Dean, who created iconic sleeves and typography for Yes, Asia and Osibisa, said that LPs used to be a special gift but CDs had altered the concept of the album due to their ‘incredible tackiness’.
He said: ‘Timing is all and I was really lucky because the idea of giving music as a gift was a very brief part of the history of music.
‘Previously you could listen to music, you could give someone an instrument, you could teach someone to play. But to give the gift of music in the total way afforded by an LP could only really happen in the sixties and seventies.
‘The packaging, the music – everything was right, everything was there. It was a wonderful and very brief in the history of the world. When CDs came along, it wasn’t the size that destroyed the notion of the album as a gift, it was the incredible tackiness of how it was put together. It was a shame and I think from then on, it was a hard place to get back to.
‘Music is a gift, art is a gift, and when the two came together it was brilliant.’
Dean, who received a Gold Badge Award for his services to music, was most active in the industry during the seventies, designing logos for record companies including Virgin, Harvest, and Vertigo. He is also credited with transforming the status of the album cover, elevating it from mere packaging to a work of art in its own right.
Elsewhere, jazz trumpeter Guy Barker, broadcaster and DJ Don Letts and Welsh pop star Bonnie Tyler were among the other 2013 Gold Badge Award recipients at a ceremony held at The Savoy, London.
The Gold Badge Awards are organised by BASCA, in association with PRS for Music.
Full list of winners:
Guy Barker (award sponsored by the MU)
Roger Dean
Don Letts
Jane Manning OBE
Stephen Navin
John Scott
Bonnie Tyler
Mike Vernon
Johnnie Walker MBE
Alison Wenham OBE
James Wyllie
Bill Wyman (award sponsored by PPL)
He said: ‘Timing is all and I was really lucky because the idea of giving music as a gift was a very brief part of the history of music.
‘Previously you could listen to music, you could give someone an instrument, you could teach someone to play. But to give the gift of music in the total way afforded by an LP could only really happen in the sixties and seventies.
‘The packaging, the music – everything was right, everything was there. It was a wonderful and very brief in the history of the world. When CDs came along, it wasn’t the size that destroyed the notion of the album as a gift, it was the incredible tackiness of how it was put together. It was a shame and I think from then on, it was a hard place to get back to.
‘Music is a gift, art is a gift, and when the two came together it was brilliant.’
Dean, who received a Gold Badge Award for his services to music, was most active in the industry during the seventies, designing logos for record companies including Virgin, Harvest, and Vertigo. He is also credited with transforming the status of the album cover, elevating it from mere packaging to a work of art in its own right.
Elsewhere, jazz trumpeter Guy Barker, broadcaster and DJ Don Letts and Welsh pop star Bonnie Tyler were among the other 2013 Gold Badge Award recipients at a ceremony held at The Savoy, London.
The Gold Badge Awards are organised by BASCA, in association with PRS for Music.
Full list of winners:
Guy Barker (award sponsored by the MU)
Roger Dean
Don Letts
Jane Manning OBE
Stephen Navin
John Scott
Bonnie Tyler
Mike Vernon
Johnnie Walker MBE
Alison Wenham OBE
James Wyllie
Bill Wyman (award sponsored by PPL)
