COSMIC SCOUSERS Why is Liverpool’s Psychedelia scene so important? A History of Liverpool’s Psychedelia connection through sound and design. Ilid Llwyd Williams
INDEX INTRO SIDE 1 The Moody Psychos: Neo-Psychedelia emergence in Liverpool 1970s Echo and the Bunnymen Teardrop Explodes The Icicle Works The Lotus Eaters The Wild Swans Modern Eon Krautrock Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark SIDE 2 Ecstacy and Agony: Unemployment & escapism through drugs and music Acid House Scalydelica The Boo Radleys The Lightning Seeds Dr. Phibes and The House of Wax Equations Shack The Living Brain Rain SIDE 3 New century, new sound? Cosmic Scousers of the 21st Century Tramp Attack The Stands The Zutons The Coral Clinic Mugstar Venue influence SIDE 4 The Future Sounds of Liverpool: Psychedelia blown wide open Forest Swords Stealing Sheep Sankova Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia OUTRO References Image reference Bibliography
INTRO Liverpool is declared the world capital of Pop music – more number 1’s come from the city per head than anywhere else in the world, and yet for all its hits and hooks it has a strong affinity with the weird, expressive, more culturally challenging musicians. For the music fans and musically educated Liverpool is far more than a city of Cilla Blacks and The Beatles, it’s an undervalued part of British music history - a city with a natural sound of melody drenched by the influence of psychobilin drugs euphoria of the early 1960s and the exotic sounds that arrive at its docks, thus bringing the city the first to get its hands on the latest musical phenomena’s from across the water. Since its early incarnations during the 1960s, psychedelia has evolved into a multi-genre influence that ranges from lyrical content, music, instrumentation, vocal & instrumentation effects, and time signatures. It has spawned unlikely genres (psychedelic Hip-Hop, Trip-Hop, Shoegaze) and influenced early incarnations of Electronic music worldwide (Krautrock, Techno, New Wave). Psychedelia has had a profound influence on the progression of Liverpool’s music scene - from the dark and bleak sound of Post-Punk in the late 1970s to the Acid House 1980s and the 1960s revival sound of the new century and beyond; there is a continuing love affair with psychedelia culture in Liverpool; through music, festival, art, or as a way of life. Psychedelia is in the DNA of the city. Whether it is through Rock or Electronic means, great psychedelia as described by DeRogatis (2008 p.13) “transports the listener someplace that exists only in the space between the headphones.” Echo and The Bunnymen’s Will Sergeant agrees (Liverpool Echo, 2012): “It’s anything that will take your mind somewhere else. If you can sit there and just put on the music and drift off, and it spins your mind backwards. That’s psych.” Liverpool imagines and portrays itself as a creative city; awarded the prestigious European Capital of Culture in 2008 may have come as a surprise to some given its troubled past decades of financial hardships and imagery of violent riots, but those who live and breathe the city know its true potential and creative depth. Liverpool had tried and failed to reflect a static Beatles-related market (Brocken, 2010) but being far from a city of one-hit musical exports, its Liverpool’s musical identity which gives optimism to music fans. Simply put, diversity is the key - the Liverpool docks invited the world onto its shores, bringing in centuries of diverse and exciting sounds from around the globe, mostly from the United States.
In the 1950s, Rock and Roll was exciting teenagers across the pond before arriving in England, taking the form of Skiffle music on British shores in its early stages, and Merseyside embraced the electric guitar as a symbol of youth and creativity. “We hadn’t realised it, but there were millions of groups in Liverpool. (…) There were the Skiffle groups, the Roy Orbison sort of groups, The Shadows groups. (…) [and] it gradually developed into the Liverpool scene and became a very rich thing.” – Sir Paul McCartney (Du Noyer, 2007) Liverpool’s dominance of the charts from a genre rooted in a single county in England is now a fascinating fact overlooked by later achievements from The Beatles’ success worldwide and the 1967 national LSD peak and the Summer of Love. As Michael Murphy and Deryn Rees-ones explain in Writing Liverpool: Essays and Analysis (2007) the psychedelic sound found almost no resonance in the city, yet The Beatles were seen as the figureheads of counter-culture in Britain along with The Rolling Stones and The Kinks, spearheading Rock’s bright new direction in psychedelic music. However Liverpool’s affinity for psychedelia music wasn’t all about The Beatles; in the same year that Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band came out, The 23rd Turnoff released their overshadowed record Michael Angelo, Liverpool Scene and the band Focal Point were also involved in the psychedelic sound of the city. However it was the Beatles who broke ground in sleeve design throughout the industry. For every bubbly typeface, bright colours and vibrant sleeve design, nothing compared to Sgt Pepper’s scope as a piece of design – it transformed the vinyl into more than just an album, it was an object that was meant to be cherished and enjoyed. In my dissertation I intend to explore how Liverpool has maintained its psychedelic attachment in various sub-forms, sounds, and how it has evolved through design, music and culture. Liverpool has a strong psychedelic influence on its musicians; whilst many up and coming musicians have either embraced or rejected the city’s most famous exports as a benchmark of quality, there’s no doubting Liverpool’s underlying and lasting psyche influence, always maintaining a steady stream of fantastic musicians, past, present and future. Here I will look at how the music reflected onto the sleeve design and venue posters - showing how psychedelia and design has evolved throughout the decades, how venues have influenced the evolution of psychedelic subculture within the city, and how psychedelia could be further represented and emphasised in the city in the future.
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Aside from Sgt Pepper and The Beatles, a few noteworthy bands and musicians were taking the Psychedelia scene seriously - whether it was intentionally or for marketing purposes. The Amazing Adventures of The Liverpool Scene (fig 1) were one of the city’s popular acts during the Psychedelia boom of the late 1960s. Here we have one of their album covers that’s very reminiscent of The Door’s album Strange Days in terms of colour tint and the use of the general public. The typography used during the era is now considered iconic with the Hippy movement.
Figure 2 is an album by Cilla Black, one of Liverpool’s most famous Pop exports. Here she poses with a typical 1960s fashion like any other 60s Pop album, yet even the marketing team behind Cilla can’t resist the lure of the Psychedelia phenomena with the very out of place typography use and colourful dress fashion. Album Cover Photograph by Francis Loney (Cilla Black, 2013)
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The 23rd Turnoff’s compilation album The Dream of Michelangelo sleeve design (fig 3) is more extravagant sleeve design compared to the previous two. This is more reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix or Cream’s sleeve design - much more colourful, with the use of very extravagant typography and illustration. It’s designed to draw the record buyer into listening to their album, but at a time when sleeves like these are commonplace, it was a colourful music industry. The album was design by Phill Smee, whose other works include Love’s psychedelic self-titled masterpiece album and Something Else By The Kinks.
Focal Point’s compilation album sleeve design on the other hand, First Bite of the Apple, is designed in Psychedelic typography of the time, while the colour and majority of typefaces included on the sleeve typifies a darker sound to its Pop-sound compatriot. These examples show that even at its peak Psychedelia was interpreted or manipulated in many ways in design and culture, creating new sub-cultures.
