BEHIND THE MUSIC’S ART

THE ROLLING STONES

In 1969, Mick Jagger asked London’s Royal College of Art for a student to make a logo for the Stones’ record label. “Jagger did not have a specific direction,” says John Pasche, the then lucky student. “He showed me a picture of the Indian goddess Kali, which gave me the inspiration of using the lips and tongue. At our second meeting, I showed a few sketches on the theme and he chose the one that worked the best.”

THE CRAMPS

Stephen Blickenstaff was a friend of the band’s. “I always had a drawing or painting to give to them whenever they performed in my area,” he says. On Halloween of 1983, he drew lead singer Lux Interior as a zombie. “Lux and I both loved the old EC horror comics, and my illustration was heavily influenced by those,” he says. “I had no idea it would be used for an album cover.” But it was, for the band’s Bad Music for Bad People.

THE DEAD KENNEDYS

Bandleader Jello Biafra called artist Winston Smith, asking for an emblem with the band’s initials. “I’d been scratching out possibilities for hours when I began staring at my left hand,” Smith says. “When I was two, I stumbled and fell, and a broken glass sliced my hand open. It called for seven stitches. It suddenly dawned on me that the old scars make a perfect angular D and a jagged K. Voilà! Careless childhood accident equals notorious punk rock logo!”

Many great band shirts began as great band icons. Three artists tell their story.