Red Planet Blog

  • Cover Stories: Making it special with Bill Smith

    by Mark Neeter

    We still have a very small number of the limited edition signed slipcase version of Bill Smith's amazing Cover Stories book. Each one of the 200 is signed and numbered and comes in a beautifully printed slip case. The book which features albums by artists as diverse as The Jam, Genesis, The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Toyah, Johnny Thunders, The Cure, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson UB40 Alison Moyet and many more. Bill provides a narrative for each cover with stories about the artists and about the creative processes.

  • Bob Dylan: Surviving in a Ruthless World review

    by Mark Neeter

    The establishment of the Bob Dylan Archive [BDA] in Tulsa marks the beginning of a new era of Dylan scholarship, revolutionary in scope and potential impact. Gaining access to multiple early drafts of lyrics as well as preliminary takes of officially released songs will significantly broaden our knowledge of both Dylan’s working methods and his artistic vision. The depth and breadth of the tapes, manuscripts, notebooks, and handwritten notes are simply astounding

  • Stories Behind Five Decades of Cover Art

    by Mark Neeter
    Bill Smith and his Studio have been designing record covers since 1976.

    In those five decades they have worked with more than 200 bands and artists, creating hundreds of album covers, singles bags, and CD covers.

    Bill Smith Studio worked with some of the world’s best photographers, illustrators and painters on covers for among others, The Jam, The Cure, Kate Bush, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, King Crimson and Mike Oldfield.