Project Album Art--Wolftracks

I love vinyl. I love it how I love the old 1970's TV set I bought at Goodwill for $14.99. The sound of the chunky, heavy dial turning the non-cable channels, the mono sound, the way I have to curl up on the couch to watch the thing, it's so much more...intimate.

Same goes for my albums. And I'm not a vinyl snob. I buy, burn, steal CD's and yes, I have an iPod. But nothing compares to holding a record in your hand, staring at the cover and placing the needle on the wax. I love the sound, I love the pops, I love that I have to get up and turn the record over.

But again, I love the covers. So here begins my project to share my favorite album covers, straight from my collection, with you.

Now, before you think I actually like the first album presented, let me preface by saying, I don't. Although I do revere much of the early work from this group, no matter how many of their hits clogged Classic Rock radio, this album just plain sucks. But the cover...is... Fucking. Awesome.

So, without futher ado, John Kay & Steppenwolf: "Wolftracks"

To some of my friend's horror, I have quite a few Steppenwolf albums. I even have John Kay's first album. And though this album is really awful, like a jazz jam straight out of some Holiday Inn house band circa 1982, I am transfixed by the cover. It's nothing special except for...the clothes. Check out John Kay. He looks like an unsettling mixture of skinny biker, tech nerd and speed freak. He'd kick your ass and program your computer. And dude in the brown pants who looks suspiciously like Michael Bolton? I think I own that outfit (no, seriously, I do). And I'm not making fun of these guys, I actually think they look, well, kinda cool.

Dig this closer view:

John Kay means business. I must be mentally ill, but I think he's hot. Hot, in the meth-head, leather clad, science teacher-just made-a-pass-at-you way, which isn't really a look unless you live in Gresham, Oregon.

*Note: My friend Mike has informed me that Kay looks a lot like "The Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez who I never, ever said I had a crush on. I just said he looked like Robbie Robertson from The Band and that, uh...one of them was good looking. Or both of them. Or that The Night Stalker was in fact better looking. Or something like that. Anyway, crush? No way.

Next up. Ike and Tina's "Outta Season," one of the greatest album covers of all time...