

UFO, Obsession, 1978



I love everything about these remarkable advertisements, all of which were on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles between 1967 and 1981. We have photographer Robert Landau to thank for these pictures, as his collection represents the best available resource about them. Last year he came out with a very pretty book called Rock ‘n’ Roll Billboards of the Sunset Strip.

According to Landau, it wasn’t until 1967 that the music industry ventured into billboards to advertise new rock albums. The first rock billboard was for the Doors’ first album. As we can see here, other acts had billboards by 1967, so it must have caught on quickly.

“When I went out to explore the world,” says Landau. “I felt the Strip was like a gallery; there were these hand-painted works of art on the street. ... They looked like giant art pieces that kind of represented my generation and the music I listened to.”

“At one time, L.A. just felt a lot funkier. It felt more Western, and ... people could come here and do whatever they want. To a degree, that created a lot of chaos, but there was something about that freedom that allowed people to do fun things,” he says. “Things were a little quirkier back then. There was a bit more of a personal feel to the environment.”

A few notes about the pictures below. The ELO billboard is noteworthy because of the custom-made plexiglass neon space station, based on John Kosh’s logo for the band, which cost $50,000. Obviously, the Abbey Road billboard pictured here was defaced by some Beatlemaniac, which is why Paul’s head isn’t there. My favorite billboard of the bunch (and Landau’s too) is the remarkable one for the London Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Tommy from 1972; the billboard features no text whatsoever, just those creepy sci-fi eyes staring out at you. So ballsy!





Pink Floyd, Atom Heart Mother, 1970





Cocker Is Coming





10cc, Deceptive Bends, 1977





Joni Mitchell, Blue, 1971





The Knack, Round Trip, 1981





Jimi Hendrix, Axis: Bold as Love, 1967





Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Zuma, 1975





London Symphony Orchestra, Tommy, 1972





ELO, Out of the Blue, 1977





Love, Forever Changes, 1967





Cheech and Chong’s Wedding Album, 1974





Cheap Trick, Dream Police, 1979





Bob Dylan, Saved, 1980





Smokey Robinson, Love Breeze, 1978





The Beatles, Abbey Road, 1969





Village People, “Ready for the 80’s,” 1979





The Band, Stage Fright, 1970





Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street, 1972





Pink Floyd, The Wall, 1979



Here’s a video from The Hollywood Reporter on Landau and the billboards:

