Welcome to this month’s edition of Three Favourites, where we discover three album covers which, in the words of Stephen Fry ‘have been intriguing me rather’. Perhaps I should have picked some spooky options but I suppose I see Halloween more as a day in the way of the Solemnity of All Saints, rather than an opportunity to get cavities.
David Bowie – Low (1977)
Bowie is a polymorph, both vampiric and elvish. But, if you have seen Labyrinth, he is also a tights model. In the cover of this awesome album, Mr David Bowie is taken en profile, wearing a rather informal coat / hoodie. He looks the picture of cool, with his coiffed hair and one blue eye showing. If you have not already, I highly recommend listening to this album.
Nick Drake – Made To Love Magic (2004)
This was a posthumous compilation album of some different versions of Mr Drake’s outtakes and some unreleased material. It features a previously unreleased solo acoustic version of “River Man”, dating from early 1968, and the song “Tow the Line”, a previously unheard song from Drake’s final session in July 1974. The cover itself is quite calm, with Drake standing tall at 1 metre 91, next to an unsuspecting normal height couple. There is something quite magical about this photograph.
Ozzy Osbourne – Patient Number 9 (2022)
Finally for this month, Ozzy’s latest. While the vocals now need a slight electronic tuning aid to get the best out of our Brummie hero, he needs no help in the cover art department. A provocative bat brooch, painted nails, cane, steampunk metal background and shock of white hair, this is an excellent and rather piercing cover, and quite spooky!
Join us next month for Three Favourites.