the days of big cover budgets. I was lucky to catch the tail end of 12" vinyl covers. CDs are dying and, really, so is cover art. It's just not the same looking at a record cover on a 2" iPod screen, whereas I'll always have fond memories of putting on a new album I'd bought and studying the packing while listening to the record for the first time."

To see more of Stephen Stickler’s work, please visit his website at www.stephenstickler.com

For more information on Korn, please visit their website at http://www.korn.com/site.php

For more information on RockPoP Gallery, we invite you to visit our site at http://www.rockpopgallery.com

Cover images and S. Stickler photo Copyright 1994 and 2007 Stephen Stickler Photography - http://www.stephenstickler.com/ - All rights reserved. Except as noted, All other text Copyright 2007 - Mike Goldstein & RockPoP Gallery (www.rockpopgallery.com) - All rights reserved.

Classic Rock Videos

Simon and Garfunkel - The Boxer

Music News & Notes

Rascal Flatts Plans New Album, Cover Contest


Rascal Flatts will release its sixth studio album, "Unstoppable," on April 7. The group made the announcement via text message to their fans. The new album, co-produced by Dann Huff and Rascal Flatts, is the band's first studio album since 2007's multi-platinum "Still Feels Good."

Meanwhile, the group, which took favorite group honors on the Jan. 7 People's Choice Awards, announced from the stage that fans could enter a contest to create and vote on the cover art for the set. Submissions will be accepted until Jan. 22 at the People's Choice Web site, pcaVOTE.com The winning designer and image will be revealed in February.

---------------------------------------------

Sixties pop star Dave Dee dies

Sixties British pop star Dave Dee has died (age 67) after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

He was the lead singer with Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich and enjoyed a string of chart hits including "The Legend of Xanadu," "Bend It, and "Save Me."

He died shortly before 6 a.m. on Friday at Kingston Hospital in southwest London with family members at his bedside, fellow band member Ian "Tich" Amey told Reuters.

Dee had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001, but continued to tour with the band, which had reformed in the 1990s.

---------------------------------------------

CS&N News

David Crosby spoke with Britain's Uncut Magazine about the new album Crosby, Stills & Nash are about to start with legendary producer Rick Rubin. One of the things that Rubin wants is for the trio to do a few cover songs.

"...come January, we’re going to pick and learn some songs. I can’t say which ones are going to make the final list, but we have about thirty. There’s all the people you might expect: some Jackson Browne, certainly several Beatles tunes,The Beach Boys, Joni, James, the Stones. There’s a whole shitload of records that we love and think are brilliant. I don’t know how Rick works yet, but I certainly know how we work, so I’m presuming there’ll be some pretty harmonies.

---------------------------------------------

Brits Bow to Mercury

A recent British poll surveyed more than 4,000 music fans and it revealed that Freddie Mercury is (in their opinion) the Ultimate Rock God. Second was Elvis Presley and third was Jon Bon Jovi. The top ten was filled out by David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Ozzy Osbourne, Kurt Cobain, Slash, Bono and Mick Jagger.

---------------------------------------------

Dolly to Gospel Hall of Fame

The Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame have announced that they will induct Dolly Parton, Michael W. Smith, Dr. Bobby Jones, the Dixie Hummingbirds and producer Lari Goss. The ceremony is February 2 in Nashville.

"This year's class of GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductees have all achieved great professional and personal success in many different areas of the music and entertainment industries, but each shares a common heritage of the Gospels' powerful impact on their lives," said John Styll, president of the GMA.

Rock & Roll Tidbits

In August, 2008, ABBA's "Gold" compilation rose to #1 on the UK album chart for the fifth time since being released in 1992, making it the oldest ever UK #1 album to return to the top of the chart, 16 years after release.

"For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield got its title when Stephen Stills first played the song for the group, saying "Here's a new song I wrote, for what it's worth." When he finished playing, he was asked what the title was. Stills said he didn't have one. Someone then replied, "Sure you do. You just said it."

David Rose, who had a Billboard #1 hit in 1962 with an instrumental called "The Stripper", also wrote the theme for the TV show Little House On The Prairie.

In January, 2005, on what would have been Elvis Presley's 70th birthday, "Jailhouse Rock" was re-released in the UK where it went straight to #1. At over 47 years after its original release, it became the oldest recording ever to top the UK charts.

The lightest Elvis ever weighed as a six foot tall adult was 170 lbs in 1960 following his discharge from the U.S. Army. The heaviest was at the time of his death, which was 260 lbs.

Helen Reddy's husband, Jeff Wald, was also her manager. He was also the manager for Sylvester Stallone, George Foreman, James Brolin, George Carlin, Elliot Gould, Deep Purple, Donna Summer, Flip Wilson, Marvin Gaye, Chicago and Crosby, Stills & Nash, to name only a few.

In 1959, Philadelpia's Overbrook Highschool boys basketball team won their league championship. Members of the team included future NBA stars, Walt Hazzard and Wally Jones, along with Len Borisoff, who would later change his name to Len Barry and become a member of The Dovells, who had a hit with "The Bristol Stomp" as well as having a solo hit with "1-2-3".

Chip Taylor is the stage name of American songwriter James Wesley Voight, brother of actor Jon Voight and uncle of actress Angelina Jolie. Besides writing The Troggs' hit "Wild Thing", he also penned "Angel of the Morning", by both Merrilee Rush and Juice Newton as well as "I Can Make It With You" by The Pozo Seco Singers and many other hit records.

When a poem called "Too Many Teardrops" was put to music, it was re-titled "69 Tears". Knowing that a song with such a name would never get any radio air play, it was re-named "96 Tears" and by October, 1966 became a number one hit for Question Mark and The Mysterians.

Vee Jay Records was the most successful Black owned and operated record company before Motown. The firm was founded in 1953 by Vivian Carter (the "Vee") and her husband, James Bracken (the "Jay").