Fremstillingen af den nære fortid som retro er et vigtigt fænomen i samtidskulturen, hvor det aktuelt i særlig grad er 1950’erne, der aktiveres som populærkulturel myte. Et vigtigt medie for retrokulturen er pladecoveret, der siden 1950’erne både har været en stærk visuel bærer af den kollektive erindring og selv tematiseret den nære fortid. Gennem covere fra John Lennon, Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids, The Clash og The B-52’s analyserer artiklen fremstillingen af 1950’erne i albumcoveret og beskriver to typer af retro: den autenticitetsbaserede og den karnevalistiske. Disse to typer udfordres dog af den perfektionerede, men også umiddelbare materialisering af 1950’erne i aktuelle covere som af Bloodshot Bill og Kitty, Daisy & Lewis. Med udgangspunkt i disse eksempler diskuteres den aktuelle retrokultur og 1950’ernes betydning som en særligt mytologiseret fortid, som vi både oplever forbindelse med og afstand til.
Populuxe Pop: The retrofication of the 1950s in album cover art
THE REVIVAL OF THE recent past as retro is an important tendency in contemporary culture. Especially the 1950s has been mythologized through the materialization of a distinct «Fiftiesness». An emblematic medium of retro culture and the Fiftiesness is the record album cover: a retro object in itself in the digital age. The article analyzes the revival of the 1950s from the 1970s up till today, describing two distinct modes of retro: one based on authenticity and another one based on the carnivalesque. These are exemplified in album covers by John Lennon, Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids, The Clash and The B-52s.
The current retro culture is characterized by a perfected retro look in graphic style, fonts, layout and the styling of the artists. This is an accessible as well as advanced performance of retro which expresses the general popularity of retro as well as its ever more specialized and dedicated forms. As such materializations of Fiftiesness the album covers by Bloodshot Bill and Kitty, Daisy and Lewis are discussed, and the current interest in the 1950s as a collective memory is debated.