For many years -- decades, in fact -- I have had a thing about holding onto books, videos, or record albums. It’s as if throwing them away or donating them to a thrift shop is insulting to the author or artist.

However, as I grow older and my back becomes more sensitive, I’ve changed this view. And thanks to a pending move, I’ve decided to get rid of most of these items and keep only those most precious to me. So out went the books, out went the VHS tapes, and now I’m just about ready to finally part with my record albums. But before doing so I went through them one last time and pulled out some of my favorites to share with you -- not all because of the design, but some for flimsy reasons I’ll try to explain as I go. Such as these two, which were so popular you couldn’t avoid them.

Click on any image to see a larger view.

At the end of this post, I’ll tell you about submitting your own favorite album art.

This week I’ve grouped images that represent to me “your parents' record collection.” Only a few of these were in my own home, since my parents didn’t really believe in music, but I imagine many people will remember these from dusty collections now residing in the garage or long-since given to the Goodwill.

During the Kennedy administration, it seemed like you couldn’t go to any home without seeing a copy of The First Family. Supposedly when Lenny Bruce was told of the president’s assassination, he commented that “Vaughn Meader is screwed…” in reference to the popular Kennedy impersonator (who was, indeed, screwed after that). Comedy albums were very popular in the 1960s, almost as popular as musical albums. Especially if they were slightly racy or “profane,” as in this one from Bob Crane (who, we later discovered, was in fact, very profane).

If you were even somewhat hip you listened to the Kingston Trio, Les Baxter, or some sort of exotic dance music. And I have a feeling that George Gershwin didn’t really have in mind cocktails and blue dresses when he wrote Rhapsody in Blue.

But if you were a dip family like mine, you had albums more like these from Kate Smith, Julie Andrews, and Connie Francis. And everyone had a copy of “People.”

I get a lot of grief when anyone thumbs through my records and discovers that I have two different “Singing Nun” albums, as well as a host of other religious titles. But hey, I grew up in the Catholic Church and singing nuns were almost as good as the flying variety. And who would have thought there would be competing convents vying for the hit “Dominique” market. I remember seeing at least one set of nuns on the old Ed Sullivan show.

I love this nun album mostly because of the fine print on the cover that locates Saint Mary of the Woods, Indiana, as "(NEAR TERRA HAUTE)" as if that might make the music more appealing.

And though it is not officially a nun album, certainly The Sound of Music qualified as a religious experience for many families.

But my absolute favorite “parent albums” are those that promoted a sexy lifestyle of some sort. Remember, this is pre-Madonna -- you had to infer a lot from a half-smoked cigarette and some confetti.

What, exactly, do people do when they take the phone off the hook? I guess they dance all night or better yet, share hands across the table.

If you were lucky enough to marry a girl, you would hope that she was an angel. Every woman, after all, likes to be put on a pedestal. Of course, in those days the pedestal was right outside the kitchen.

And we all know that first comes love, then comes marriage, then come all the little puppies in the baby carriage.

What Album Covers Affected You?
Next week I’ll look at more contemporary album art. In the meantime, think about album covers that made an impact on you and email them to me at gene@creativepro.com. The images should be no smaller than 450 pixels wide and no larger than 1200 pixels wide. I can’t wait to see your favorites.

I'll choose one of your submissions at random as the winner. The prize: A special collection of Scanning Around with Gene material custom-fitted to your preferences!

[Update: Part II is now live.]