SIDE 1 THE MOODY PSYCHOS NEO-PSYCHEDELIA EMERGENCE IN LIVERPOOL 1970s ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN After the Beatles broke up in 1970, Liverpool struggled with a follow-up group that could replicate the quality of music that came out of the city. Yet a club named Eric’s and a new generation of musicians were waiting in the wings for a darker, Neo-Psychedelic sound to emerge. Echo and the Bunnymen are one of the finest bands to emerge from Liverpool and were a part of the Neo-Psychedelia wave that came out of the city in the late 1970s. Inspired by the emerging Post-Punk scene that was developing in England after the Punk rush; the band’s sound was enhanced by the influence of the darker Psychedelic sounds of the 1960s. “It wasn’t Gerry and the Pacemakers we were listening to. We had the Velvet Underground and The Doors, that sort of thing. That led us to the Pebbles (60s rarities compilation) album, and then Eric’s.(…) Psychedelia’s gone on. It’s never really gone away. It’s an ongoing thing. Liverpool has always had an affinity with that stuff.” (Liverpool Echo, 2012) The subtle psychedelic influence is indicated on their album sleeves. Upon experiencing their music and looking at their album covers; the early albums, including debut album Crocodiles (fig. 1) have an otherworldly perception when first experienced. The photographs were taken by Brian Griffin (Crocodiles (CD Booklet 1980)) and included themes of confusion, haze and loneliness. This perfectly complimented the music as Creem magazine suggested:
Martyn Atkins was responsible for the original design concept on all three of the selected albums covers I’ve chosen. The use of photography by Griffin would go on to define the band’s covers until the 1990 album Reverbation, yet the use of isolation was never far away in their image. Ocean Rain, their most famous album and promoted as “The Greatest Album Ever”, continues this tradition of a dream-like alien world landscape that would capture the visual representation of the Bunnymen’s finest album, as Chris Adams describes (2002 p.143). The bleak sound of the Post-Punk era is evidently shining through, yet there is surrealism to the sleeve design that enhances the perception of the music - that detail is perhaps the band’s tribute to the darker Psychedelia sound of the 1960s such as The Doors and Velvet Underground; a far-cry from the hippy imagery that dominated the mid-1960s. Typography reverted back into serif simplicity, and the band is the centre of attention, yet there is an air surrounding them of isolation, perhaps symbolising their own isolation from the popular music movements of the era. It was this same dream-like imagery that captured the NeoPsychedelia wave of Liverpool at the time, rather than the obvious cartoon-like typography and imagery of the 1960s; the bands wanted their music to be the main focus of attention, whilst the cover design would merely be a taster into their mysterious world.
1. Crocodiles (1980) the band’s first full-length album starts the surrealism trend of their album cover design, with each album having an epic-centre image as the main draw for the album and its sound.
2. Porcupine (1983) photographed in Iceland, it is the Bunnymen’s most personal and harsh album lyrically - reflected by the wilderness of Iceland, but also keeps in tone with the surreal imagery used by applying an irregular camera angle.
“The cover art suggests four boys dazed and confused in a drugged dream, a surreal where-are-we landscape.” (Adams, 2002 p.41)
3. Ocean Rain (1984) the band’s most famous and critically acclaimed album. The band continues the elemental theme (Adams, p. 143). An iconic album sleeve that’s become the flagship of Liverpool’s post-Beatles’ Psychedelia renaissance.
TEARDROP EXPLODES Brian Griffin and Martyn Atkins would also go on to provide sleeve design for the Bunnymen’s main rivals at the time - the Teardrop Explodes. Another band who shared a similar design aesthetic and a love for Psychedelia – despite the bands lacking any affection for one another - were the Teardrop Explodes, led by the extraordinary Julian Cope. Perhaps considered a far more eccentric group than Echo and The Bunnymen, together they both brought Psychedelia elements back into the British mainstream, favouring a light Psychedelic beat, or “Bubblegum Trance” as it was sometimes known within the city (Cope, 1993) Inspired by Syd Barret-era Pink Floyd’s Psychedelia sound, along with modern New Wave, Cope’s ideal sound was the bittersweet aura of classic Psychedelia, where the idyllic vibe is haunted by hints of madness and the uncanny (Reynolds, 2005 p. 445) The Teardrop Explodes chose a deliberately trippy-Technicolour, ‘far-fucking out’ name primarily as a backlash against post-punk’s cold, dispassionate imagery (Reynolds, 2005 p. 446) Bringing back colour to a bleak musical landscape, Teardrop Explodes only lasted a few years yet they were one of Neo-Psychedelia’s biggest champions - along with Cope’s Syd Barret-like expressionism, the band would provide an escapism through their music. (Britton, 2011)
4. Kilimanjaro (1980, alternative cover) together with 5th image and single When I Dream, both use the strong psychedelic colours of purple and red, combining it with the dark sleeve design of Post-Punk. In contrast to Echo and The Bunnymen - the band were the central piece of the music. Photography by Brian Griffin.
5. When I Dream (1980) single cover. Typography in the band’s back catalogue was very consistent, favouring an easy to read, sans serif typeface with a slight widening effect, before switching to a more traditionallooking serif font as the sleeve imagery became more unpredictable and based on abstract and colourful imagery (see fig. 6)
The Psychedelic styling of the band were well documented. It was perhaps Alan Gill who influenced their Psychedelic sound of the future; formally a member of fellow Liverpool band’s Dalek I Love You (another Psychedelic influenced band) he introduced the formally drug-free Cope to cannabis and LSD, pushing the band’s previous interest in Psychedelic styling into a lifestyle (Cope, 1993) Despite the band lasting only from 1978–1982, it had a big impact on Liverpool’s musical history, launching the careers of the members in different musical-styles, including Julian Cope’s successful Psychedelic tinged solo career. They differed greatly in imagery when compared to The Bunnymen’s landscape heavy designs; such diversity showed how widespread the psychedelia influence had come to affect the city’s musicians in various ways. As this was a period of renaissance in the city’s music scene thanks to the influence of Eric’s, other bands had also developed their own approach to the neo-psych revival. 6. Count To Ten and Run For Cover (1990) single cover. A more expressive design was used in comparison to previous album and single designs (as seen in figures 4 and 5) and experimentation was encouraged.
Few long enduring bands emerged from this period, with many bands playing one-off gigs, releasing little materials and breaking up suddenly - a good example are The Wild Swans, Care, and The Lotus Eaters. The Wilds Swans began life as a band that focused on the strength of their sounds - melodic with the signature “jangling” guitar sound that came out of the city at the time. Their cult hit The Revolutionary Spirit wasn’t enough to stop the band splitting after two years: the members later formed The Lotus Eaters and Care. The Lotus Eaters continued Neo-Psychedelia sound and design (fig. 10) while Care favoured the emerging New Wave scene that graced the city in the mid-1980s. The Wild Swans later reformed in the late 1980s, in time for the next wave of psychedelia in Liverpool; the album (fig.11) was released during the emerging Acid House/Scallydelic era in Liverpool in 1987 along with Modern Eon, another dark-psychedelic band formed at the time (fig.12). Design-wise, the variety was healthy and explored psychedelia’s darker and more eclectic.
