Articles: The Art of Ian Clark on Uk Vibe

[Mike]

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[wolfie66]

Thanks Mike, nice article about some all round fantastic albums. Interesting stuff behind the pics too, I didn't realise it was all so diy.

 Shoes was always one of my favourites looks-wise, though as a Berkshire bumpkin who used to go to London for the 100 club only (apart from a couple of trips for threads and a 2nd hand record shop on Tottenham Court Road) it always pissed me off that I could never find any trousers that looked....well, just like that. I had a thing for them but never found any that were 'just right', didn't have a clue where to get them from. 

And I still can't - and it still pisses me off.....album time, I think

[Liamgp]

Loved al the Kent/Modern covers and paid tribute to them by ripping off Clarkie's style for my own posters for our soul club in Edinburgh back in the 8Ts (never heard of copyright then!) - hours of rubbing letraset over pictures of the Marvelettes or putting a blanking piece of text over the cover of an Impressions EP or adapting a Columbia sleeve of 'teens' dancing with the added bonus of making different version of the poster with a variety of 45 labels inside the sleeve. This sort of thing. Simple when you look back really... .

 

In fact, I still design posters for non-existent Soul clubs to pass the time - a lot easier with Photoshop if not quite so exciting seeing what you could dream up on limited funds and equipment back then.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2015 by LiamGP

[Steve G]

Excellent to recognise Ian's work. A top fella. For what it is worth and some may not know but he also did lots of flyers and a number of the covers of Blackbeat magazine.

[Guest Johnny One Trout]

Marvalus and informative, I never really knew about Ian's involvement in al that early Kent artwork so much refined from his earlier crap-o-graphic period..

[Guest Polyvelts]

That was a great visual trip down memory lane ! Great artwork from a great guy !

[Shelly74]

Thank you Mike, first LP my sister bought was On The Soul Side  she still has many of them now x Interesting link 

[Philb]

One of the best is Ian and great designs for Kent in the early years, always had time for you and many a great 45 bought from looking through his sales on the stage at the 100 club.

[Soulboy69]

Superb article, thanks for sharing. Kent records were a huge influence on me musically and the graphics were truly inspirational.

[Guest Byrney]

Ian's creations were the backdrop of a soul generation. Always cool as you like and a welcome departure from the cartoon owl graphics of a decade before.

 

[Rob Wigley]

Fantastic read, great article on a true "One Off"  Top man Ian Clarke !!!

[Daved]

Great stuff. Really enjoyed that.

[Jez Bishop]

Nice post! Ian's a talented artist alright and pleased to see the recognition. I knew Ian when he lived in the deep south - Guildford, Surrey (& bravely let me spin tunes at his early 90's 'Soul City' night in London a few times). Even his emergency flyers were something else!

[Corbett80]

What a brilliant article. Ian is a very talented guy and it's great to see his art being appreciated properly. 

 

[TheBigO]

Excellent to recognise Ian's work. A top fella. For what it is worth and some may not know but he also did lots of flyers and a number of the covers of Blackbeat magazine.

One of the great unsung heroes of the scene and a man with a fine eye for art and I remember his Clarks Crackers section well Steve, great taste in toons and well ahead of his time. 

[Slim Jim]

A trip down memory lane there .

As a teenager in the 1980's my soul education was via the latest Kent LP's , I couldn't wait to visit my favourite record store in the city center to see what was the latest release .

Part of the excitement apart from flipping it over to read the track listing was the cool artwork from Ian Clark and the witty sleeve notes from Harboro Horace , I pretty much collected all of the albums apart from a few (which I must buy someday just to complete the set ) 

The artwork was something else and part of that tradition of buying an album and feeling like you really had something that you couldn't wait to show to your mates .

Some great album covers already mentioned my favourite was Dancing Til Dawn , I ended up getting that title on my Vespa 100 .

I later bought 45's from Ian in the 90's a real nice friendly guy .

Great article 

[Eddie Hubbard]

A fantastic article , very informative and interesting .Sure we all gained much knowledge from these fantastic albums and eyes catching sleeve art work ,well done ...

[Jim Elliott]

Nice post! Ian's a talented artist alright and pleased to see the recognition. I knew Ian when he lived in the deep south - Guildford, Surrey (& bravely let me spin tunes at his early 90's 'Soul City' night in London a few times). Even his emergency flyers were something else!

remember these dos well, went a number of times.