The end of an era.

I’m selling all my vinyl. These are the words that, when uttered in company, cause grown men to weep. Anyone who has known and loved me, knows that over the years I have consistently spent fifty per-cent of my pocket money/allowance/grant/salary on vinyl albums. And now I am selling them all.

All the Zappa, Floyd, Dylan and John Martyns have gone. I am now left with the dregs to shift. In appraising what is left, I came across my beloved Tangerine Dream album, ‘Phaedra’. It wasn’t the loss of a piece of my childhood that bothered me. It was the lost a piece of art; namely the label on the disc itself.

 Just look at it! It’s beautiful. In every way.

This is one of the very earliest releases on the Virgin record label and was the start of one of the world’s great brands. Unluckily for them, my teenaged boys were within earshot and got the full history, as I saw it.

I explained how Roger Dean was commissioned to create the illustration for the logo, based on his work for other bands at the time. It was the process of copying Roger Dean logos onto my exercise books and canvas rucksack that got me into graphic design in the first place. No comment.

I pointed out how times have changed and that it is inconceivable of having a naked young girl as a brand mark for a worldwide organisation now. The police would be involved. Amazingly, still no comment (or interest).

I explained how much I loved gazing at this album and studying the label as it revolved on my Rega turntable. “Why are you selling it then?” asked my eldest son.

Phil Ellis, Creative Director