Other bands that were a part of Liverpool’s Neo-Psychedelia surge also developed a similar design aesthetic to Echo and The Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes during the period; The Icicle Works’ music was ethereal and used dreamy guitar effects similarly to Echo and The Bunnymen, which was reflected in their abstract artwork. Similarly to the Bunnymen’s landscape sleeve designs, The Icicle Works’ sleeve designs were primarily of abstract natural imagery that had been manipulated and distorted to match their musical output. Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream) single cover (fig.7), The Icicle Works self-titled album cover (fig.8) and Love is a Wonderful Colour single cover (fig.9) all use natural elements and/or patterns in a variety of bright colours, reflecting the band’s love of reverb and echo in their music, almost merging into the genre of Dream Pop. The band’s logo is consistent; typography is quirky, and reflects the appearance of icicles.
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Julian Cope’s fascination with underground and experimental music is well documented – in 1995 he released the book Krautrocksampler (fig 14), highlighting the post-war Rock era in Germany from 1968 onwards. Krautrock, a Psychedelic sub-genre, was a German movement that went on to influence future genres such as synth music and experimental Rock. Similar to the late 70s/early 80s Neo-Psychedelia wave of Liverpool, Krautrock featured obscure designs, emphasising surrealism and ambient music sensibility with electric instrumentation. Such was the attraction of Germany’s musical export that Richard Branson’s second Virgin store was opened in Liverpool in the early 1970s, which would introduce the city to its eclectic array of national and international Psychedelic acts. Bands include Can, Faust, Neu!, and the legendary Kraftwerk influenced the city’s youth culture of the exotic sounds coming out from Germany. Such diversity also influenced the approach of record design – while long rock improvisations from Tangerine Dream (fig 15) and Can (fig 13) came with very raw yet iconic artwork, more Electronic based acts such as Kraftwerk would use more distinct and bold artwork. Another Liverpudlian band would be influenced by a Krautrock band themselves:
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“One of the most important things for OMD starting out was our discovery of German electro. We heard Kraftwerk’s Autobahn on the radio and thought, God, this is the future! Andy and I were in a school rock band at the time. We decided that rock was the past, so we bought all the German imports that we could find and analysed them; Kraftwerk, Neu!, LA Dusseldorf, Can. They were hugely important, they were the reasons that we started.” (Creative Times, 2010)
14 16. Architecture & Morality. A more sparse design than the self-titled offering, reflecting the cold compositions
From both a design and musical perspective, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark could easily be seen as the British Kraftwerk. At a time when Neo-Psychedelia and Post-Punk were emerging to create a new moody form of sub-Psychedelia, Krautrock was influencing an Electronic sub-culture of Psychedelia - synthesisers and mellotrons were common. Design became sparse, clean and beautiful with emphasis on pattern, repetition and structure in a more digital psych form. (see fig 16, 17) 15
17. Self-titled album, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Featured here is one of many different designs for the self-titled album.
SIDE 2 ECSTACY AND AGONY: UNEMPLOYMENT & ESCAPISM THROUGH DRUGS AND MUSIC ACID HOUSE As the Neo-Psychedelia wave began to dissolve and lose momentum, New Wave had taken the mainstream by storm and Liverpool was right at the heart of it. Psychedelia’s presence was at a low, yet the next wave of the genre were to affect the way youth culture and music connected, and brought a breath of fresh air into Psychedelia sub-culture as a whole. In the 1980s Liverpool was a symbol for urban decline – unemployment was amongst the highest in the UK, and an average of 12,000 people were leaving the city annually for greater opportunities elsewhere (Belchem, 2006) This portion of my dissertation explores both sides of the effect that Acid House music - a sub-genre of House music and a Psychedelia hybrid - had on the present and future musicians of Liverpool. Its influence on the local music scene was substantial; it helped pushed the boundaries and challenge the perception of the Psychedelia sound and subculture, both in electronic music and in the aspiring bands that wanted to make guitarbased music. House music is a genre that originated from the underground music scene in Chicago. In the late 1980s the sound began to creep into British consciousness - especially Manchester and Liverpool. It was thriving under a third wave of Psychedelia, ‘Raves’ & dance culture had embedded into British youth culture from the mid-1980s, all coming from the United States and two key cities; Detroit Techno and Chicago House. After LSD’s temporary resurgence in the early 80s, ecstasy became the drug of choice (Smith, 1997). Bearing a similar ethos to the Hippie movement of the late 60s, the emergence of a vibrant club culture within the city has played an important part in the city’s cultural life, contemporary image, and night time economy and revival over the last two decades (Leonard & Stratchan, 2010).
A dance record by Mind, Body & Soul (Liverpudlians themselves) is essentially a celebration of previous Psychedelic cultures, strongly tied to the city as Stuart Metcalfe explains: “Whilst the band’s name referred to a brand of LSD particularly popular in Liverpool in the late-1980s, the song, a version of Jefferson Airplane’s Psychedelic anthem ‘White Rabbit’, sampled the Acid guru’s Timothy Leary’s “Tune On, Tune In, Drop Out”, prefacing it with a sampled voice simply saying ‘Ecstasy’” (Partridge 2005)
A leading musician in the British psychedelia sub-culture was Liverpool’s Jimmy Cauty. One half of pioneering acts The KLF and The Orb, he is credited for innovating a new sub-culture of Ambient House music, evolving the Psychedelia sub-branch and introducing a new genre into the Psychedelic dance music culture for the E generation (Shapiro, P 1999). Cauty’s studio, a host for illegal raves was dubbed “Trancentral” The name “Trancentral” lived on throughout the mid to late 90s, through a series of psychedelic trance and acid techno nights at the Tyssen Street studios in Hackney.
1. Calm Sounds (1990) by The KLF. Seemingly a normal looking landscape with sheep, such strange album sleeve selection was similarly been done by Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother.
2. Space by Jimmy Cauty (under the alias ‘Space’ - 1990). His debut solo album has an extreme surreal imagery done with collaging different imagery together into an unfamiliar landscape. Artwork by Jimmy Cauty, as a 17-year-old artist, Cauty painted the cover for the concept album The King of Elfland’s Daughter. (Wikipedia 2013)
While Acid House was mainly about the singles and not the albums, it had an impact on the emerging retro-futuristic sounds of the Scallydelics in Liverpool - the boundaries between Dance and Rock had been breached, and Liverpool was experiencing another wave of scene bands.
3. Compilation album Eternity Prokect One (1989) that featured one of the Orb’s early tracks (one of Cauty’s early involvements). This compilation showed how early acid house/ambient music began to mutate itself from psychedelia - distorted imagery, bright colours and a central hypnotising pattern.
