3 cover stories in our archive
Behind the Covers' archive includes 3 album covers documented under the "androgynous" design theme, spanning the 1970s, 1980s. These covers sit within the rock, punk, alternative, indie tradition and feature work by Lou Reed, Patti Smith, The Smiths. Each entry below includes the cover artwork, the designers and photographers behind it, and a short story about the visual choices that defined the release.
Mick Rock's androgynous portrait of Lou Reed became one of the most influential LGBTQ+ album covers ever, but the image was actually shot during Reed's glam rock phase when he was exploring gender fluidity through makeup and fashion.
Robert Mapplethorpe's photograph of Smith — jacket over shoulder, no makeup, androgynous confidence — demolished gendered expectations for female musicians. It has been called the greatest rock and roll portrait ever taken.
Morrissey selected a still from the 1964 French film L'Insoumis showing Alain Delon — placing a symbol of Continental glamour on an album attacking the British monarchy was characteristically provocative, a snub to Thatcher-era British institutions.