Flux of Pink Indians and the album too obscene to be sold
What do Sabrina Carpenter, The Beatles and Spinal Tap all have in common? They’ve all made album covers which were seen as highly controversial.
When Sabrina Carpenter unveiled the cover for her recent record, Man’s Best Friend, she was met with backlash from plenty, as people called it degrading and said it sent out the wrong message to fans. Carpenter defended the album, which contains explicit themes and has a cover which depicts her on all fours, having her hair pulled by a mysterious man.
“The album is not for any pearl clutchers,” she explained, “But I also think that even pearl clutchers can listen to an album like that in their own solitude and find something that makes them smirk and chuckle to themselves.”
Of course, Carpenter isn’t the only artist to release an album cover and have it be scolded by onlookers. The Beatles have had some of the most iconic record covers in the history of music, with the likes of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The White Album and Abbey Road all being instantly recognisable images, lining the walls of music lovers for generations. However, despite releasing some well-loved covers, the Fab Four also had one banned because it was deemed too vulgar.
When working on their record Yesterday and Today, The Beatles joined forces with Australian surreal photographer Robert Whitaker, who shot the four members of the band in white coats with dismembered plastic dolls around them. The photo was a long way outside of what had become the famous Beatles image, which was exactly the point. Whitaker said he was keen to lean into the “Disruption of the conventions surrounding pop star promotional photography”.
These are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to controversial cover art on the front of albums, though. If this is the kind of image that pop stars like The Beatles and Sabrina Carpenter are willing to put out, you can only imagine what underground punk bands are capable of. The world got a taste of this with the band Flux of Pink Indians, as one of their records was deemed to be so obscene that no record stores would stock the album.
On their 1984 album, The Fucking Cunts Treat Us Like Pricks, Flux of Pink Indians decided to make their devotion to shocking punk music clear. As well as the profound title, the cover consisted of abstract sketches of people. While their faces were difficult to make out, other components of the image were as clear as ever, as breasts and penises were drawn and displayed proudly.
The album stayed true to the band’s punk sound, with screeching distortion, aggressive lyrics and a chaotic rhythm that laced every single track. Despite not being able to sell the album, it still reached number two on the indie chart, with many being fascinated by the record, which was deemed too obscene to sell.
It just goes to show that controversy has always been a good selling point. Whether it was in the 1960s, ‘80s or now, having an album cover that some deem to be too much for consumption can help start a conversation, and even lead to increased record sales.
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