I’m constantly on the look out for record and CD covers with cover art by the artist known as Banksy. Ebay seems to be a real treasure trove and a great place to do research. I recently saw a copy of a cover for a seven inch version of DJ Danger Mouse’s 2008 unofficial Keep It Real / Laugh Now single. Well I have never seen one of these before and was immediately suspicious that it could be a fake. However, as a well-known faker myself, there was one detail in the item description that suggested that it may actually be genuine. If I was going to make a seven inch cover of this record that, as far as I know, has only been released as a 12″, I would simply photograph the front and rear of the cover, reduce the photos to the correct size in Photoshop, align them together and get my printer to print the result on glossy 300 gm paper. But the photos of this Ebay item showed that the artist, record title and catalogue number were printed on the spine. I’ve tried to replicate text on a thin strip to use as a spine and have found it nigh on impossible–so the appearance of text on the spine of this cover suggests to me it is genuine.
I made an offer for it and after some haggling managed to buy it. It is beautiful and in mint condition.
The front cover of the 7″ single.
The rear cover of the 7″ single.
The spine.
The seller told me that he had acquired the cover along with a couple of printers’ proofs sometime around 2011. apparently Danger Mouse had planned to release a seven inch version of the single and had a limited number of covers printed before abandoning the idea.
Here’s what the cover looks like with a single inserted.
You already know that I am inordinately proud of my collection of records and CDs with cover art by the artist known as Banksy. Many of the vinyl releases with Banksy‘s cover art, particularly the “unofficial” ones, were released as limited editions. Dirty Funker (just one of DJ Paul Glancy‘s aliases) released two remixes as 12-inch singles with cover art by Banksy: “Let’s Get Dirty“, from 2006, appropriated Banksy‘s famous Kate Moss portrait, and “Future“, released in 2008, featured Banksy‘s “Radar Rat” design (in five different limited edition covers, probably each of 1000 copies).
a. Front of first pressing of Dirty Funker’s “Let’s Get Dirty” 12-inch single.
b. Back of first pressing of Dirty Funker’s “Let’s Get Dirty” 12-inch single.
There were two editions of the “Let’s Get Dirty” 12-incher, both limited–the first edition, which showed only Banksy‘s Kate Moss portrait with no artist, title or tracklisting, or even a barcode. The front image showed Kate‘s head against a red background, while on the rear cover she had a pale green background. This edition must have been significantly more limited than the second edition which showed Kate‘s portrait with a Dymo strip over her eyes on the front cover giving the artist and record’s title. On the rear the strip was placed over Kate‘s mouth giving the tracklisting.
Second pressing with “Dymo” band
b. back of second pressing of Dirty Funker’s “Let’s Get Dirty” 12-inch single.
This week a printer’s proof of the first edition “Let’s Get Dirty” cover was advertised on Ebay. The seller had bought it in 2007 and now was sadly selling it. He thought there might have been about ten copies printed in 2006 (the print is dated 18th January 2006) and makes an interesting addition to both my Banksy and my collection of record and CD covers featuring Kate Moss.
Printer’s proof sheet for the “Let’s Get Dirty” cover.
Readers of this blog may already have suspected that I have a serious case of OCD or just plain collectors’ mania. I aim to keep my collections of record cover art by artists/themes I collect as complete as possible. Therefore, I have compiled lists of each of these which I try to remember to update when I find or acquire new items.
So, a couple of weeks ago, picture discs with Banksy cover art began to appear on Ebay posted by a seller from Israel. The looked really cool and I could imagine hanging a selection on my wall.
The prices were high–but genuine records with Banksy covers are fetching quite amazing prices nowadays, so I didn’t reflect too much. I made an offer on one disc which was promptly accepted and I was happy. The seller informed me that he had “a couple of other Banksy picture discs” and was prepared to offer me an even “better” price if I bought those, too. He even offered free shipping, so I agreed.
Less than a week later, the package arrived.
These turned out to be single-sided singles. The “Keep It Real” is a version by Jamal, called “Keep It Real“. As shown, it came in a die-cut, black card sleeve. The other two are shaped picture discs. The Blak Twang record is the “Kik Off” single and the One Cut has the track “Mr. X“.
Examination revealed that the records are 2 mm thick pieces of perspex with a sort of thick flexidisc with the image and sound track affixed. The image is slightly blurred as if it has been copied from a picture sourced on the Internet.The sound quality is poor, probably lifted from an MP3 file.
The seller informed me that he had “bought” the discs and the person who had sold them to him said they were made in Japan and only twenty or so copies existed. He had about twenty-five different discs with Banksy cover art for sale and was prepared to let me have them for the “bargain” price of $139 each.
Further research on Ebay gave more surprises. The same seller is selling picture discs by other artists, such as Björk, Aphex Twin, Led Zeppelin and others at the same sort of inflated prices.
These records are not proper pressings. They are produced to appeal to collectors and sold at wildly inflated prices. They cannot really be called bootlegs as they are not really records at all. And the quality of the artwork, not to mention the sound, is really poor.
I decided not to “invest” in the 25-or-so Banksy picture discs the seller had on offer. I prefer “proper” records, not pieces of perspex with a flexidisc attached. And I would like to issue a warning to other collectors not to support this type of exploitation solely aimed at fleecing collectors.
