Promo ad for Blondie’s ‘Plastic Letters,’ 1978. This might even be an in-store stand-up, hard to tell
If you are of a certain age, you will remember what it was like to get pretty much all your rock and roll knowledge from magazines. If you wanted to become a part of the The Cramps Fan Club (and who didn’t), you filled out a request from a magazine or perhaps signed up for the band’s “mailing list” at a live show. If there was a new record on the way, you probably saw it on the pages of CREEM (my all-time favorite), Trouser Press or Billboard. If you were aspiring young punk in the UK, you likely learned about the latest record from The Jam by reading mags like Zig Zag, Sounds, and Smash Hits.
New York Dolls ad for their 1974 album, ‘Too Much Too Soon’
An ad for Mick Ronson’s first solo record, ‘Slaughter on 10th Avenue,’ 1974
Japanese ad for T.Rex records, 1974
Buy these records from Iggy and the Stooges… or else!
I’m still a very big fan of printed media and read music magazines—especially vintage ones—on a pretty regular basis. Old-school magazines really were pretty much the best thing ever and if you never experienced the joy of covering up the ugly wallpaper in your room with pictures of your favorite bands, then it’s never too late to start. Recently when I was pouring through an old issue of CREEM, I came across an old advert for the second album from the New York Dolls, Too Much Too Soon (pictured above), which led me to spending a good few hours digging up loads of images of vintage ads (which in many cases were also produced as posters) for records from The Germs, The Clash, Blondie, and The Damned, just to name a few.
An ad or poster for the 1981 self-titled record from hardcore punks, Adolescents. Photo by legendary sub-culture photographer, Glen Friedman
A promo for The Clash’s 1979 double-record ‘London Calling’ from a Clash promotional fanzine, 1979
An ad for the 1984 album from The Replacements, ‘Let It Be’
Ad for the Buzzcocks, ‘Another Music in a Different Kitchen’
An ad from Billboard magazine for Lou Reed live 1974 set ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal’
An ad for Shel Silverstein’s 1972 album, ‘Freakin’ At The Freakers Ball’
An ad for the 1979 album from The Damned, ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’
A poster for Meat Loaf’s ‘Bat Out of Hell’
An ad from Trouser Press for the 1977 album from The Jam, ‘This Is the Modern World’
An ad from Slash magazine for The Germs 1979 EP ‘Lexicon Devil’
An ad for David Johansen’s 1978 self-titled solo record
An ad for the 1976 album from British rock band, Heavy Metal Kids, ‘Kitch’
The awesome Heavy Metal Kids performing “She’s No Angel” on “‘Top of the Pops,’ May, 1976
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
The day the music died: Vintage ads of pop stars selling shit