One of the first things I look for when I see a record cover I like — or have just bought — is to check the liner notes, back cover or possibly the printed inner sleeve to find out who was responsible for the cover artwork/design. I never knew I had a collection of Barney Bubbles’ record covers despite having (at least) thirteen in my record collection. If he did allow a designer credit he would, as often as not, use a pseudonym.

I suppose I knew that Barney Bubbles (born Colin Fulcher on 30th July 1942, died 14th November 1983) had designed the logos for Stiff and F-beat record labels but none of my Elvis Costello albums or my Wreckless Eric records mentioned a designer. I did like a couple of Hawkwind’s covers, but I never bought any. No mention of a designer on those anyway. Other artists include Nick Lowe, Ian Dury, Quintessence and Billy Bremner. Barney Bubbles even released his own album, Ersatz, credited to The Imperial Pompadours

I recently starteed reading Kenneth FitzGerald’s Process Music: Songs, Stories and Studies in Graphic Design. FitzGerald writes beautifully — the book is a collection of his writings on graphic design with focus on a number of designers, one of whom is Barney Bubbles. There I read descriptions of many covers but there aren’t any pictures, so I was constantly searching Discogs to see what FitzGerald was describing. Then I found Discogs list of seventy-two Barney Bubbles cover designs, though incomplete, it is a good way to see images of most of his covers.

Here are a couple of other Barney Bubbles covers not included in the Discogs list:

These eclectic designs show that Barney Bubbles knew his design history. The Art of Roger Bechirian cover referencing Alex Steinweiss’ early designs for Columbia Records in the 1940s and fifties.

FitzGerald is impressed by the sheer amount of work Barney Bubbles produced between 1977 and his death at the age of forty-one in 1983. In addition to record covers he designed advertising material, posters and was an accomplished draughtsman and painter. He was suppported by Stiff Records, and later Radar Records, founder Jake Riviera.

Paul Gorman, who manages Barney Bubbles’ estate, has written a book, about Barney Bubbles’ art. Reason to Be Cheerful: The Life and Work of Barney Bubbles that was originally published in 2010 and an updated version came out in 2022. There is also a 500 copy, limited edition, box set of Barney Bubbles’ work called A Box of Bubbles.