Bob Egan of PopSpotsNYC.com has an interesting hobby. He finds the real-world locations of famous album covers, fastidiously matches the distance and angle, and then superimposes the original onto a photo of present-day location. The Sifter first featured Bob’s fantastic work in 2012, roaming the streets of New York City.

In this update we travel with Bob across the pond to another Mecca of music, London, England. In a recent post, Egan found the locations of 10 famous album covers shot around London. I’ve included a few of my personal favs below. To see all 10 album cover locations visit PopSpotNYC.com

 

 

 

The cover was designed by Apple Records creative director Kosh. It is the only original UK Beatles album sleeve to show neither the artist name nor the album title on its front cover, which was Kosh’s idea, despite EMI claiming the record would not sell without this information. He later explained that “we didn’t need to write the band’s name on the cover … They were the most famous band in the world” [source]

To see on Google Maps, enter the following coordinates: 51.532000, -0.177351

 

 

 

 

The cover is a picture of two men passing each other on Berwick Street in London’s Soho. The two men are London DJ Sean Rowley and album sleeve designer Brian Cannon (back to the camera). The album’s producer Owen Morris can be seen in the background, on the left footpath, holding the album’s master tape in front of his face.[18] The location was chosen because the street was a popular location for record shops at the time. [source]

To see on Google Maps look up: 34 Berwick Street, London, UK

 

 

 

 

The album cover photograph was taken outside furriers “K. West” at 23 Heddon Street, London, W1., looking south-east towards the centre of the city. Bowie said of the sign, “It’s such a shame that sign went [was removed]. People read so much into it. They thought ‘K. West’ must be some sort of code for ‘quest.’ It took on all these sort of mystical overtones.” The post office in the background (now “The Living Room, W1” bar) was the site of London’s first nightclub, The Cave of the Golden Calf, which opened in 1912. [source]

Of the album’s packaging in general, Bowie said:

“We did the photographs outside on a rainy night, and then upstairs in the studio we did the Clock Orange look-alikes that became the inner sleeve. The idea was to hit a look somewhere between the Malcolm McDowell thing with the on mascaraed eyelash and insects. It was the era of Wild Boys, By William S. Burroughs. That was a really heavy book that had come out in about 1970, and it was a cross between that and Clockwork Orange that really started to put together the shape and the look of what Ziggy and the Spiders were going to become. They were both powerful pieces of work, especially the marauding boy gangs of Burrough’s Wild Boys with their bowie knives. I got straight on to that. I read everything into everything. Everything had to be infinitely symbolic.” [source]

To see on Google Maps look up: 23 Heddon Street, London, W1

 

 

 

 

Pink Floyd’s Animals album cover was designed by Roger Waters. At the time he lived near Clapham Common, and regularly drove past the Battersea Power Station, which was by then approaching the end of its useful life. A view of the building was chosen for the cover image, and the band commissioned German company Ballon Fabrik (who had previously constructed Zeppelin airships) and Australian artist Jeffrey Shaw to build a 30 foot (9.1 m) porcine balloon (known as Algie). [source]

To see on Google Maps look up: Battersea Park Road / Savona Street, London, UK

 

 

 

 

The cover artwork was designed by Polish artist Roslaw Szaybo. The album’s front cover photo, shot by Kate Simon, was taken in the alleyway directly opposite the front door of the band’s ‘Rehearsal Rehearsals’ building in Camden Market. Drummer Terry Chimes, though a full member of The Clash at the time, did not appear in the picture as he had already decided to leave the group. [source]