Back in the day (1991, to be exact), Mr. Dancey took on an assignment to illustrate the “Badmotorfinger” album for the Soundgarden band. In the ongoing effort to clear out the archives, Mr. Dancey has unearthed this little item that shows how the iconic grunge album could have ended up looking a lot different than it actually did.
After the artwork was turned in, the art department produced a proof of the cover based on Dancey’s color specifications. Dancey proposed that the band’s name appear in lime green, while the blurred photo of the band in the background appear in purple, and that the “flip-off finger wheel” illustration in the center appear in metallic gold. The record company did not want to spring for the extra expense of metallic gold ink, so the center illustration was colored a transparent yellow. Luckily, this color scheme was rejected. The band thought the end was result was too “Manchester” and convinced the record company to color the center illustration in metallic gold, with the band’s name appearing in red and the photo appearing in violet/black.
Mr. Dancey is offering his only copy of this grunge-era oddity for sale.
Click here to check out this and other auctions of Ebay.
