The 70s are often regarded as a mean, dark and turbulent decade, full of discontent and pessimism. The album covers of the burgeoning hard rock, progressive rock, pop and punk scenes that dominated the decade mirrored this social and cultural dystopia effectively, and accurately, capturing the tone of the music as well as the world at large. Over the decade it became clear that the 1970s were a hotbed of experimental, unique and mind-expanding design - perfectly mirroring the progressive music of the time as well as the technology of music recording and photography and being an expansive step away from the 1960s optimism. 

    Classic Album Covers of the 1970s is an essential collection of over 200 of the greatest album covers produced during that dark decade, from the Grateful Dead, Roxy Music and David Bowie, to Patti Smith, The Ramones and the Sex Pistols.

    Other Releases on

    Power Pop! (RSD 2026)American Power Pop for the Now Generation 1977-1981
    One-off coloured pressing exclusive for RSD 2026 15 super-rare USA punk/power pop classics you never heard from bands you never knew! Soul Jazz Records’...
    • Ambulance – It's All Up To You
    • Dow Jones and The Industrials – Let’s Go Steady
    • Hot Dates – I Can't Stay
    • Nastyfacts – Drive My Car
    • Pointed Sticks – What Do You Want Me to Do?
    • The Normals – Hardcore
    • Shoes – Tomorrow Night
    • The Reactions – It's Our Turn Now
    • Puppet Rulers – Outta My Mind
    • Testors – Together
    • The Scruffs – You're No Fun
    • The Reruns – So So Alone
    • The Wigs – You Say Ono
    • The Fingers – Isolation
    • The Reactions – In Society
    Essential LogicExtended Play – Volume I & Volume II
    LP is limited to 500 copies. Lora Logic was unexpectedly ousted from her first band X-Ray Spex before the recording of their debut studio album 'Germ...
      • New LP (Coloured Vinyl)£23.99 £16.80
        In stockAdd to Bag
      Jocelyn BrownSomebody Else's Guy
      Released in 1984 and a top 20 hit in the UK, Somebody Else’s Guy is a Bonafide classic disco record that everyone knows! Now back in the spotlight more...
        Simon Fisher TurnerSTUFF
        After portraying Ned East in the 1971 BBC TV adaptation of Tom Brown’s Schooldays and roles in films such as The Big Sleep (with Robert Mitchum) (1978),...
          Wayne Jarrett And The Bull Wackie AllstarsAfrican Woman
          DKR say..Six track 12" collecting all the cuts of Wayne's first recording for Wackie's, from 1976. A classic of raw underground vibes from the Sounds Unlimited...
          • Wayne Jarrett – African Woman
          • Wayne Jarrett – African Woman (LP Mix)
          William S. BurroughsThe Finger
          'He felt a sudden deep pity for the finger joint that lay there on the dresser, a few drops of blood gathering around the white bone.'A deliberately severed...
            Nicola ConteNAQUELA BASE
            An RSD vinyl only exclusive of a track from Nicola Conte's next album. A cover of Joao Donato's dancefloor jazz classic Naquela Base. The track will only...
              XzibitRestless
              It's only appropriate that Xzibit's highly anticipated, and often-delayed, Restless concluded hip-hop's millennial melting pot. After all, Xzibit's association...
                TroublemanTIME OUT OF MIND
                An expanded edition of a long out of print Far Out classic. This double vinyl edition will include the track 'Strikehard' for the first time, which was...
                  • New 2×LP (Coloured Vinyl)£26.00
                    In stockAdd to Bag
                  Carol Ann DuffyFeminine Gospels
                  n Feminine Gospels, Carol Ann Duffy draws on the historical, the archetypal, the biblical and the fantastical to create various visions – and revisions...
                    • Book (200g) 9781035038565£10.99
                      In stockAdd to Bag
                    Andy WarholA
                    Part novel, part Pop artwork, Andy Warhol's a is an electrifying slice of life at his Factory studio'A work of genius' NewsweekIn the early 1960s, Andy...
                      BasquiatA Quick Killing in Art
                      “A smart, crackling chronicle of fast game, the ’80s art market, [and] the attraction of destruction.”— Village Voice A bold and vivid biography...
                        Kae TempestDivisible by itself and one
                        Divisible by Itself and One is the powerful new collection from our foremost truth-teller Kae Tempest. Ruminative, wise, with a newer, more contemplative...
                          Straighten Up! BOOK Boss Reggae From PamaForeword by Harry Palmer
                          We got some more! BOMB REGGAE BOOK!! Originally formed in 1967 by the Palmer brothers - Harry, Jeff and Carl – Pama Records was a pioneer in bringing...
                            Awopbopaloobop AlopbamboomBy Nik Cohn
                              • Original Book (300g)£12.00
                                Original Pre-Owned Out-of-Print Paperback Book
                                In stockAdd to Bag
                              The West Indian Experience in British SchoolsBy Raymond Giles
                                • Original Book (350g)£15.00
                                  Original Pre-Owned Out-of-Print Paperback Book in good condition
                                  In stockAdd to Bag
