Episode 10 – The Cloth

This episode is an audio supplement to Classic Pop magazine, issue 4, published May/June 2013. In this podcast I interview artist, Fraser Taylor, who was part of a design collective called The Cloth (1983-1987).

Fraser was one quarter of The Cloth along with David Band, Helen Manning and Brian Bolger. The art of Fraser Taylor and David Band featured on many record sleeves in the early eighties, most notably for Spandau Ballet, Altered Images, Aztec Camera and The Bluebells. Music from these artists and others is included in the episode along with archive interview content from Gary Kemp and David Band.

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I could be happy

I curate a website about a short lived art collective called The Cloth. They consisted of four people and only lasted for about three years but were incredibly prolific in the mid-1980s. Do check out the website for examples of their creativity. Sadly one of the members, David Band died last year – aged 51, and last weekend I was invited to an event at Glasgow School of Art to celebrate his life and work. His family, friends and many artists from all sorts of fields of creativity were in attendance and it was lovely to get to speak to people whose work I have admired since my days of being an art student.

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The vinyl countdown

Record Store Day 2012 is almost upon us. Just like last year, there’s a lot of publicity about how people love vinyl more than ever – the smell of it, our visceral connection with the object’s shape, packaging, design and even warmth of sound. This can only come from listening to music in its full audiophile format, apparently. To a certain degree I concur, a digital download really can’t offer the same satisfaction of owning a real object that has been manufactured and distributed in its own lovingly crafted sleeve that can be pored over and analysed while your music of choice fills the room.

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