SCALLYDELICA As Raves continued to sweep the nation, a more prominent and local music scene was emerging from the after burns of Psychedelic dance music. Drugs such as LSD and cannabis were widely used in the city during the era due to unemployment in the area. Drugs were a way out for many young people and from boredom and unemployment came a new breed of musicians that were influenced by psychedeliatinged melodies from the Acid House scene and the past great bands such as Echo and The Bunnymen. The scene was mostly prominent in the North West of England. Manchester’s scene was dubbed ‘Madchester’, yet Liverpool’s scene was just as prominent, if not more so. The music was bastardised as “Scallydelica” - a phrase which combines ‘Scallies’ (a derogative term used for youth sub-culture of hooliganism and working class youths in the UK) along with Psychedelia (sometimes it was also called ‘Merseydelica’ & ‘Retro-Scally”) We began to see the foundation of this scene in the mid1980s Cohen (2007: p45) points to a notable taste for Psychedelia and a prevalence of bands producing a lush, guitar based and Pop influenced type of Rock characterised by a strong emphasis on melody. Records such as The Stair’s pecan to marijuana Weedbus (and Mary Joanna, as seen in fig 5’s1960s Psychedelia-influenced album design), and The La’s debut album’s nod to coded heroin use in their bestknown track There She Goes, with unemployment also represented with the song Doledrums, sought to plot the lifestyle of young men in the city. (Leonard & Stratchan, 2010 p.58) The desperation felt within the city was communicated through the use of music and drugs, with many young adults and teenagers turning to the medium of creativity to escape poverty that had enslaved the city. The Psychedelia influence on sleeve design varied; some favoured the 1960s Acid Rock vibe. The Stairs (fig 5) mainly featured band photos with the use of purple and pink tinges in their design, along with the use of 1960s bubblegum and loopy typography. The La’s favoured a more abstract approach to design, much like the Neo-Psychedelia wave before, while The Farm favoured a colourful and simple - almost cartoonesque approach to their sleeve designs (fig 6)
The Stairs are one of Liverpool’s most psychedelic bands in the last 20 years, and that psych influence has a profound influence on their typography choices on album and single sleeves. Figure 7 is the teardrop typography for the Mary Joanna single, while figure 8 shows the typography choice on the album Right In The Back of Your Mind, and figure 9 shows a simple bold typeface on the single Woman Gone and Say Goodbye. The band is clearly influenced by the 1960s psychedelia design aesthetic, with each typeface synonymous with the hippie era.
7 4. The La’s self-titled debut album (1990). Simple yet visually striking. The La’s were one of the leading acts in Liverpool’s scally waves, mainly influenced by the melody rock groups of the 1960s.
5. The Stairs’ Mary Joanna (1992), a subtle ode to marijuana’s influence on the 1980s music and youth scene in Liverpool. It wouldn’t look out of place next to a psychedelic record from 1967 thanks to its purple and pink colour scheme and ‘teardrop’ typography.
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6. The Farm’s Love See No Colour (1992). The bright flowers arranged in a pattern have a psychedelia vibe, almost representing the colourful lightshows of the time - colour and The Farm went hand in hand.
THE BOO RADLEYS “For 64 minutes they were the greatest band on the planet.” - Brett Spaceman on Giant Steps ([sic]magazine, 2011) Away from the emerging Britpop scene was a short-lived, but highly influential psychedelia sub-branch genre ‘Shoegaze’, which derived from Dream Pop and experimentation with guitar effects and sonic sounds. The scene itself wasn’t limited geographically, yet one of Liverpool’s own bands, The Boo Radleys, were influenced by its sound along with their personal experiences whilst growing up in Merseyside. Figure 10-12 are three examples of sleeve artwork ranging from single to compilation (fig 11 Lazarus single, fig 12 Find The Way Out compilation album), while Giant Steps (fig 10) is considered to be their magnum opus, as well as presently regarded as an under-rated gem of the 1990s. The Boo Radley’s sleeve designer Stephen Wood explains how he got involved within the Liverpool’s psychedelic music scene and designing for the band: “I knew the band’s music really well, having lived in the same house on Huskisson Street as them when they were starting to release records, and I even played in the band as an extra guitarist for much of 1992 so I knew that sonically a lot of their songs would have giant explosions in certain parts, quiet passages at other times - soaring sounds, then meditative comedown moments of introspection.Then, as I was working on the sleeve, I was getting sent tapes of the rough mixes, so I would get to hear the album as a work in progress - and lyrically I was particularly drawn to the song ‘Butterfly McQueen’, with its lyrics “bird must fly away” and “I feel you rising” and so I started working around that theme of escaping, of rising above, using images I’d taken around Liverpool, and in the Huskisson Street house...” (Wood, S. 2013)
Much like their music, the design of the record sleeves is extremely central, almost like each record draws the viewer into the artwork. Continuing the late 1970s use of serif typefaces, the record design is a lot more expressive and illustrative as well. Behind every great record is a great record sleeve, iconic and unique. With Giant Steps it feels like the band had perfected the formula.
Having a designer based so close with the band and the city provided a fascinating insight into the music scene in Liverpool. Wood also explains how drugs played a part in the band’s sound and design output: “LSD, that was quite available then too! Which brings us back to psychedelia (psych is always there, either in the background or foreground!) The patterns in the sky on the front of Giant Steps, and also on other Boo’s sleeves too, were patterns from the hallway wall paper at 58 Huskisson Street, that looked particularly good or rather, significant to us, when we were tripping, and so lots of details and elements in my work was me trying to recreate small parts of what I saw the first couple of times I took acid... Out of all my LP sleeves, and most of all, ever, out of all my record sleeves for The Boo Radleys, and in fact any sleeve I’ve ever done for any band my favourite has to be ‘Giant Steps’, because it says all I wanted to say in a record sleeve - the ultimate expression of my imagined version of ‘Serene Velocity’, and a strange window into a world that I’d want to walk around in and explore!” (Wood, S. 2013)
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One of the leading acts to have come out of the period were The Lightning Seeds, originally a project led by ex-Care and Echo and The Bunnymen/Icicle Works producer Ian Broudie. Having had a hit single with the Psychedelic Pure on the album Cloudcuckooland, Broudie was essentially a one-man band during his first three albums. What strikes me most is the progression of professionalism found in the album cover designs - the colourful, bizarreness of the designs are consistent, yet in-keeping with the music - Psychedelia Pop, reflected in the surrealism of the designs. Much like The Farm, the sleeves were highly colourful, showing a rather child-like sense of fun with the surrealism that psychedelia brings. Jollification (fig 13), the band’s most well-known album was designed by Mark Farrow, the award-winning graphic designer renowned for his work with the Pet Shop Boys. Pete Ashworth did the photography for the album Sense (fig 14), and even though these two albums are only a couple of years apart, the design style of both albums are different, yet still capture the same surrealism and colour created by the band. It was this colourful design aesthetic that came to reflect the post-acid house era; the use of colour and vivid design becomes apparent and defines the Liverpool sound and design for the era.
