Tuesday December 7th, 2010

Today as an extracurricular work assignment I was asked to pick my two  favorite album covers of all time. Taking this assignment to heart, as this was not an easy decision to make, I finally decided on Queen's Queen II and The Beatles Yellow Submarine. Although both albums were released way before I was born, Queen II was released in 1974 and Yellow Submarine in 1969, they both remain two of my all time favorite records, and bands of all time. Little did I know the significant meaning and interesting history behind them. Queen II, which was the second full length album released by Queen, was originally released as a two-sided LP with one side called "Side White" and the other side called "Side Black," as opposed to the conventional "Side One" and "Side Two." Designed as a concept album, "Side White" featured songs with a more emotional theme while "Side Black" consisted almost entirely of fantasy with a much darker tone. Makes sense, but still I never knew that! The photo on the cover was taken by poptographer Mick Rock who also photographed the likes of David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed.According to Rock, the group was looking to grab people's attention with the cover, especially since their first album had failed to do so; "They realized that if you could catch people's eyes you could get them interested in music." Describing it as a "sort of a knockoff of an old  shot," the photographer took inspiration for the cover from a still of actress Marlene Dietrich from the 1932 film Shanghai Express. Although the band rejected the idea at first, fearing this photograph would be "too pretentious," Rock convinced them otherwise and soon enough this image was used in their 1975 classic "Bohemian Rhapsody."http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guDDPXcdmUI. I love how music and film come together again!


I knew for my second choice that it would have to be a Beatles album as they are after all, my favorite band of all time. With so many albums to choose from (Rubber Soul and Sgt. Peppers are among my two favorites) I finally decided on Yellow Submarine as close third and mostly for aesthetic purposes. The tenth studio album released by the Beatles, Yellow Submarine was also issued as the soundtrack for their movie of the same name. Only one side of the album contains songs performed by The Beatles; of the six, four were previously unissued. Yellow Submarine was released as a single in 1966 on the album Revolver and All You Need Is Love had been issued as a single in the summer of 1967. The second side of the album features the symphonic film score composed by George Martin, in versions specifically recoded for the album. In contrast to how the film was received, Yellow Submarine is usually considered the Beatles' weakest release. Its highest position was #2 in the US, kept from the top by their own 1968 The Beatles (a.k.a The White Album) which had been released two months prior. The Beatles themselves did not consider it a proper studio album since they had little involvement in the project, and the four previously unreleased tracks on it were taken in hodge-podge fashion from various sessions in 1967 and early 1968. Coincidentally, tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's death.

Tuesday Headlines 

The Night A Beatle Died
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11926898

Howard Stern Will Not Take a $%%$# Pay Cut
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40559211/ns/today-entertainment/


T.I's No Mercy Album Guide
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1653725/20101207/t_i_.jhtml

Entourage Movie Update "We Want It To Happen" Says Mark Wahlberg
http://insidetv.ew.com/2010/12/07/entourage-movie-update-mark-wahlberg/


Filmmaker Aims to Recapture The Magic of "Narnia"
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=12338068


Portman Rivalry Stoked by Producer
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gUV2HqQh38L360UMdSQ1Dm-RYhPA?docId=N0014631291736131168A

Chelsea Handler Defends Her Tirade
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7020747698?Chelsea%20Handler%20Defends%20Her%20Angelina%20Tirade

Tommy Lee Explodes Over Whale Sperm
http://www.tmz.com/2010/12/07/tommy-lee-sea-world-killer-whale-peta-sperm-masturbation/