From Adam Ant to Andy Bell and Vince Clark, the pop stars of the 80s were bold, brash and big-haired. Photographer Peter Ashworth realized their wildest visual fantasies. These artists defined the 80s music scene, so don’t miss these unique pictures showing the best of them!
Check them out for more information and start to see our world through photos!
Adam and the Ants – Kings of the Wild Frontier LP sleeve
Ashworth says: ‘On 5 August 1980, prior to his first slot on Top of the Pops, Adam Ant got the band together in a small rehearsal room in Brixton to create a video test. Shooting stills from the monitor screen during the band performance produced some powerful images. Two days later a repeat shoot from the video recording, in a blacked-out studio, produced the sleeve image, the first time a video image had been used on a record sleeve’
Associates – Sulk LP sleeve
‘Billy MacKenzie and Alan Rankine sit nonchalantly in a riot of richly lit plants in an out-of-season summer house on park benches covered in dust-sheets. The image is striking for the contradiction between the almost bored, distracted attitudes of Billy and Alan and the energized shadows and colors painting the set. The location is south London, exact whereabouts unknown. Shot on 11 February 1982’
Annie Lennox – Eurythmics Touch LP sleeve
‘This famous shot of Annie Lennox was taken on 1 September 1983, at Bagley’s Warehouse in London’s King’s Cross for the cover of issue 42 of the Face magazine. It then became the sleeve of Eurythmics album Touch, which was released in November of that year’
Soft Cell – Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret LP sleeve
‘Marc Almond, standing next to Dave Ball, is in the process of concealing a brown-paper parcel in his leather jacket. They are lit in the garish neon colors that used to abound in Soho, then the center of London’s sex industry, replete with the peep shows and porn shops Almond sang about’
Transvision Vamp – Velveteen LP sleeve session
‘Wendy James, Nick Christian Sayer, Tex Axile, Dave Parson pose in a custom-built dressing room. Giant images of Elvis and Marilyn were supplied by art director Julian Balme. Shot at Bagley’s Warehouse on 9 May 1989’
Bryan Ferry
‘The whole shoot was a very casual affair. Bryan arrived by himself with a little battered suitcase containing a rumpled jacket and a couple of shirts, which he then proceeded to iron while I was setting up the lights. Studio shoots were a far less populated affair back then’
Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Welcome to the Pleasuredome LP session
‘Holly Johnson, Paul Rutherford, Mark O’Toole, Brian Nash, Peter Gill within a jungle of desires, from a concept by Paul Morley at ZTT. For two weeks I sourced the many props, and built the set in camera. On the day of the shoot, 1 August 1984, the band were more than a little surprised to find a jungle had been built for them. After being wrapped in deluxe attire, they slipped into the set as if it had been made for them. This was the most complete set I had yet built – the first of many’
John Lydon
‘John Lydon, hands on hips, head tilted to one side, gives a penetrating stare into the camera. A sparkle of amusement is showing. The dark background pushes him forwards. The clash of colors and the off-centered framing add an edginess. The over-sized, crumpled suit adds softness’
Tina Turner
‘Tina Turner is playfully singing into the hose of an industrial hoover. One of many extraordinary images from the Private Dancer LP session which produced multiple sleeves for Tina. Shot at Bagley’s Warehouse, on 21 March 1984’
Erasure
‘Andy Bell and Vince Clark stand among the chrome and perspex phone booths at Waterloo railway station. Using available light it was a fast, hit-and-run shoot’