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Dr. Phibes and The House of Wax Equations were one of the most original Psychedelia bands that emerged from Liverpool post-Acid House, with their sound rooted in psychedelic rock that gained cult popularity within the underground scene in Liverpool. The band experienced moderate early 90s success: releasing a couple of albums, a handful of EPs, playing at Glastonbury in 1992 and recording a John Peel Session. Being an underground band meant that the design aspect of their music was often crude, yet their sleeve designs were striking across all mediums of music formats. The single Hazy Lazy Hologram (fig 15) released in 1991 displays a strong serif typeface, with a pattern that’s striking and hypnotising, much like Psychedelia’s long history of repeated patterns and effects. The EP Misdiagnosedive (fig 16) shows the design turning into a more surreal affair, keeping the monochrome design but with a looping-scrawl typography that’s almost incomprehensible to read. This was an indication of the change in style the band were experiencing, before Hypnotwister (fig 17), where colour returns, the surrealism is back and in a rather cartoon-like manner (albeit in a rather crude, early 1990s poorly designed computer graphics way) and embracing the 1960s acid-rock typography that was widespread in the era. These three sleeves show just how erratic the band was in terms of both music and design, but also within the Psychedelia sub-culture.
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Even the bands who weren’t into the Psychedelia scene as much as the dominant 1990s bands in the city, it was still a long-term influence. For example, Shack recently released greatest hits album was decorated in psychedelic textures and imagery (fig 18), while another cult psychedelic band The Living Brain were more illustrative and basic in their design approach (fig 19). Another short-lived band from the 1988–1992 were Rain, with their Taste of Rain drawing comparisons with 1960s psychedelic bands Cream and The Byrds. Again it shows how psychedelia’s influence designwise was different again, using photography and surrealism (fig 20) These bands were very much in touch with the local fan base and could relate to the working class youths, but the escapism through design and brilliant imagery showed their creativity and underlying psychedelia influence. Entering the new millennium, nostalgia for the past psychedelic waves became the new scene and sound of Liverpool.
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SIDE 3 NEW CENTURY, NEW SOUND? COSMIC SCOUSERS OF THE 21ST CENTURY As the new century dawned, Liverpool’s music scene was still feeling the fading influence the retro-scallies had on the new generation of musicians. As a new Liverpool emerged from re-energising music venues and a new generation of aspiring musicians to go hand-in-hand with these venues, a new breed of musicians were also looking to the past as a means of influence on their sound The Swinging 1960s Psychedelictinged guitar Pop was back in popularity in the city, focusing more on melody and sonic textures. Yet aside from the core group of selected bands and groups, a more diverse culture was also developing - more experimental, eclectic and arguably “modern” acts were catching attention. Yet nostalgia was a strong part of the musical resurgence of Liverpool. One of the most prominent bands of the new century were The Coral; they were marketed as spearheading a resurgence in the city’s musical culture (Leonard & Stratchan p.58). Central to this scene was a club night called Bandwagon, which regularly hosted gigs for the likes of likeminded local bands such as The Zutons, Tramp Attack, The Hokum Clones and The Stands - all influenced and having their musical direction from West Coast Rock, Psychedelia, and Skiffle. This style has since evolved to include Liverpool’s historical seaport which brought new music to the masses in the previous century - The Zuton’s Railroad, The Coral’s Spanish Main, The Bandit’s Once Upon a Time as fantasy Folk and the sounds of Liverpool from the early 00s was dubbed ‘Nashville of the North’ (McManus 1994; Cohen 2007; Brocken 2010). The Zanzibar club, which hosted the Bandwagon nights during the early 00s, is a small pub-like venue in the lesser-mainstream music district, often busy, cramped, but incredibly colourful. It very much reflects the old styled clubs where bands start out before making a real name themselves. Through design, the bands in question reflect the nostalgic look often reflecting past influential albums or designs.
Nostalgia in terms of design was also a very strong influence on the new wave of Liverpool’s acts during the 00s. While The Zutons are best remembered for having hit Pop singles in their career, their roots are firmly in Liverpool’s scouse shanty sound. Scott Jones of Juno design (and who had a part in The Coral’s self-titled album design as seen in fig 5) was involved in the design of the first two of The Zutons’ albums (fig 3 and 4). Both designs show a colourful and fun representation of the band’s sound, developing a retro look that reflects their 1960s nostalgia psychedelic pop. Juno Design Liverpool also developed the iconic Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not album design by Arctic Monkeys, as well as Liverpool’s Ska band The Dead 60’s debut album, and Hot Melt’s debut album. Juno Design was very influential in designing sleeves for the city’s acts and those from neighbouring cities. It was this close collective design unit that helped defined the Liverpool scene of the new millennium. The combination of Psychedelia, drugs, youth culture and classic, simple rock origins led to this influential movement that lasted two decades and defined the ‘cosmic scouse’ sound. However, the overall psychedelia sound from the city began to develop into more interesting, experimental directions.
1. Tramp Attack’s Attack! Attack!! Attack!!! (2004) a nod to past influences through their use of typography - a very retro style.
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2. All Years Living by The Stands (2004). A highly decorative sleeve design in comparison to Tramp Attack’s, it highlighted the city’s renewed obsession with the 60s psychedelic pop scene.
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THE CORAL The Coral based their designs on the 1960s Hippie movement and Acid Rock styling. Even though the band’s identity through type has changed over the years (adopting the 1960s look (fig 5) before changing into a more irregular modern design as seen in fig 6 and 7) their main focus and design is rooted in an almost amateur-like psychedelia fashion, a trend that has continued the retro-scally designs of the previous Liverpool musical wave. They fully embraced the original Psychedelia wave of the 1960s in terms of visual and musical influence. Tagged as the successors to The La’s, their debut self-titled is destined to be a 00s classic. This album (fig 5) is designed by a collaboration of the band’s musicians Ian and James Skelly and graphic designer Scott Jones. Together they have created a design that’s very reminiscent of the 1960s Psychedelic boom, with the design very similar to Cream’s Disraeli Gears. The logo itself was designed by Steve Fellows, which was kept until the album The Butterfly House (fig 7) Steve Fellows is a part-time musician himself having been credited on fellow Liverpudlian band Gomez’s album Bring it On. Ian Skelly is responsible for all the band’s album sleeve designs; having a musician design their own sleeves has gained popularity over the decades, and the personal touch the musician brings to the design process is invaluable - here we see what the music means to Skelly on a design level, and we can see the consistency of the design throughout each album, which signifies how Skelly himself sees the music that the band are outputting.
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Such was the scene in Liverpool at the time, the music press heralded the sound as a variety of ‘Cosmic Scouse’ (Melody 2003, p.51) isolating themselves from the rest of the British music scene when ‘Indie Rock’ was becoming a mainstream phenomenon. The use of marijuana, LSD (or ‘scouse smarties’ (Ahmed 2002; Beaumont 2003, 2004)) and has had a major influence on Liverpool’s musical output since the 1980s.
