Marcy Playground |
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Mon. November 08.1999 9:48 AM EST |
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Marcy Playground Album Cover Looks Familiar To Butthole SurfersPop rockers say they didn't know Shapeshifter art was originally intended for disc by anarchic noise rockers. by Correspondent Chris Riemenschneider and Staff Writer Brian Hiatt |
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Marcy Playground's John Wozniak says the Shapeshifter art reflects the CD's title, which is based on an American Indian legend. ( ) |
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Pop-rockers Marcy Playground and noise-rockers Butthole Surfers don't
have much in common musically. But judging from the cover of Marcy Playground's just-released album, Shapeshifter, the two bands have the same taste in art
"The cover art for this album is based on my concept for the next Butthole Surfers album — where 'Marcy Playground' is now, there was first 'Butthole Surfers' painted in log letters," Surfers guitarist Paul Leary wrote in an Oct. 28 posting on Marcy Playground's website (www.marcyplayground.com). "This is truly pathetic and unoriginal, to have to take my idea and call it your own." The cover, painted by artist Mark Ryden, was based on a sketch by Leary for a Butthole Surfers album called After the Astronaut, according to Surfers drummer King Coffey. Coffey said the Surfers lost the rights to the art when they left Capitol Records, where Marcy Playground is signed. "We had to pay a boatload of money to get the rights back to this album," Coffey said. "We do that, and they still find a way to juggle the accounting so they can keep our artwork." But Capitol didn't tell Marcy Playground about the painting's origin when the band chose it from a selection of Ryden's art, singer John Wozniak said Tuesday, just after playing the first show of his band's U.S. tour. "We asked our record company to hire Mark Ryden to do our record cover — I'd admired his work for a while," Wozniak said. "I had no idea that he'd done pieces for the Buttholes or even that they'd left the label." Wozniak said he chose the cover from a selection of already-completed works because its design — which depicts an alien smoking a peace pipe with an American Indian shaman — reflects the album's title, which is based on an American Indian legend, according to Wozniak. Linda Cobb, the Capitol Records art director who oversaw the project, confirmed the label didn't tell Marcy Playground the artwork was left over from the Surfers' album. "Nobody's the bad guy here," Cobb said, declining further comment. Ryden, who also painted the art for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' One Hot Minute (1995), among other albums, said he was aware of the controversy but declined further comment. He would neither confirm nor deny that Leary came up with the idea for the artwork. "I feel honored to have a record cover designed by Paul Leary of the Butthole Surfers — if it really was," Wozniak said. After Wozniak explained his band's side of the story on the website, Leary's postings became more conciliatory. "I like Marcy Playground. I do not understand being in a band and making a record and not wanting to be involved with the concept for the package. But MP is a fine band," he wrote. Wozniak said he felt the two bands have "made their peace." Marcy Playground, best known for their 1997 hit "Sex and Candy" (RealAudio excerpt), are on tour in support of Shapeshifter, which includes the single "It's Saturday" (RealAudio excerpt). In their 16-year career, the Butthole Surfers have influenced numerous indie-rock bands, but the group produced only a single radio hit, 1996's "Pepper" (RealAudio excerpt). The Surfers said they still plan to release After the Astronaut or use songs from it for another disc due early next year — with a different cover. |
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