Legendary Album Cover Design Studio Unlocks Archives, Offers ALICE COOPER, AEROSMITH Works

In the early 1970s, no album cover design agency in the U.S. was hotter than Pacific Eye & Ear. Started in 1972 in Los Angeles by designer Ernie Cefalu after stints on Madison Avenue and with album cover designer Craig Braun, PE&E was built around a team of incredibly-talented young artists who brought the agency’s clients music packaging designs that captured the hearts and eyes of music lovers worldwide and built a portfolio of images that, to this day, are considered amongst the most-iconic of all time.
Who doesn't remember the first time they saw AEROSMITH's "Toys In The Attic", or ALICE COOPER's "Billion Dollar Babies"? BLACK SABBATH's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" or the 3-D lenticular image on the cover of "Captain Beyond"? PE&E's range of work was simply astounding and the talents of each of the associated artists (Drew Struzan, Ingrid Haenke, Bill Garland, Joe Garnett, Carl Ramsey, as well as Cefalu himself) would soon translate into their own success and/or fame after the agency disbanded 13 years later. In particular, Cefalu would go on to create greatly-admired campaigns for a wide variety of clients both in and out of the music business, while Struzan would gain world-wide attention for his theatrical posters for block-buster movies such as "Star Wars", "Indiana Jones", "The Muppets", "Harry Potter" and many others.

Now, for the first time in over 30 years, some of the best-known works from the PE&E archives are available for sale to music fans and art collectors worldwide as part of the Original Album Cover Art collection. Over 250 original works of art are offered — original paintings, drawings and sketches — as well as a series of limited-edition fine art prints derived directly from the original works in this archive.

In November, 2010, PE&E/OACA released the first five items in what will be a growing portfolio of highly-desirable album cover art prints. With production overseen by Cefalu himself, these prints are produced using only the best materials in order to enhance the visual impact of each of the images. Each finished print in both the unsigned ("Standard") and artist-signed ("Signature") editions is hand-numbered and stamped with the PE&E Corporate seal to ensure authenticity. Each print is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity (a work of art in itself, featuring sample images from the collection),also signed and stamped by Ernie Cefalu.

The first five prints now available include:

* AEROSMITH's "Toys In The Attic" - the cover of the band's triumphant 1975 release features an illustration by Ingrid Haenke;

* ALICE COOPER's "Alice At The Palace" - the promotional image for an un-staged Broadway extravaganza that was to have been produced in 1972. It features an "Alice as Medusa" image created by Joe Garnett and additional graphics by Drew Struzan and Ingrid Haenke;

* ALICE COOPER's "Greatest Hits" gatefold cover - this St. Valentine's Day Massacre-themed image by Drew Struzan and Bill Garland was featured on the front cover of the band's 1974 "Greatest Hits" package;

* CAPTAIN BEYOND's "Captain Beyond" - a collaborative effort (painting by artist Joe Garnett, lettering by Ernie Cefalu) was used as part of a 3D "lenticular" album cover for this band's 1972 debut recording;

* "Jesus Christ Superstar Angels" - The package for Rice/Lloyd-Webber's ground-breaking rock musical featured these angels, recreated here in stunning detail by their creator, Ernie Cefalu.

Upon completion of production, PE&E/OACA will also be releasing additional titles, including ALICE COOPER's "Billion Dollar Babies" and "Welcome To My Nightmare", and BLACK SABBATH's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath". These titles all feature the art/ illustrations of Drew Struzan.

Retail pricing for the current editions is as follows (all prices quoted in U.S. Dollars):

* AEROSMITH - "Toys In The Attic"

Standard Edition (375 prints) - $350.00
Signature Edition (125 prints) - $900.00;

* ALICE COOPER - "Alice At The Palace"

Standard Edition (375) - $450.00
Signature Edition (125) - $2100.00

* ALICE COOPER - "Greatest Hits"

Standard Edition (375) - $450.00
Signature Edition (125) - $2100.00

All prints are available now exclusively on the RockPoP Gallery web site.