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CLINIC Fig 8 is Internal Wrangler by Clinic, an experimental, neopsychedelic band from Liverpool. The design was influenced by Ornette Coleman’s 1961 album Ornette!, an innovating album in the Free-Jazz movement of the early 1960s (fig 9). Free Reign II (fig 10) for example might be a more traditional pattern based on hypnotic design, Visitations (fig 11) is a more chaotic affair, using abstract imagery and collage to create a randomly generated design that signifies the organised chaos of their music. Clinic have since become one of Liverpool’s finest Psychedelic exports, headlining the second Liverpool International Psychedelia Festival in 2013 amongst worldwide leading Psychedelia acts. Their musical style has been reflected in their album designs and bizarre live stage costumes. Summed up perfectly by Peter Buckley: “When you enter the musical world of Clinic and they offer you a chair, the chances are that your seat will be pulled out from under you and replaced by either a luxuriant beanbag or a cactus!” (Buckley, 2003 p.205)
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The shift in musical styles became more apparent when new venues started to appear throughout the city that emphasised particular styles of music - Chibuku and Masque continued the Cream tradition of electronic dance music but with a more unique style of music, away from the mainstream. For the bands and musicians, Psychedelia was never too far away: Kazimier, Korova, Zanzibar, Camp and Furnace...just a few venues that embraced the weird and wonderful.
MUGSTAR
The explosion of new venues around the city brought a much needed revamp for the music scene in the city. Suddenly Liverpool wasn’t categorised as having a single music scene - the sounds started to broaden and create a new generation of musicians intended on making their own stamp on the city. Psychedelia never truly went away, if anything, venues such as Kazimier and Korova championed the weird and wonderful, while Mello Mello Café was an alternative venue full of influence on Folk and experimental music.
Another experimental-heavy band, Mugstar formed in 2003 and have become one of Liverpool’s most championed Psychedelia acts, taking influence from Krautrock, 1970s Prog and instrumental Post-Rock. Being an instrumental band they rely heavily on the experimental and visual degree of their live shows, as well as the music. Experience is key, explains the drummer Jason:
“There is so much going on, especially around the Mello Mello café and the Kazimer [club]. There have been so many productions I have involved myself in that you become a sponge and absorb everything.” Lucy Mercer of Stealing Sheep (The Quietus, 2012)
“Psychedelia in 2013 means a whole array of ideas. But for me it’s more of a personal thing. Someone once said to me that Mugstar’s music made him feel like he was on drugs. Now that’s psychedelic to him. For me it’s about the emotion and the feeling it gives you.“ (M-Magazine, 2013) Sam Weihl is a graphic design graduate of LJMU and parttime musician. He designed Mugstar’s ‘...Sun, Broken...’ (fig 13) album and was the lead designer of the Liverpool International Psychedelia Festival. As well as creating light shows for the festival, Weihl also creates live AV set for Forest Swords.
Such response from current musicians is extremely positive, and yet when we look at these venues and the design promoting events, experimental and often-psych looking design seems to be a mainstay - from the bubblegum colouring and typography choice to the more abstract pattern design and bright vivid colours. As a fan of Kazimier venue myself, having spent many wonderful hours sampling the music and the venue, it seems like an important institution to the alternative, experimental and psyche scene that revolves around the city.
“Nights like Engine and Evol opened my mind. I am so grateful. It’s snowballed from there and it’s really healthy now, people pushing forward. Having all these new spaces available really helps”. Matthew Barnes (SevenStrings 2013)
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The passion for Psychedelia is still extremely strong in the city. The design aesthetic of the band is quite simple, yet there’s a powerful radiance to the artwork that suggests the music within the sleeves are anything but simple. Again the design doesn’t reflect an obvious Psychedelia influence, but it resonates with the iconic Krautrock iconic designs - Neu!, Faust, and Kluster for example - for having simple but powerful designs.
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SIDE 4 THE FUTURE SOUNDS OF LIVERPOOL: PSYCHEDELIA BLOWN WIDE OPEN “When I was growing up and started going to gigs, the early 2000s I guess, it seemed to consist entirely of blokes, wearing big coats, playing guitars. Liverpool seemed to take longer to get over that whole jangly scouse, Britpop, Oasis-y thing than every other city; we really dragged it out. It said nothing to me. Then Ladytron came along, Mugstar, Korova, Chibuku, all changed the entire landscape here. It snowballed from there “ Matthew Barnes (SevenStreets, 2013)
A band that channels the original psychedelia wave of the 1960s are Sankofa. Their EP was designed by graphic designer John Van Hamersveld (fig 4), who previously designed Exile on Main Street for The Rolling Stones, and famously the Magical Mystery Tour EP for The Beatles. For the EP’s launch a gig poster was also designed by Hamersveld, complimenting the original psych imagery perfectly (fig 5). Between these three bands it shows how diverse the culture of psych in imagery and sound has become in modern day Liverpool.
The arrival of new venues, musicians trying something different from the Scouse blueprint of melodic guitars and drug taking, led to a new direction in Liverpool’s music scene. The Psychedelic influence hasn’t gone away however, and now finds itself involved in new directions within the music scene. Forest Swords is just one of the musicians based in Merseyside that’s gone on to create mesmerising instrumental music influenced by a variety of influences, including Psychedelia and the Wirral landscape. Figure 1 is Dagger Paths EP and figure 2 is Engravings LP, both of which were designed by Matthew Barnes himself; a graphic designer who studied at LJMU.
1. Dagger Paths EP (2010) by Forest Swords. Highly rated across music publications, it won FACT’s record of the year 2010.
2. Engravings LP (2013) by Forest Swords, his first LP.
Influenced by his surroundings, the designs have a very earthly and decorative feel; perfect to reflect the hypnotic music within. “I tried to approach the record almost like folk music — songs that resonated with this area. I wanted it to sound kind of earthy; ancient.” (SevenStreets, 2013) Matt Barnes designed his own artwork to complement the album’s chilling ambience. The LP was released with a limited-edition 20-page booklet printed on a risograph. His landscape sleeve designs are a throwback to Echo and The Bunnymen’s ethereal offerings; it’s a theme that has been a consistent influence on sleeve design on Liverpool’s acts. The folk influence has also attracted Stealing Sheep. Their album design on Into the Diamond Sun is a kaleidoscope effect that reflects the haziness of their surreal Pop approach, using an extremely sweet-looking typeface for their name creates a feeling of fun and mystery - a very inviting band to listen to due to their strange and distorted album packaging as a whole.
5 3. Stealing Sheep’s debut LP Into The Diamond Haze.
