Jun 30, 2025
Ed Colver discusses his iconic punk rock photography career, including shooting legendary album covers like Black Flag's "Damaged" and Circle Jerks' "Group Sex," as well as his passion for collecting strange "crackpot records".
Topics Include:
- Ed Colver known for punk photography, also collects strange records
- Calls his collection "crackpot records" - religious, political, spoken word
- Started buying records at 14 in 1964, Pretty Things album
- Always liked heavy underground psychedelic music growing up
- Collected antiques, spent time at flea markets and thrift stores
- Would hide good records behind Sean Cassidy albums
- Put Herb Alpert records in front to fool other collectors
- Music and art were everything to him growing up
- Exposed to avant-garde classical in 1967 by art teacher
- Learned Stockhausen, John Cage, Edgar Varèse, Toru Takamitsu
- Called electronic music "your grandfather's punk rock"
- George Antheil's Ballet Mechanique caused riots in 1923
- Hated high school, dropped out at 18 for junior college
- Studied all kinds of applied art classes and woodworking
- Made skateboard in 1963, year Kennedy was shot
- Beatles on Ed Sullivan made no impact on him
- Preferred Pretty Things over Beatles and Rolling Stones
- Never tried playing instruments, glad didn't buy drum kit
- Started photography in late 1978 at punk shows
- Took friend Robert Hill to shows, now works national security
- Couldn't afford much film, had to be selective
- Used manual focus with small flash, paid attention constantly
- Shot rhythm-timed photos, watched for dramatic moments
- Lost lens in right eye 30 years ago
- Famous Chuck Berk stage dive photo taken July 1981
- Met Chuck next night, never saw him again since
- Chuck gets paid when photo is licensed commercially
- Levi's and Vans perfect product placement in photo
- Circle Jerks "Group Sex" cover shot at Marina skate park
- Was there specifically to shoot album cover, not spontaneous
- Used color film, took more than one roll
- High contrast printing saved the mediocre color photo
- Black Flag "Damaged" cover concept was Ed's idea
- Shot near La Bianca murder house location coincidentally
- Made fake blood from ink, coffee, and dish soap
- Red-eyed Henry photos were rejected as "too demented"
- Original red-eye photos lost for 35 years
- Channel 3 Pure Life photo originally for Damaged insert
- Typeset layout ruined the backward gun photograph's power
- How to Overcome Discouragement record from early 1970s
- Played it as soundtrack at art walk event
- Has broken glass on cover, similar to Damaged
- Wild in Streets cover shot during San Francisco parade
- Circle Jerks crashed parade, Ed ran ahead shooting
- Parade doesn't show in final photo, just street
- Shot Darby Crash mohawk photo backstage at Starwood
- Darby died about two months after that photo
- Ice Cube portrait shot in one minute, ten frames
- Used medium format camera with professional lighting setup
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