JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT ART COVER THE OFFS GREEN EMERALD VINYL LP VERY RARE

$

300

JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT ART COVER THE OFFS GREEN EMERALD VINYL LP VERY RARE. Condition is BRAND NEW. Shipped with USPS Media Mail. This is a rare limited edition (worldwide edition of 500) issue of The Offs Vinyl in a marbled emerald green, commemorating the 35th anniversary of this iconic piece of pop culture. 

Jean-Michel Basquiat was a music fanatic and wannabe drummer who before he hit superstardom as a visual artist often needed cash—fast. Sometimes the two worlds collided. Once was in 1981 when the young Basquiat agreed to design an album sleeve for his friends in the punk-ska band, The Offs, in exchange for $400, which his mother needed to pay her rent.

Basquiat’s design for the album, called simply First Record, included some of the earliest examples of motifs that would come to define his work—a cartoon-like, black-and-white totemic figure standing atop a triangular mound with a crown of thorns hovering above his head. The punk band’s name appears written in Basquiat’s signature scrawl in three spots. Today, original copies of the album sell for thousands of dollars.

“The reissue is important as it celebrates a milestone in both the career of Basquiat and The Offs,” Brower says. “While the band is no longer a functioning entity, they played a seminal role in the downtown scene in the early 80s in New York. They were close friends with not only of Basquiat,  but also Warhol, Patti Astor, and many of the musicians and artists who haunted the Lower East Side in search of the miraculous,” he says. The young Basquiat wanted to be drummer, Bowers adds.

From the very beginning, Basquiat’s design for the album cover was an integral part of the production. The band had a difficult time placing the album, and one of the deciding factors for CD Presents, the label that ultimately produced it, was Basquiat’s design. It was inverted to be white on a black background to better align with the punk-rock sensibilities of the time.

The First Record was The Offs only album. While appreciated by a small circle of devotees, the band never achieved the widespread acclaim its members were seeking. The band faded into obscurity following the death of the lead singer, Don Vinyl, soon after the record was completed. Meanwhile, Basquiat shot to fame that would outlast his short life. He died in 1988, aged 27.

“Most, if not all, the people becoming familiar with the record now have no idea who The Offs were, but many are more than pleasantly surprised when they hear the music,” Brower says. He calls the album “a time capsule” of the early punk-ska sound made famous by British groups The Specials and The Clash.

The release date for this record is in late November and you will be the first to receive a copy of this rare collectible that is sure to increase in value.