A recap. Between 23rd July and 31st August 2008, the first exhibition of Andy Warhol’s record cover art was shown at Piteå Museum, Piteå, in the north of Sweden. The exhibition was entitled “Happy Birthday, Andy Warhol” as it coincided with what would have been Warhol’s 80th birthday on 6th August 2008.
One month later, my friend Tomas Ersson, visited me and I told him about the exhibition and he mentioned that he had recently read an article in a magazine where a Swedish musician told a story about how Andy Warhol had designed the cover for a single by the band he had been in as a 15-year-old. Unfortunately, Tomas could not remember where he had read the article, but he promised to try to locate it. A few days later he mailed me the article and my hunt for the RATFAB single started.
I lost the article but have always credited Tomas with being the one who tipped me off on the existence of the cover. He has recently helped find the article again and here is the link: http://cafe.se/tomas-alfredsson/
The article is in Swedish and, coincidentally was published on Andy Warhol’s birthday, 6th August 2008, in the Swedish magazine Café. The article is actually an interview with Tomas Alfredsson, a Swedish film producer. At the end of the interview he was asked whether it was true that Andy Warhol had designed the cover for a single by the band in which he had been the drummer.
Here’s the text where he explains how Warhol came to design the cover.
Andy Warhol’s design for the RATFAB single cover.
TAW: “Till sist måste jag fråga om det är sant att Andy Warhol gjorde skivomslaget till ditt gamla rockbands enda singel. TA:– När jag var i 15-årsåldern var jag trummis i ett band som hette Ratfab, Roland And The Flying Albatros Band. Vår basist, Calle Häggqvist, hade en mycket originell farfar, Arne Häggqvist. Han bodde i en liten tvåa i Fruängen med sin stora konstsamling och anordnade litterära salonger i källaren. Arne var svensklärare, översättare, skribent och förläggare. Han introducerade Sartre på svenska, var ett socialt geni och lärde känna många intressanta, märkliga och berömda människor över hela världen. Han skrev Största cocktailboken, som mig veterligen fortfarande är den största cocktailboken. Arne var också konstexpert och skrev den första boken om hur man värderar konst.
TAW: Och han var vän med Andy Warhol? TA: – Han hade träffat Hemingway och Salvador Dali och översatt Dalis böcker. Och så kände han Andy Warhol. Varje sommar sålde Arne en tavla ur sin konstsamling för att finansiera en resa åt honom och barnbarnet Calle. Den här sommaren skulle de åka till New York och träffa självaste Andy Warhol på The Factory. När vi i bandet fick höra det här sa vi till Calle: ”Du måste fråga om han inte kan göra vår logotype!” Och när Calle satt där med Warhol så frågade han faktiskt. Warhol sa: ”Det kan jag väl göra.” Han tog fram ett Andy Warhol-brevpapper och gjorde några olika förslag som han signerade.
TAW: Hur såg de ut? TA: – Han skrev vårt bandnamn med fetkrita och så signaturen under. Vi blev alldeles febriga av det här och trodde att det skulle kompensera våra brister som musiker, vilket det förstås inte gjorde. Men vi tryckte i alla fall upp en singel och en t-shirt. Och det är ju angenämnt att få vara i sällskap med Velvet Underground och Rolling Stones, även om innehållet i vårt fall inte är lika rafflande som utsidan.”
Here follows a translation:
TAW: Finally, I have to ask if it is true that Andy Warhol designed the cover to your old rock band’s only single?
TA: When I was about 15 i was the drummer in a band calleed Ratfab, Roland and the Flying Albatros Band. Our bass player, Calle Häggqvist, had a very original grandfather, Arne Häggqvist. He lived in a little two-room flat in Fruängen with his huge art collection and organised litterary solons in the basement. Arne was a Swedish teacher, translator, writer and publisher. He introduced Sartre in Swedish, was a social genius and became acquainted with many interesting, remarkable, weird and famous people all over the world. He wrote “Största Cocktailboken2 (The Biggest Cocktail book), which is, as far as I know, still the biggest cocktail book. Arne was also an art expert and wrote the first book on how to evaluate art.
TAW: And he was a friend of Andy Warhol?
TA: – He had met Hemingway and Salvador Dali and translated Dali’s books. And he knew Andy Warhol. Every summer Arne sold a painting from his art collection to finance a trip for himslef and his grandson Calle. That summer they were going to New York and would meet Andy Warhol himself at The Factory. When the band got to hear of this we told Calle: “You must ask if he can make us a logo!” And when Calle satt there with Warhol, he actually asked him. “Sure I can.” He produced an Andy Warhol letterpaper and made a few suggestions that he signed.
TAW: What did they look like?
TA: – He wrote the band’s name in pastel and signed underneath. We were totally wild because of it and thought that it would compensate for our musical shortcomings, which, however, it did not. But we pressed a single and a T-shirt. And it was cool to find ourselves in the company of Velvet Underground and Rolling Stones, even if the contents in our case wasn’t as exciting as the outside.”
So, that’s the whole story. Thanks again Tomas Ersson for coming up with the goods!
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