Between 1976 and 2019 Bill Smith and Bill Smith Studios worked with over 200 bands and artists, creating many hundreds of covers
Born in 1951
Bill Smith was fifteen years old when he discovered just how much music and the record covers that enveloped them meant to him.
"The Beatles Revolver album had some great pop tracks including one of my favourite songs - For No One - my first love began and ended that summer while I played that song constantly. The album also had a great sleeve by Klaus Voorman which, I found intriguing, with its line drawn portraits mixed with a photo-collage of the band."
He was hooked, and knew that though he wasn't destined to be making the music, he was certain that he wanted to be part of it all somehow. His hours spent in the local record store, listening and examining the covers were the training ground for his career that began in 1976 with his appointment as Art Director for Polydor Records.
The Jam came along
In 1977, when Chris Parry, A&R Manager came into the studio and asked Bill to go and see a new band at The Greyhound pub. So began a relationship that produced five album covers and sixteen singles covers, starting with the most important: their debut release and introduction to the public, In The City.
“It all started with The Jam logo”
In the subsequent five decades
Bill Smith and his Studio worked with over 200 bands and artists, creating hundreds of LP covers, single bags and CD covers for some of the biggest artist at the time, and with multi-release relationships including Genesis, Kate Bush, King Crimson, Toyah Wilcox and The Cure.