Pawn Shop Graphics

Below is a breakdown of the graphic (I hesitate to use “artwork”) for each song on the album Pawn Shop, with an explanation of how it represents that song

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M1 A1
Gorillaz
Gorillaz

This one is pretty obvious – it even has the name of the song title right there on the box. But then again, it was supposed to be obvious.

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Good Thing
Reel Big Fish
Cheer Up

This is one of those weak efforts, and, I think, the last one I did when creating the clues. It’s essentially a collage of other album covers all with the title of “Good Thing.” I think that now I could have done something better.

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(Drawing) Rings Around The World
Super Furry Animals
RIngs Around The World

I remember finding this image of the globe with the phone cord wrapped around it and thinking “Perfect!” It’s not such an obvious clue until you hear the song. Maybe a little too hidden behind the shells, but it’s still there.

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We Used To Be Friends
Dandy Warhols
Welcome To The Monkey House

This is a more personal clue than most of the others. I’m the kid on the left in that stupid orange vest. The one on the right was my best friend for years. That is not the case anymore. It is literally the title of the song.

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Friendly Ghost
Eels
Souljacker

The Friendly Ghost. Duh.

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Broken Up Adingdong
Beta Band
Beta Band

Not sure how effective this clue is, but the cracked liberty bell seemed to be an obvious clue to me.

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Johnny & Courtney
Entrain
All One

Johnny Rotten & Courtney Love. I couldn’t think of anything better.

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Treachery
Kirsty MacColl
Tropical Brainstorm

This was a tough one – how do you represent something this abstract? The card is called Treachery, and I tried to make that more obvious by putting the magnifier in front of it. I don’t think it was really legible in the final artwork, but I guess it satisfied me enough to go with it.

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War Dance
XTC
Nonsuch

I knew what I wanted to do for this clue right away. Replacing the footprints in a dance instruction chart with weapons of war seemed a good way to go. I still like it, although I probably should have put a tank in there somewhere.

A second item in this cubicle is the Jingoistic Cake. That was almost the title of this CD, but it didn’t seem like it would be as much fun for an album cover, but I wanted to put it here anyway. The cake box is from a Brooklyn based bakery, Entenmann’s, which is pretty well known on the east coast.  I think I matched the brand name style well enough that people would’t notice the change at first glance.

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Somebody Loved Me
Reel Big Fish
Cheer Up

This was another abstract concept that was hard to represent. Not really happy with this one, but it was the best I could do at the time. The legal document there is a copy a Dissolution of Marriage for, oddly enough, Lisa-Marie Presley. Again, in hindsight I could probably have done better.

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The Sound of Muzak
Porcupine Tree
In Absentia

Does the dance floor and mirror ball in an elevator properly represent the title of this song? I’m not sure, but I still can’t think of a better why to depict this clue. Not sure that it’s completely obvious that it’s an elevator – I maybe should have put larger up/down buttons on the edge of the door.

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Leave The Biker
Fountains of Wayne
Fountains of Wayne

I’m thinking the motorcycle and the broken heart decal on the gas tank were pretty obvious clues for this one.

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Run! Christian, Run!
Super Furry Animals
RIngs Around The World

I simply replaced the badge on a Converse with a cross. Simple. Of course listening to the song first helps.

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Newborn
Elbow
Asleep In The Back

I probably could have done better on this one, but based on the name of the song it should have been pretty easy to figure out, though I could see where the clue for That’s Not Really Funny (below) could confuse people.

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Fairy Dust
Joe Jackson
Volume 4

Who better to represent Fairy Dust than Tinker Bell herself. Different kind of fairy, but, whatever. In hindsight, I probably should have put a feather duster in there.

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Burning Down My Sanity
Moth
Provisions Fiction & Gear

I like this clue. It’s not too obvious, but the head on fire, I think, gets the point across. Bonus extra in this one: The iPod (a 2nd generation, 10GB firewire, in case you’re interested) is showing the name and artist of the hidden track on the CD. It’s not really legible in the final artwork, but it’s there. Here’s a close up and the original pic.

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That’s Not Really Funny
Eels
Souljacker

Now that’s funny, but not really…

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Scattered Black & Whites
Elbow
Asleep In The Back

Another clue with some personal background. The image of scattered black & white photos is obvious enough as a clue, but the photos are of a more personal nature.

There are pictures in here of my sons, my Best Man, friends from college, on set at college, on set on tour in VA, and with crew in the Taj Mahal arena, my wife young and younger, grandparents, a holiday party, friends in general, and Nixon on the toilet.

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Hidden Track
Eels
Souljacker

On the inside tray of this CD is a collection of shots of different Pawn Shops. I originally had scoured the internet looking for shots of Pawn Shops to use, but I couldn’t really find what I wanted. Fortunately I worked in Atlantic City at the time, and if there’s one thing a gambling town does not lack, it’s Pawn Shops. So I drove around and took shots of a bunch of shops in the city one night after work.

So where does the Hidden track fit in? You need to look in the rearview mirror in the bottom right of the image above. In the window in the mirror is what looks like a reflection of a neon sign, but is in fact lettering that I put there that is the name and artist of the last track on the album, actually called, oddly enough, Hidden Track.