Thursday, August 20, 2020

Color Me Three O'Clock!

The first Three O'Clock album was a stunning re-creation - as opposed to stylistic imitation - of sixties psychedelic pop. As thrilling as anything that came from '67, it was a breath of fresh air in the synth-dominated early eighties. What a shame that it came wrapped in one of the dullest sleeves in the history of dull. What were they thinking? They created this sparkling, fizzing pop-art music explosion and made it look like a John Foxx single [below right - Ed.]
Dumbasses. Anyway, I've made many attempts at a more representative cover over the years, and here's my best shot [above left - Ed.]
at

16 comments:

  1. MyndflowerAugust 20, 2020 at 11:13 AM

    Nice job on the cover! Really! No BS!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kwai ChangAugust 20, 2020 at 11:20 AM

    Wow! I thought you'd lost your bottle, mate!
    I stopped reading a couple of times thinking Twiggy in Pepperland...
    bugger the TimE...I would love to slide down her rainbow and land in a bunch of mushrooms! I've never heard the album but I'm not scared. The panic was short lived when I forced myself to keep on reading and then the punchline hit me good and proper! You made the cover realize its potential. I guess you know the industry would have been terrified by your penchant for connecting audio to visual...
    the stimulus would have tightened their wallets so they could pretend to feel sad that you just didn't understand the music! For instance, black rainbow bands aren't part of the light spectrum...and Twiggy is only two tambourines in the hands of a music lover! The effect is every bit as tuff as M Appeal on Carnaby Street! Some say it's the centrifugal momentum of the Southern dialect. Some say Piccadilly while others pronounce it Dickapilly! Either way, I wanted to see if she wants to borrow a cup of sugar! Play it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. FRANCKAugust 20, 2020 at 3:48 PM

    yeah its realy good job on cover, it's a recreation of sixties flavours.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kwai ChangAugust 21, 2020 at 5:22 AM

    Twiggy is timeless
    but that's no reason to go home early.
    The problem with dapper graphics is that the music becomes anti-climactic and then the band might want to go with the proven formula...on every release! Were they so unsure about their music that the cover was intentionally drab??? Now, the reverse situation is upon us. I've got to hear the record but will it live up to the graphics. I certainly wouldn't have noticed the first cover photo at all. It looks like a back-to-school teens apparel page from the Sears-Roebuck fall catalog. Does the store still sell phonograph records? If so, I hope it's near the clothing department. Escape from the food court... and back to the hourglass. Twiggy was a Pin-Up...for David Robert Jones. Who's got the button? So...don't push it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIAugust 21, 2020 at 6:27 AM

      As I remember from the credits, Diane Zincavage is guilty of the graphics for the album, which is weird, as she'd previously turned in a fantastic cover for them in their earlier (and much less interesting) phase as The Salvation Army.

      Delete
    2. HDAugust 21, 2020 at 7:42 AM

      I bought "Layla" at Sears back in 1971 or 1972... Good value for a two record set.

      Delete
    3. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIAugust 21, 2020 at 8:28 AM

      There's Clapton's original single album version of Layla in our back pages - look for "I Always Hated The Blues" or something like that.

      Delete
    4. MrDaveAugust 22, 2020 at 12:59 AM

      Missed this before I posted -- yep, great album cover and I rather like the Salvation Army album musically as well in spite of it's low production values

      Delete
  5. Crab DevilAugust 21, 2020 at 5:26 AM

    One of those lots had a trend called Accapilly, where they'd
    all pop round the corner humming the Avengers theme and shaving
    not playing) their instruments.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIAugust 21, 2020 at 6:24 AM

    Here's the album, at the Bitrate Of Champions: https://workupload.com/file/rBWB2nYZqJ5

    ReplyDelete
  7. HDAugust 21, 2020 at 7:38 AM

    It's hard to describe Michael's voice as an "acquired" taste, but for those of us who enjoy this kind of music, this is the kind of music we enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  8. MrDaveAugust 22, 2020 at 12:55 AM

    On the other hand, their preceding LP as The Salvation Army before they were forced to change their name to The Three O'Clock (later re-released as Befour Three O'Clock was a great album cover, one of the best from the Paisley Underground era of the early 80s. Great songs too!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Salvation_Army_(album)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxaxIhxZLiE

    ReplyDelete
  9. UncleBAugust 22, 2020 at 2:36 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. UncleBAugust 23, 2020 at 3:11 AM

    The Starvation Army (aka the 4-or-5 guys aka hipster wannabe cognoscenti...?) may as well admit that they haven't had their first go at the Non-Brad "Paisley Underground" with this latest Fine Farq Find offering.

    - B.(ack to you, Rodney)(on the ROQ)...

    (Whoo hoo. I just disco-covered the "DELETE" option here...)

    Now eye kin make kerrections at Will.

    Usually it's at the Old Will, where I am fruitlessly trying to return some ill-fitting & fruity fashion gaff...

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)