Asaoka Ruriko, Kokoro No Uramado, 1969
 
In late December I did a post about the fantastic rock posters of the Japanese pop art master Tadanori Yokoo. Even though I referred to a couple of his album covers, I didn’t know that his work in that medium was every bit as extensive. As with the posters, the bulk of his album cover art was in the 1970s, but he dabbled in album covers in the 1980s and 1990s as well.

Artists include Santana, Miles Davis, John Cale, and Earth, Wind, and Fire as well as a panoply of musicians with whom I’m not as familiar, some of them Japanese.

All of these images are a feast for the eyes, something about the genre of rock art unleashed Yokoo’s inner insane collagist. His 1960s pop art work is admirably restrained from a formal perspective. I find these covers fascinating, I can look at them endlessly. The album art for Santana’s Amigos is a particular treat. Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Santana, Lotus, 1974
 

 

 

 

Miles Davis, Agharta, 1975
 

 

 

 

Santana, Amigos, 1976
 
Lots more after the jump…..

The Beatles, 1972
 
Tadanori Yokoo was one of the dominant figures, if not the dominant figure, in Japanese design starting in the Sixties. Some people liken his work to Andy Warhol but I scarcely see that, unless you’re talking about general importance and influence, in which case I can’t judge. I think Richard got it right last year when he invoked Milton Glaser, Seymour Chwast, and Peter Max, particularly Max.

In addition to his (usually) symmetrical, DayGlo, ligne claire works, Yokoo also did a good number of rock-related graphics. The funny thing is that they’re in a completely different photocollage style—you can tell it might be by the same person but aside from that, they’re not too similar to stuff like this. I find all of these images delightful and fascinating. They’re trippy and detailed with a strong design sense, and the use of photos prevents them from flying off into the ether.

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, 1972
 

Cat Stevens, 1972
 

Santana, 1974
 

Earth, Wind, & Fire, 1976
 

Tangerine Dream, 1976
 

The Beatles, Star Club, 1977
 

Earth, Wind, & Fire, 1993
 
Aa a bonus, here’s Tadanori’s cover for Miles Davis’ 1975 album Agharta.

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Pop goes Japan: Tadanori Yokoo’s amazing 60s animations

 
Tadanori Yokoo is one of the world’s foremost graphic designers, considered to be in the same league as Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast. He is also often compared to Andy Warhol and Peter Max.

Yukio Mishima said of him in 1968:

“Tadanori Yokoo’s works reveal all of the unbearable things which we Japanese have inside ourselves and they make people angry and frightened. He makes explosions with the frightening resemblance which lies between the vulgarity of billboards advertising variety shows during festivals at the shrine devoted to the war dead and the red containers of Coca Cola in American Pop Art, things which are in us but which we do not want to see.”

 

 
In the sixties, Yokoo made some amazing animated pop psychedelic shorts (with insane soundtracks), here’s “Kachi Kachi Yama” from 1965:
 

 
After the jump, two more great animated shorts by Tadanori Yokoo…