The Ridiculous Roadshow mask

Apr 12th, 2022

Barney Bubbles first produced the the so-called Ridiculous Mask as an analogue interactive element of music press advertising to promote the Ridiculous Roadshow, Hawkwind’s tour of the UK in the winter of 1973-4.

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Tags: Paradox, Ridiculous Roadshow, You'd Better Believe It

Welcome to the online celebration of the late graphic genius Barney Bubbles, spanning his extraordinary designs for music, including record sleeves, posters, advertising and ephemera, as well as art direction of books, the underground press and music magazines and his landmark promo videos, private paintings and furniture pieces.

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A chance to own an original Barney Bubbles paintin

A chance to own an original Barney Bubbles painting!!

One of the most exciting lots among the Barney Bubbles artworks in @bonhamspopularculture’s Rock, Pop & Film online auction is this design with two overlays for the front and back of @elviscostello’s 1980 New Amsterdam EP (see pics 2 + 3).

That’s because one element is a painting by Bubbles in acrylic on card (4).

On the back cover this is credited: ‘Cover painting “Jazz City Opus 1958” by Sal Forlenza courtesy of the Trustees.’

For more details of this and other rare, collectible and valuable Barney Bubbles artworks in the Bonhams auction follow the link in the bio and look for lots 113-123.

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This is the group of 1974-5 Barney Bubbles artwork

This is the group of 1974-5 Barney Bubbles artworks relating to the pioneering pub rock outfit Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers in @bonhamspopularculture’s current Rock, Pop & Film online auction.

These are clockwise from top left:

Artwork on film for ‘Real Sharp’ sticker

Paste up for advert for Let It Rock magazine

Paste up on for Naughty Rhythms UK tour flyer

Double sided proof of sleeve for Bongos Over Balham album

Paste-up for advert for ZigZag magazine

And my favourite: artwork on film for T-shirt for the hard-gigging group ‘Yet Another Fucking Benefit’.

For more details of this and other Barney Bubbles artworks in the Bonhams auction follow the link in the bio and look for lots 113-123.

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#chilliwilliandtheredhotpeppers

A group of incredibly rare original artworks by Ba

A group of incredibly rare original artworks by Barney Bubbles are included in @bonhamspopularculture’s Rock, Pop & Film auction which opened online today and ends on May 4.

This is beyond rare: Barney Bubbles’ pen on a sheet of 20 x 40cm paper sketch for the sleeve of the 1977 debut album by @eternally_damned.

The front cover of this design (pic 2) was to consist of chaotically arranged shots of the band in performance (see pic 2). Of course this was famously replaced by Peter Kodick’s food fight image of the group when the album was released as Damned Damned Damned.

The proposed back cover (3) stayed largely the same for the official release, with the band portrait replace by a live shot (4).

However the idea of the group members ‘doing the Rat’ was utilised for the back of the limited edition ‘mistake’ version, with Eddie & The Hot Rods standing in for The Damned.

A pristine, sealed copy of this stickered rarity is included in the Bonhams lot (5).

For more details of this and other Barney Bubbles artworks in the Bonhams auction follow the link in the bio and look for lots 113-123.

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#barneybubblesartworks

Congratulations to @weatherpress who has been pluc

Congratulations to @weatherpress who has been plucked from the digital hat as the winner of our competition for a copy of the forthcoming limited edition A Box Of Bubbles.

And Shaun couldn’t be more appropriate since he has recently produced a T-shirt design for Barney Bubbles’ mucker @nicklowesdog (see pic 2).

A Box of Bubbles will be winging its way to Shaun this summer.

Thanks to everyone who joined in.

Check out A Box Of Bubbles via the link in the bio.

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#aboxofbubbles
#nicklowe
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It’s arrived! The first advance copy of The Wi

It’s arrived!

The first advance copy of The Wild World Of Barney Bubbles looks tremendous, with a fresh cover to go with the new title of this, the third edition of the hybrid biography/monograph dedicated to the work of the late artist and designer.

Subtitled Graphic Design and the Art of Music, Wild World’s endpapers feature patterns from Bubbles’ packaging of Elvis Costello & The Attractions’ Armed Forces (2+3).

An addition is an essay by @clarita.dez, based around her @designfreakspodcast on Bubbles (4), while the 16-page The M!ss!ng L!nks section brings together a selection of rare and previously unexamined works together with an updated postscript (5-9).

The author’s note is also updated and includes stills from @ariesmoross’s Barney Bubbles film triptych (10).

The Wild World of Barney Bubbles is designed by @iamdarrenwall and is published by @thamesandhudson on June 30. There’ll be activities surrounding the launch - keep an eye on barneybubbles.com for news.

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In collaboration with @vol.co we’re giving away

In collaboration with @vol.co we’re giving away a copy of the forthcoming special limited edition A Box of Bubbles.

To enter:

– Like this post
– Comment and tag a friend
– Share this post on Stories

The winner will be chosen on April 19th.

Good luck!

A Box of Bubbles is a special collector’s edition of @_paul_gorman_’s definitive monograph on the maverick graphic designer Barney Bubbles. Exclusive to Volume, this edition comes signed by the author with 5 reproduced collectible items - including the Hankie Pantie Hankie, the Galactic Tarot card pack and the build-your-own silver pyramid (see pics 3 + 4) - and is limited to 500 copies.

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Check out A Box Of Bubbles via the link in the bio.

Barney Bubbles’ sleeve for Elvis Costello & The

Barney Bubbles’ sleeve for Elvis Costello & The Attractions’ 1979 Radar Records single Accidents Will Happen/Talking In The Dark/Wednesday Week famously took its cue from the title of the lead track by presenting a blank outer with the design on the inside, as if the result of a printer’s error.