                                Rebel SoundsMusic as Resistance
                                'Empathy is the currency of all music and Joe Mulhall does a great job of explaining how that quality has been used to generate solidarity for the struggle...
                                  • Book (350g) 9781804442241£10.99
                                    In stockAdd to Bag
                                  Nikki GiovanniPoems: 1968-2020
                                  Nikki Giovanni's poetry has dazzled and inspired readers for more than sixty years. When she first emerged from the Black Arts Movement in the late 1960s,...
                                    Jamie Lidell & Luke SchneiderA Companion For The Spaces Between Dreams
                                    Jamie Lidell and Luke Schneider have created a kind of sonic tool to navigate a liminal state of mind. Their new collaborative LP, A Companion For The...
                                      • New LP (Coloured Vinyl) 0309272740004£26.00
                                        In stockAdd to Bag
                                      I Hear Music In The StreetsNew York 1969-89
                                      Capturing the energy of New York City's music subcultures—across hip-hop, punk and rap—through an array of snapshots by photographers including...
                                        • Book (1.4kg) 9788410024687£48.00
                                          In stockAdd to Bag
                                        Don CherryHear & Now
                                          • New LP (Coloured Vinyl) 0889397842512£17.00
                                            In stockAdd to Bag
                                          Ellis ReginaO Bem Do Amor
                                            • New LP (Coloured Vinyl) 7427255403500£18.99
                                              In stockAdd to Bag
                                            Rock Against Racism 1976-1981By Syd Shelton
                                            Rock Against Racism is a body of photographs that Syd Shelton produced for and about the British Rock Against Racism movement (RAR) of 1976–1981. For...
                                              Clarks in JamaicaBy Al Fingers, includes photos by Adrian Boot, Dave Hendley, David Corio, Mark Read, Beth Lesser
                                              Back in stock! Last copies!Superb brand new edition of this excellent deluxe 240 pages hardback, 100s and 100s of photos and text. New edition includes...
                                                • Book (1.5kg) 9780956777393£40.00 £35.00
                                                  In stockAdd to Bag
                                                Greensleeves BOOKThe First 100 Covers
                                                WICKED NEW HARDBACK BOOK! Charts the story of Greensleeves Records —from its beginnings as a mid-1970s West London record shop to its rise as a...
                                                  The Other Side : A Journey into Women, Art and the Spirit World
                                                  In an illuminating blend of memoir and art history, The Other Side explores the lives and work of a group of extraordinary women artists. From the twelfth-century...
                                                    Soul Jazz Records hoodie (navy)
                                                    Brand new Soul Jazz Records Functional Outer Wear Product #1 Exclusive to Sounds of the Universe Limited edition navy hoodie (large) with design.
                                                      Susan SontagNotes on Camp
                                                      These two classic essays were the first works of criticism to break down the boundaries between 'high' and 'low' culture, and made Susan Sontag a literary...
                                                        The Art of DancehallPosters and Flyers of Soundsystem Culture
                                                        Wicked book! Combining the energy and vibrancy of vernacular Jamaican art with the cultural insight that only original ephemera can bring, the flyers...
                                                          Revolutionary Letters
                                                          By turns a handbook of countercultural living, a manual for street protest, and a feminist broadside against the repressive state apparatus, Revolutionary...

                                                            People also bought

                                                            Bass CultureBy Lloyd BradleyPenguin Books
                                                            The first major account of the history of reggae, black music journalist Lloyd Bradley (who also wrote the sleevenotes for Soul Jazz Records' own Studio...
                                                              • Book (550g) 9780140237634£16.99
                                                                In stockAdd to Bag
                                                              Dub Echoes DVD (2009)DVD - Directed by Bruno Natal
                                                              'Dub Echoes' DVD out now on Soul Jazz Records!!!!!! 'Dub Echoes' is a newly produced film about Dub, featuring an incredible array of artists, both original...