4. Sankofa’s debut self-titled EP.
“We were asked about the ‘psychedelic renaissance’ happening at the moment and I’m not so sure how valid that claim is. Many of the bands have been around for a while. But there are a lot of positives to come from it though; such as some good psych festivals popping up.” (M-Magazine, 2013) Jason’s response explains a steady stream of Psych bands coming out of Liverpool without a ‘surge’ of a short-lived scene or movement that’s occurred, but the establishment of the International Festival of Psychedelia in Liverpool is only going to further strengthen the Psychedelia scene here in Liverpool. Bernie Connor, a musical legend here in Liverpool with his unrivalled enthusiasm and love for music and all things Psychedelia, explains why Liverpool’s International Psychedelia Festival is perfect for the city: 6
Launched in 2012, Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia is a two-day celebration of psychedelic sub-culture from around the world, playing host to 2,000 people each day, with the event taking place in a connected industrial furnace, deep within the city’s Baltic triangle. Influenced by Austin’s original Psych Festival in Texas, Liverpool hopes to replicate the same atmosphere and start a tradition in the UK: “Austin Psych Fest has shown how a well-thought-out bill of purely ‘psych’ bands can work on a massive scale, and that has been a big reference point for us. Psychedelic music is a massive genre. So much stuff comes underneath that banner, and a lot of people aren’t aware of the breadth of it.” (Chris Torpey, JMU Journalism 2012) Holding the title of International Festival of Psyche isn’t an easy honour to achieve, yet Liverpool is rightly considered to be one of the hot spots of Psychedelic music and sub-culture throughout the world. The city has never been short of Psychedelic influence, with a so-called renaissance happening in the rest of the Psych scene internationally. Jason from Mugstar explains:
“Psychedelia is part of Liverpool’s heritage, part of its DNA. It’s one of Liverpool’s gifts to the world. They even put an exhibition of psychedelia on here at Tate Liverpool in 2005. The Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia is a revelation; it’s the sort of thing you have in London or San Francisco. It was heaving last year and us older types were saying how it had the air of a very old happening from many years ago, like this generation’s version of the 14-Hour Technicolor Dream. Now even people on the other side of the world can see Liverpool for what it is: the great psychedelic capital of Europe.” (The Guardian, 2013) Sam Weihl is the graphic designer behind the promotional posters for both the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia and the ‘Psych night’ hosted by the same organisers on individual dates (fig 9) From the evolution of the standard Psychedelia design aesthetic from the 1960s with the bubblegum typography and the bright colours, it’s interesting to see Liverpool’s own vision of where Psych is now, or how it has evolved into more than one-dimensional stereotype usually portrayed.
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OUTRO “[On The Coral’s debut album] It wasn’t that they were the most extraordinary band Liverpool has produced for years, it was that they were every band Liverpool had produced. The eponymous album was like a Liverpudlian greatest hits wherein you got bits of The Beatles, the Teardrops, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Stairs, Dr Phibes, Shack, The Living Brain...even Mr Ray’s Wig World. They also have a healthy dose of bands much loved by Scousers, such as Pink Floyd and Captain Beefheart. Most of all they were riding the current love of ‘shanty music’ in Liverpool” (Inform, 2003) Whereas the Liverpudlian sound has been firmly local and grounded culturally, from historical sounds that have emerged from the city to influential landmarks and cultural aspects, its continuing association with Psychedelia is something that has been grounded in the city’s DNA and cultural signature. In my dissertation I have provided detailed research into the progression of Liverpool’s Psychedelia sound and influence, and how this has evolved throughout the decades into its current incarnation; the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia will undoubtedly evolve and influence future acts within the local scene even further, but it is also key to recognise Liverpool’s continuing love affair with the sound. The local scene continues to remain strong thanks to the close relationship between Liverpool’s musicians: “I think Liverpool has kept a lot of its musical innocence… the sound that often comes out is what has sort of been passed on or influenced by another Liverpool band.” Ian Skelly, The Coral’s drummer & main sleeve designer (Leftlion, 2007) It’s Liverpool’s feeling of isolation from the rest of England that keeps the feeling of loyalty and closeness to its roots that helps evolve the city’s psych scene throughout the decades. They’ve built a unique legacy of bands and musicians that have come from the area with distinguishable elements in their music. While San Francisco and London’s scenes faded away, Liverpool’s has remained consistent. Craig Pennington, co-founder of the Liverpool Psychedelia International Festival explains the roots of the psych association: “If you look at the past, as well as the 1960s, but also the whole roots of that post-punk culture with bands like Echo and the Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes, the city has always really embraced psych.” (The Big Issue In The North, 2012)
Eric’s scene in the city combined with Probe Record’s extensive music collection was a basis in evolving the city’s stagnating music scene away from the post-Beatles saturation, bringing an exciting new flux of musicians into the spotlight, embracing a new, progressive psychedelic sound unique to Britain’s music scene at the time when Punk took off. It’s perhaps here lies the fundamental element of why Liverpool has always had a love for everything psych - in a time where Liverpool’s music scene was non-existent in the early-1970s, iconic bands such as Echo and The Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes, and the ‘Punkadelic’ Eric’s scene bands created new, exciting and beautifully orchestrated music; a true ethereal experience - influenced by the past Acid Rock style but merging it with the cold, driven sound of post-punk. The sleeve designs echoed this new sound, from the iconic Ocean Rain sleeve to the obscure DIY-look of Modern Eon’s sleeve. Liverpool has a very strong community because it’s always had a very different cultural identity compared to its neighbouring cities. It’s this closeness that has helped maintain the psychedelia influence. Sleeve design within the Psych scene has also evolved; from the colourful Scallydelics design to the modern psych scene, which includes a hugely diverse set of psych-designs, researching the progression of Liverpool’s inner psych scene and its effect on how it’s depicted through design has been a joyful and colourful history of Liverpool’s music scene. “Psychedelia has always been a massive influence, I’ve loved it all my life, even before I knew it ever had a name... and then hearing “Strawberry Fields” on a tinny transistor in a field when I was 14 was what got me into The Beatles, and they, and The Bunnymen/Teardrop Explodes scene, were one of the reasons I chose to study in LIverpool, and Liverpool was a massive influence on me as well, with its combination of incredible light, junk shops and book shops, and brilliant people and music.” (Wood, S. 2013) Liverpool’s love of all things psychedelia is very clear, and continues to influence the city and its culture through music and design. With the establishment of the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, the psychedelia influence looks set to continue for the long term. With the diversity that psych currently offers its musicians and designers, Liverpool’s psychedelia story looks set to continue and prosper.
