Vienna State Philharmonic Orchestra – The Planets by Gustav Holst album art
Record collector sacqueboutier comments:
An all time classic. Humorous in that Holst’s Planets had nothing to do with space flight or Buck Rogers. This satirical take on the subject draws on the early TV and movie serials with the cheap cheesy props and story lines.
The recording in question was originally issued with a more suitable cover. But, it does catch your eye, doesn’t it?
In a gallery of “terrible album covers [that] will make you laugh and then violently cringe”, Classic FM adds:
Much like an eclipse, it’s best not to stare directly at it.
Design by Igor Kipnis (credited as Keith Longino) and See Hear & How!, with art direction by Christopher Whorf and photography by Fred Poore. The title typography makes use of purple Flash Caps, with the explosions colored in green.
Detail
3 Comments on “Vienna State Philharmonic Orchestra – The Planets by Gustav Holst album art”
is there any particular reason to suppose that this is based on Buck Rogers, not Flash Gordon? (or is it just generic 1960s pulp scifi)
A wonderful cover, to my eyes at least. It’s a generic Sci-Fi Space-Opera kitsch image, alluding to the Star Wars boom in such things. (*Almost* replicating Luke and Leia from the SW poster – though with more Barbarella and rather less modesty). And why not – Stu Phillips, John Williams, John Barry and others took liberal inspiration from Holst’s masterpiece for their own scores around this time. Why not clue the kids in on the original?
That was my assumption at first glance, but I rather doubt it was alluding to Star Wars since it was published seven years before the movie.