The only exterior sign of the contents was on the back of the sleeve, with the A-side track credits arranged horizontally in tiny type inside the lip (pic 1).

Cooked up with Jake Riviera, this was a typically audacious and music-biz baiting move.

The interior featured stills from Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton’s pioneering computer graphics promo for the song, as could be detected by peering inside (2 + 3).

Eventually these appeared on the outer (4 + 5).

I’ve posted about the anti-design at barneybubbles.com and feature the clip, which still looks amazing 40-plus years later.

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@elviscostello

Just love this front of the 12in sleeve of Chaz Ja

Just love this front of the 12in sleeve of Chaz Jankel’s 1981 A&M single One Oh Nine/3.000,000 Synths.

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@chazjankel2018

Maximum impact was achieved by Barney Bubbles thro

Maximum impact was achieved by Barney Bubbles through his juxtaposition of typography with @brian_griffin_photographer’s extraordinary portrait of Nik Turner on the front of the sleeve of Inner City Unit’s 1981 LP The Maximum Effect.

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For the front of Inner City Unit’s 1980 album Pa

For the front of Inner City Unit’s 1980 album Pass Out, Barney Bubbles homed in on Saul Bass’s work for Hitchcock’s Vertigo (see pic 2), with Bob Bromide’s portraits of the band members swirling inside a vortex.

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Barney Bubbles channelled Saul Bass’s designs fo

Barney Bubbles channelled Saul Bass’s designs for film for the front cover of Dr Feelgood’s 1980 album A Case Of The Shakes.

Featuring the photography of Bob Bromide, the retro booze theme was extended to the inner (see pic 2) while Lee Brilleaux insisted Bubbles receive a credit (detail from back cover, 3).

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Here’s a run of relatively unknown Barney Bubble

Here’s a run of relatively unknown Barney Bubbles designs to greet the onset of spring, starting with this front cover for the sleeve of The Inmates’ single Me And The Boys/Betty Lou, released by WEA in 1981.

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This arresting gold on black mask design is among

This arresting gold on black mask design is among the artworks featured in the first apparel collection available from the new Barney Bubbles online shop.

It first appeared as a cut-out option in music press advertising for Hawkwind’s 1973 Ridiculous Roadshow UK tour (see pic 3) with Barney Bubbles’ instructions (4):

‘Glue mask on card, colour in, cut out, attach string to ear holes and come to the fun with your ridiculous mask.’

The following year it resurfaced as both sides of the 7in sleeve for the German release of the single You’d Better Believe It/Paradox.

Visit the Barney Bubbles shop via the link in the bio.

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Proof of Barney Bubbles’ alternative front cover

Proof of Barney Bubbles’ alternative front cover for @generationx_official ‘s 1977 debut single Your Generation/Day By Day.

The band and co-managers John Ingham and Stewart Joseph plumped for Bubbles’ other option, the groundbreaking El Lissitsky-quoting graphic ‘45’ cover which has been cited as an inspiration to then-emerging designers such as Peter Saville.

Don’t recall the photographer; likely Peter Kodick?

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#barneybubblesestate

Planning stickers for the Barney Bubbles online sh

Planning stickers for the Barney Bubbles online shop led me to dig out this roll of the Process stickers @cazfacey__ produced with her design for the booklet with the Barney Bubbles show we organised @chelseaspace with @donaldsmithstudio way back in 2010.

Most have lost their ‘stick’ btw… and this is the only catalogue I have left apart from the dummy Caz made…

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#barneybubblesarchive
#processtheworkingpracticesofbarneybubbles

And here is the Elvis Costello poster made up from

And here is the Elvis Costello poster made up from the panels in the three dps ads designed by Barney Bubbles for the biggest-selling UK music weeklies in summer 1977.

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#barneybubblesadvertisingcampaigns
#jakeriviera
#ukmusicpress
#newmusicalexpress
#myaimistrue

Melody Maker’s July 23, 1977 issue included the

Melody Maker’s July 23, 1977 issue included the My Aim Is True ad with sheets 5 + 4 for the Elvis Costello poster.

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#melodymaker
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The dps ad for My Aim Is True in the July 23, 1977

The dps ad for My Aim Is True in the July 23, 1977 issue of New Musical Express contained panels 1 and 2 for the cut-out and build-your-own Elvis Costello poster.

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#ukmusicpress
#newmusicalexpress
#myaimistrue

You'd be hard-pushed to find a more artful, ingeni

You'd be hard-pushed to find a more artful, ingenious and engaging music press advertising campaign than that concocted by Barney Bubbles and Jake Riviera for Stiff Records' summer 1977 release of @elviscostello's debut album My Aim Is True.

Double page spreads were simultaneously booked in the July 23rd issues of the biggest-selling titles and Bubbles produced two cut-out panels from Keith Morris's front cover portrait for each ad. On their own the ads created jarring, almost abstract images. Readers were encouraged to purchase the three papers and assemble the six panels into their posters.

Here are panels 6 and 3, as provided with that week's Sounds. Detail of instructions in pic 2.

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#myaimistrue

When Vinyl Mogul - Barney Bubbles’ 1981 portrait

When Vinyl Mogul - Barney Bubbles’ 1981 portrait of his friend Jake Riviera - was displayed at @paulsmithdesign’s Albermarle Street shop.

Bubbles signed the painting with one of his noms des peintre, ‘Jacuzzi’.

📷 Nina Sologubenko

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