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Important technical note The 665 Polaroid negative from which the photograph is made has some small inherent imperfections around the border areas and on parts of the image, and we wanted to give purchasers some information on this. Colin explains: “If you look at the thigh you'll see a light water stain which is on the negative permanently. This was shot on 665 Polaroid which was a B&W polaroid that yielded a positive and a negative when peeled. Back then I was “Mr. 665”. You would have to peel the excess paper from the negative and then put it in a tupperware filled with water to soak. The water would turn black as the coating on the neg dissolved, and then you would need to rinse it and hang it to dry. I would have 10-20 negs in the tupperware on top of each other, and the fragile nature of the film would almost guarantee some marks. I'm lucky there's not a big scratch on it! These inherent markings always occur with 665 polaroid negs. It's from the peeling process. I love imperfections and I understand some people might not like that but I think others won't mind. For me the imperfections just add to the street cred of the image.”
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David Corio recalls: "I always felt a bit sorry for Adam Ant. He had been around at the beginning of the punk movement collaborating briefly with Jordan and Malcolm McClaren but he never seemed to quite fit the right mould. His music was hugely popular for a time with 11 singles hitting the charts over a 5 year period. Adam & The Ants videos were flamboyant fun and got massive amounts of air-time as music videos were comparatively new and MTV was just starting up but the pantomime pirate imagery had become more important than the music. The use of two drummers for live performances gave the band a powerful set up using the Burundi-style drum beat and he was a captivating live performer but as his audience became younger other music seemed to be overtaking him. New wave and New Romantic music scenes were coming along and suddenly Adam & the Ants were old hat and out of fashion. This photo was taken when they were at the peak of their commercial success Stand & Deliver and Prince Charming were released at this time which would both reach number one in the UK charts but within a year the band had split up. More recently his career has had several ups and downs from having a successful autobiography published and acting in several films to being arrested on a number of occasions and having several prolonged stays in psychiatric wards. In 2009 he started perfoming live again with various line-ups and there are rumours that he has recently started to record again."
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David Corio recalls: "This was Bob Marley’s last London concert and one of his final shows before his untimely death 10 months later. I’m sure not many people knew of his illness as he performed a stirring two hour show that afternoon. This venue has a lake in front of the stage and as I didn’t own a really long lens I waded into the lake with my camera and a few rolls of film in a carrier bag. I got to the front of the stage where the water was about 4 feet deep and shot from there. Bob performed in an almost hypnotic trance. Of the three rolls I shot I think he has his eyes open in only two of the photos. He was a shaman dancing, his locks all over his face throughout the show."
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David Corio recalls: "This photo of Bruce Springsteen was taken from the audience - I hadn’t got a photo pass but was lucky enough to get a ticket for the show and I managed to get near to the stage at the huge Wembley Arena. Apart from a couple of shows in 1975 this was the first big concert in Europe for ‘The Boss’ as he is affectionately known. He was famous for his energetic sets and this show lasted for three hours and he didn’t stop moving for the entire show. He climbed up onto the speakers, leaped across the stage and pulled girls out from the audience to dance or sing with him. Springsteen supports many social causes, keeps to his working–class roots and speaks out very strongly on political issues. He has donated money to war veterans groups, endorsed Barack Obama early in his political campaign and most recently took part in fund-raising events for Haiti after the earthquake. He still lives in New Jersey where he was born - his 1973 debut album ‘Greetings From Asbury Park’, was named after the run-down sea-side resort where he still occasionally plays the tiny Stone Pony Club (capacity - 775 people) . A contrast to the 137,000 people that were at the Glastonbury festival when he performed in 2009!"
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David Corio recalls: "This is Dexys Midnight Runners before they had a major label or hit record. I spent a few days in Birmingham with them before seeing the band perform or knowing anything about their music. When I finally saw them live in London a few weeks later they blew me away. With a mighty horn section and stomping rhythm tightly controlled by lead singer Kevin Rowland, this was one of the most powerful shows I had the good fortune to attend. Journalist Gavin Martin and I met up with them several times always in working-mens cafes for endless cups of tea and to hear Kevins philosophy on life. Kevin Rowland controlled the band completely - banning alchohol and enforcing a strict dress code of white tees, donkey jackets or leather coats and woolen docker hats. Somehow he managed to persuade the others into going for regular early morning runs, long before jogging became fashionable. Despite their immense talent Dexys Midnight Runners werent suited to the commercial music scene and their albums didnt sell as well as they should have. Each new album was always a surprise as they invariably came up with a different musical style. A few years after taking this photo I got on a plane in Lisbon after photographing Rick Wakeman. I was wearing espadrilles with my hair in a pony-tail. And there already on board was the whole band - coincidentally all wearing the same espadrilles and sporting pony-tails."
