Revolutions in Sonic Art from Plate to Print ’55–’88

A unique insight into, and record of, the 20th century’s most exciting and productive period of rock poster art and graphic design

Rock Graphic Originals: Revolutions in Sonic Art from Plate to Print ‘55–’88 presents counterculture’s psychedelic poster art from its beat origins to its stadium rock zenith. Portfolios of 30+ poster artists – Rick Griffin, Victor Moscoso, Mouse Kelley and Hapshash amont them – are laid bare for all to see. For the first time, the sketchbooks and paste-ups, the printing plates and colour separations are unviled to reveal the layers of process integral to the design of each poster.

Rock Graphic Originals is packed with more than 750 examples of posters, artworks and logos, created for the bands that epitomise their era, their sound and their scene – in San Francisco and the west coast, Detroit and New York, Swinging London and revolutionary Paris. Rock legends promoted in the posters include Big Brother and the Holding Company, Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Moby Grape, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, Captain Beefheart, the Doors, the Velvet Underground, Jimi Hendrix, Tim Buckley, the Yardbirds, Cream, Led Zeppelin and many more.

Barry Miles – cultural commentator and founder of International Times – contextualizes the exquisitely curated pages. Punctuated with special features on the socio-political phenomena that permeated the music and artwork of each period – underground clubs, head shops, obscenity trials, legalize pot rallies, acid tests and violent protest – the story is completed by personal insights from the artists themselves.

Contents List

Introduction: You’re Either on the Bus or Off the Bus • 1. Haight-Ashbury to Altamont ‘66–’69 • 2. Counter Culture Takes Centre Stage ‘70–’77 • 3. Monsters of Rock ‘78–’88

About the Author

Peter Golding, musician and creator of the world’s first ‘designer jean,’ began collecting rock ’n’ roll art in 1967, naming his collection ‘Inspirational Times.’ As part of the sixties and seventies fashion movement, Peter Golding’s famous ACE boutique in London’s Chelsea brought him into regular contact with the biggest names in rock ’n’ roll, and he went on to create one of the most comprehensive collections of rock ’n’ roll graphics. He curated the first exhibition for ‘Inspirational Times’ in London in 2003, was a major lender to the Tate Liverpool exhibition ‘Summer of Love’ in 2005, and more recently contributed to the V&A’s 2016–17 exhibition ‘You Say You Want a Revolution.’

Barry Miles is the bestselling author of numerous biographies and countercultural histories. He was a founding contributor to International Times, a regular contributor to NME from 1975 to 1978, and editor of Time Out from 1978 to 1979.