TOMMY BOY
DELICIOUS VINYL
FACTORY RECORDS
The original Tommy Boy logo attached to their debut release of “Havin’ Fun” by Cotton Candy was a near duplicate of the logo for Tommy Boy Grapes and created by founder Tom Silverman in 1981. Following the success of Afrika Bambaataa and the Jazzy Five’s “Jazzy Sensation,” the label realized they needed a more professional image that reflected their burgeoning catalog. Monica Lynch, Tommy Boy’s first employee, recalls enlisting the help of Steven Miglio who said of the process, “It was based on the kids spinning on their heads, breakdancing on a piece of cardboard on the street. The thought was if you put them on the label and then spin around the record, maybe it’ll look like they’re spinning.” In 1989, Silverman hired legendary graffiti writer Eric Haze to produce another updated look – resulting in a changed typeface and hand-drawn, recomposed figures. Silverman notes, “They originally had bellbottoms, and then when Eric redid it he changed the clothes they were wearing.”
In the summer of 1987, two Los Angeles DJs – Matt Dike and Michael Ross – converted a tiny LA apartment into a recording studio and started a record label that would go on to release classics like Tone-Loc’s “Wild Thing” and “Funky Cold Medina” and produce acts like The Brand New Heavies, The Pharcyde, Born Jamericans, Masta Ace, and The Whoridas. In talking about the legendary and appetizing logo associated with the label, Ross has said, “It came from this crazy 1950s generic book about sandwich shops and coffee shops; something that said delicious sandwiches. It was a guy eating a Subway sandwich and somebody had the idea. I think it was Matt [who said] to put a piece of vinyl in the guy’s hand and call it “Delicious Vinyl.” It was an amazing natural fit. We were all vinyl junkies back then and it’s just good to know that vinyl is going to outlive the CD.”
Manchester-based label Factory Records owes its design aesthetic to legendary graphic designer (and co-founder of the label) Peter Saville – who is most noted for his groundbreaking cover art for Joy Division’s 1979 release Unknown Pleasures. Aesthetically, the logo itself is supposed to represent Manchester’s industrial skyline.
SOUNDS
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