Monday 30 March 2020

a day in the life

Once again returning to our faithful chronicler we mark today among other notable events in 1967, the Beatles in costume arrived at the photo studio of Michael Cooper to have their likenesses captured for inclusion on the iconic cover for their eighth album, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the concept painstakingly assembled and realised by Peter Blake and Jann Haworth, posing before a tableau of cardboard cut-outs of celebrities and historical figures.
The impetus for this alter ego musical group was in part owing to the Beatles’ tiring of touring with John Lennon’s suggestions that wax-works on stage would please audiences just as well, presaging the backlash that his comment that they were “more popular than Jesus” and a belated, bellwether acid-trip by Paul McCartney. The throng is not so much a recognition of their influences but rather a snapshot of the cultural topology of the moment.  Watch a short documentary on the album art’s making at Doctor Caligari’s Cabinet at the link up top.