Barney Bubbles
Elvis Costello, 1978
UK Promo Poster
40 x 30 in. (101.5 x 76 cm.)
Unfolded, backed on linen
A spectacular day-glo promo poster for 1970's British new wave singer-songwriter Elvis Costello by innovative Stiff Records design director Barney Bubbles, incorporating a photograph by Chalkie Davies. Hailed as the...
A spectacular day-glo promo poster for 1970's British new wave singer-songwriter Elvis Costello by innovative Stiff Records design director Barney Bubbles, incorporating a photograph by Chalkie Davies. Hailed as the missing link between pop and culture by Factory Records designer Peter Saville, Bubbles had what musician Billy Bragg identified as an unerring ability to make unprepossessing blokes look cool: Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Johnny Moped, me... we were misfits in the pantheon of pop and Barney made us look magnificent. Davies shot this image of Costello during a promo shoot for Costello's third album Armed Forces, released in early 1979. Critically acclaimed, Costello's first three albums have all appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Provenance
Excellent (A-)
Unfolded, conservation backed on linen. Backing has smoothed and diminished minor nicks and edge wear, a faint crease across lower left corner and a tiny puncture to green ground at upper right. Image and colours excellent.