Lulu recently posted a YouTube clip that purports to be the worst video ever. I won't dispute that claim. It was stunning, with its feathered hair and vaguely futuristic tunics and bizarre moments of Mickey-esque choreography. Lulu, I can't thank you enough for giving me something to do as I woke up this morning: I had to know more about this Armi & Danny--these two pop idols, half of an Abba, only more obscure and without a string of number one hits.
The woman was a hot Fin (in fact, she was Miss Finland 1977) named Armi Aavikko. Sadly, she died of pneumonia in 2002. There's a memorial gallery here; I wish there was a Google translator for Finnish-English.
The blonde dreamboat singing with her, Danny, is Ilkka Lipsanen. I'd like to have seen a cage match with him and David Hasselhoff back in the day. He was well known in the 60's for his Finnish language cover of Petulah Clark's "Downtown", "Kauan." You can visit his official website here. Apparently it took three Finnish hotties to replace Armi.
I digress.
For a while now I've been meaning to post some fantastic album art I found. Seeing the Armi & Danny video reminded me.
The first stop is the Museum of Bad Album Covers. Oh, boy, do they have the goods. There are currently 38 pages, divided into categories. I'll give you samples of a few of them (warning, some images NSFW)
Oh no, it's the Germans!
Metal mayhem
Ever wonder what happened to the lead singer for Dexy's Midnight Runners? Find out here, in the section titled "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
The God Squad
And, finally, Uncategorizable Awfulness
Another fun site is titled, aptly, The Worst Album Covers of All Time! It's an easy-to browse site, but maybe not as encyclopedic as the Museum of Bad Album Covers. Still, they've got some goodies there too.
9 comments:
I worship you as a god.
Man, the Worst Album Covers of All Time dogged El Vez. Maybe something is wrong with me, but I thought the album cover was spot on! Thanks for all the linkies!
El Vez pops up a couple of times in those collections, and I don't think the compilers get his schtick. His covers look almost exactly like the stuff he's satirizing.
I actually got brownie points in my Multicultural Perspectives class today for providing El Vez MP3s to the class. We are discussing "Latino Distinctiveness" this week and I managed to work him into one of my discussions and the professor thought that El Vez and his perspective and stylings needed to be shared!
Those were all so wrong in so many ways. Thanks for sharing them.
Heino scares me. Are we sure he's not realy an alien?
Hey lay off Kevin Rowland! - he went crazy a la Adam Ant. But he's back again, withouth the women's clothing this time....
Johnny, I think there are some more Heino records in that second collection.
Danny, I'm glad Kevin has recovered. But to say he's back? Since Come On Eileen, had anyone noticed he was gone?
When Dexy's Midnight Runner's were at the height of their one-hit glory, they toured with Bowie, opening for him on his hugely successful on the Serious Moonlight tour in 1983/84. There was some heckling by people eager to see Bowie, and Rowland starting ripping on Bowie. Not a good move. The Runners were promptly dropped from the tour, and sank without a trace for a long time. Lesson: don't piss off the superstar you're opening for.
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