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David Corio recalls: "I'd met Feargal as he left a rehearsal room on Holloway Road in north London late one evening. I shot some portraits of him under a street light as I didnt have any lights or flashgun with me. It occurred to me as we passed a launderette that this was the best lit location in sight and thats how this photo happened. It was a quiet session as Feargal didnt speak much and I tend to go with the subjects mood. The Undertones were a great pop punk band from Derry in Northern Ireland and Feargals distinctive quavering voice made them stand out. The bands first album The Undertones featuring the classic song Teenage Kicks John Peels favourite song of all time had been released not long before I took this picture."
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David Corio recalls: "I first met Ian Dury in my sister’s flat in Wandsworth in 1977. He was playing drums with Wreckless Eric who was my sister’s boyfriend. I was 17 and Ian was 34. He was very friendly and encouraged me to take music photos. Artistic and knowlegable with a unique sense of humour and a wicked laugh, Ian gave me a lot of confidence to do what I wanted to do. He often spoke in Cockney rhyming slang. Having had polio from an early age he sometimes refered to himself as a raspberry. Raspberry ripple = cripple. I was fascinated and thrilled to know him. He also introduced me to the highly regarded graphic designer Barney Bubbles who was also a big influence. I went to many of Ian’s shows. He was an extraordinary performer and there was always a sense of mayhem on the stage. He’d always invite me backstage to take photos and this wasn’t posed at all. He was dressed as he was about to go onstage with the Blockheads. Unlike many performers he didn’t show any nerves before performing but would normally hang out with his old friends saxophonist Davey Payne and his handler/minder the former burglar Spider."
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David Corio recalls: "One-two-three-faww! I think this picture captured the persona of Johnny Ramone – requisite Ramones T-shirt, guitar slung impossibly low, drainpipe jeans plastered on skinny long legs splayed wide and all capped by a contemptuous sneer. Johnny Ramone’s super-fast buzzsaw guitar had a huge impact on the punk scene and he could make a two-minute song sound like an epic." The Ramones were synonymous with CBGB’s, the legendary New York club on The Bowery that kickstarted the careers of many US punk bands. Johnny died of prostate cancer in 2004.
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David Corio recalls: "Julian Cope has had an unconventional career. He first achieved fame and success when his band Teardrop Explodes’ single ‘Reward’ reached the top ten in 1981 but after three years and three albums they were to split up with Cope starting off on a solo career. His strong political and religious views along with hallucinogenic experimentations have caused friction with various labels over the years and he now mainly records and promotes his own releases independently. He has become a successful author writing books on the history of German and Japanese rock music (‘Krautrocksampler’ & ‘Japrocksampler’) but has probably become best known as an acclaimed archeologist with his two books ‘The Modern Antiquarian’ and ‘The Megalithic European’ – a subject close to my heart. The photo session was done in conjunction with his ‘St Julian’ release in a bland executive boardroom. The only light was a single strip light and to get more atmospheric lighting we both stood on the table for a better vantage point. He was very easy to photograph as every time I took a shot he automatically moved into a different pose – mugging for the camera one minute or looking vulnerable the next."
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David Corio recalls: "Orange Juice were a quintessential indie band signed to Postcard Records hailing from Glasgow. They seemed somehow out of place in London wearing shorts on a summers day so I took them to the canal which seemed to be more fitting for their image. They had a post-punk sound but combined jangly guitars reminiscent of disco band Chic with funky bass lines. Rip It Up released in 1983 was their only top forty hit but along with label stablemates Josef K they have been regarded as a big influence on a host of more recent guitar-driven bands like Franz Ferdinand and The Drums." In 2005 lead singer and songwriter Edwyn Collins suffered a double brain haemorrhage. He has undergone a lengthy programme of neurological rehabilitation and has recently gone back to recording and occasional live performances.