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Leftlion (2007) The Coral Interview Available at: http://www.leftlion.co.uk/articles.cfm/title/the-coral-interview/ id/1923 [accessed 9th December 2013] Inform (2003) ‘The Coral’ December 3 p.8 Liverpool Echo (2012) Will Sergeant and The Liverpool International Festival Of Psychedelia - a beginner’s guide to psychedelia Available at: http://www.peterguy.merseyblogs.co.uk/2012/09/will-sergeant. html [accessed at 15th October 2013] M-Magazine (2013) Interview: Mugstar [online] Available at: http://www.m-magazine.co.uk/interviews/interview-mugstar/ [accessed 9th December 2013]
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McManus, K (1994) Nashville of the North: Country Music In Liverpool Murphy, M. and Rees-ones, D. (2007) Writing Liverpool: Essays and Analysis
Buckley. P, (2003) The Rough Guide to Rock
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Partridge, C. (2005) The Re-enchantment of West Vol. 2
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Wikipedia (2013) The King of Elfland’s Daughter (album) Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_of_Elfland%27s_Daughter_(album) [accessed at 13th December 2013] [sic]magazine (2011) The Boo Radleys - Giant Steps, Deluxe Edition (Review) Available at: http:// www.sicmagazine.net/articles/625/the-boo-radleys-giant-steps-deluxe-edition [accessed at: 14th December 2013) Electronic mail (e-mail) Wood, S. (2013) Formtoemail comments, Email to Stephen Wood interviewing him about his experience in designing for The Boo Radleys and the Liverpool psychedelia experience. (http://www.stephenawood.com/pages/contact.html) [18th December 2013]
Image references. Introduction. fig.1: The Amazing Adventures of The Liverpool Scene (1969)The Amazing Adventures of The Liverpool Scene [online image] Available at: [accessed at: 10th November 2013] fig.2: Surround Yourself With Cilla (1969) Cilla Black. [online image] Available at: [accessed at: 10th November 2013] fig.3: The Dream Of Michaelangelo (2004) 23rd Turnoff [online image] Available at: [accessed at: 10th November 2013] fig.4: First Bite of the Apple (2005) Focal Point [online image] Available at: http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=2219952 [accessed at: 10th November 2013] Side 1 fig. 1: Crocodiles (1980) Echo and the Bunnymen [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-385448-1133476947.jpeg [accessed at: 10th November 2013] fig. 2: Porcupine (1983) Echo and the Bunnymen [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-374614-1374958228-4135.jpeg [accessed at: 10th November 2013] fig. 3: Ocean Rain (1984) Echo and the Bunnymen [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-384265-1370114465-7643.jpeg [accessed at: 10th November 2013] fig. 4: Kilamanjaro (1980) Teardrop Explodes [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-359872-1377288627-3950.jpeg [accessed at: 10th November 2013] fig. 5: When I Dream (1980) Teardrop Explodes [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-393464-1107443688.gif [accessed at: 10th November 2013] fig. 6: Count To Ten And Run For Cover (1990) Teardrop Explodes [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-839677-1164125869.jpeg [accessed at: 10th November 2013] fig. 7: Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream) (1983) The Icicle Works [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-1521786-1225814024.jpeg [accessed at: 13th November 2013] fig. 8: The Icicle Works (1984) The Icicle Works [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-1055589-1188575497.jpeg [accessed at: 13th November 2013] fig. 9: Love is a Beautiful Colour (1983) The Icicle Works [online image] Available at: http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=230799 [accessed at: 13th November 2013] fig. 10: You Don’t Need Someone New (1983) The Lotus Eaters [online image] Available at: http://www.recordsale.de/cdpix/t/the_lotus_eaters-you_dont_ need_someone_new(1).jpg [accessed at: 14th November 2013] fig. 11: Space Flower (1990) The Wild Swans [online image] Available at: http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=1115034 [accessed at: 14th November 2013] fig. 12: Fiction Tales (1981) Modern Eon [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-80509-1382612883-3799.jpeg [accessed at: 14th November 2013] fig. 13: Tago Mago (1971) Can [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-226132-1157799005.jpeg [accessed at: 14th November 2013]
fig. 14: Krautrock Sampler (1995) Julian Cope [online image] Available at: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c9YUOg3ry0g/TVN2b2HQXFI/ AAAAAAAAA10/ulO1jJpBnGM/s1600/cope.jpg [accessed at: 14th November 2013] fig. 15: Stratosfear (1976) Tangerine Dream [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-2791407-1301197106.jpeg [accessed at: 15th November 2013] fig. 16: Architecture & Morality (1981) Orchasteral Manouvers in the Dark [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-150403-1245012047.jpeg [accessed at: 14th November 2013] fig. 17: Orchasteral Manouvers in the Dark (1980) [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-97891-1213875590.jpeg [accessed at: 14th November 2013] Side 2 fig. 1: Chill Out (1990) The KLF [online image] Available at: http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ The-KLF-Chill-Out.jpg [accessed at: 20th November 2013] fig. 2: Space (1990) Jimmy Cauty (Space) [online image] Available at: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/ Space_%28album_front%29.gif [accessed at: 20th November 2013] fig. 3: Eternity Project One (1989) Various Artists [online image] Available at: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9f/Eternityprojectone.jpg [accessed at: 21st November 2013] fig. 4: The La’s (1990) The La’s [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-730840-1360503909-6489.jpeg [accessed on: 23rd November 2013] fig. 5 and 7: Mary Joanna (1992) The Stairs [online image] Available at: http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=1535697 [accessed at: 23rd November 2013] fig. 6: Love See No Colour (1992) The Farm [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-1145046-1217621957.jpeg [accessed at: 23rd November 2013] fig. 8: Right In The Back Of Your Mind (2006) The Stairs [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-1475738-1222507419.jpeg fig 9: Women Gone and Say Goodbye (1992( The Stairs [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-1584483-1230233413.jpeg fig. 10: Giant Steps (1993) The Boo Radleys [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-380817-1105921160.jpg [accessed at: 25th November 2013] fig. 11: Lazarus (Remixes) (1994) The Boo Radleys [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-1016151-1184405808.jpeg [accessed at: 25th November 2013] fig. 12: Find The Way Out (2005) The Boo Radleys [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-742208-1154122857.jpeg [accessed at: 12th December] fig. 13: Sense (1992) Lightning Seeds [online image] Available at: http:// www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=259153 [accessed at: 25th November 2013] fig. 14: Jollification (1994) Lightning Seeds [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-1096162-1245272123.jpeg [accessed at: 25th November 2013] fig. 15: Haze EP (1991) Dr Phibes And The House Of Wax Equations [online image] Available at: http://991.com/gallery_180x180/Dr-Phibes--The-HouseOf-Hazy-EP--Bonus-7-453314-991.jpg [accessed at: 27th November 2013]
fig. 16: Misdiagnosedive (1992) Dr Phibes And The House Of Wax Equations [online image] Available at: http://www.kompaktkiste.de/cd/_abc/_d/ drpt1lp1.jpg [accessed at: accessed at: 27th November 2013]
fig. 14: Sonic Attack (2008) Mudhoney/Mugstar [online image] Available at: http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=1543126 [accessed at: 9th December 2013]
Bibliography
Websites
Books
fig. 17: Hypnotwister (1993) Dr Phibes And The House Of Wax Equations [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-751321-1155096776. jpeg [accessed at: accessed at: 27th November 2013 ]
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Side 4
Britton, A. (2011) Revolution Rock: The Albums Which Defined Two Ages
Side 3
fig. 1: Dagger Paths (2010) Forest Swords [online image] Available at: http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-2568210-1290875006.jpeg [accessed at: 11th December 2013]
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fig. 3: Into The Diamond Sun (2012) Stealing Sheep [online image] Available at: http://www.serendeepity.net/stealing-sheep-into-the-diamond-sun/[accessed at: 14th December 2013)
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fig. 5: Sankofa gig poster (2013) [online image] Available at: http://www. bidolito.co.uk/sites/default/files/imagecache/full/sankofa_live_3.jpg [accessed at: 14th December 2013] fig. 6: Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia (2013) Available at: http://www.soniccathedral.co.uk/site/wp-content/images/2013/03/LpoolPsych-Fest-2013-logo.jpg [accessed at: 11th December 2013]
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