Of all the genre-defining, hugely influential funk bands emerging out of the midwest during the 1970s (including Slave, Parliament-Funkadelic, Rufus, Dazz Band and Zapp) Ohio Players may have been the most distinctive, in part due to their album covers. After moving to the Mercury label for their fifth studio album, the band released a string of LP covers that all possessed three artistic elements. First there was the stylized lettering of the band's name -- thick and blocky with "OHIO" usually appearing transparent. Next there were the album titles, most often consisting of a single word -- Fire, Rattlesnake, Contradiction, etc. Finally, apart from chart-topping hits like "Skin Tight" and "Fire", Ohio Players' album covers were known for featuring beautiful semi- (or fully) nude African-American women. With their 1975 smash, Honey, this uninhibited celebration of black feminine beauty reached its zenith. The cover features a topless woman holding a glowing, dripping jar of honey in one hand as she sexily tilts her head back and drips more of the sticky treat into her mouth with a ladle. Playboy Playmate Ester Cordet was the model, famed Playboy photographer Richard Fegley did the shoot, and the album's art director Jim Ladwig won a Grammy award for this cover in 1976.
Depending on your perspective, 1984 is either the album where Van Halen sold out or the one where the band took an important new turn in their career by embracing and validating the synth-pop sub-genre that dominated the early 80s. However you see it, 1984's cover can stand on its own as a gallery-worthy piece of art. Created by graphic artist Margo Nahas and based on a photograph she took of her neighbor's son, the 1984 cover consists of a colorful painting of a delinquent cherub casually enjoying a smoke. His body position is curious and contorted and his attention is clearly on something unseen off to his left. Above this are the band's name and 1984 written in Roman numerals -- which only adds to the cover's Renaissance-era fresco look.
In September 1978 Parallel Lines was released and Blondie had their breakthrough album that soon topped the charts. By the following spring, on the strength of the album's third single, "Heart of Glass", Blondie was the biggest band in the world. Except by this time, Blondie wasn't Blondie anymore; Blondie was Debbie Harry -- and bandmates Jimmy Destri, Frank Infante, Clem Burke, Chris Stein and Nigel Harrison were often viewed as simply backing musicians. As erroneous as that was, Harry was unquestionably the face and identity of the band, a fact that was reinforced by the Parallel Lines cover. Harry (the commanding officer) stands front and center, with hands on her hips and a deadly serious expression on her face, while her male "subordinates" back her on both flanks. All the guys wear identical and unremarkable black suits, while Harry is luminous in a white dress and her matching (trademark) mules. If this is the Justice League, Harry is clearly its Superman. With all of this set against broad, black and white vertical stripes as a background and fire engine red cursive lettering for the band and album names, you've got one eye-grabbing album cover.
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