Late in 1981, Landscape’s then record company commissioned artist Peter Blake (b.1932) to design a cover for Manhattan Boogie-Woogie, using band photographs by Brian Aris. Blake and Aris had worked together on the Who’s Face Dances album.

Blake’s collage, itself a tribute to Kurt Schwitters, used elements from a list of cultural influences (including Mondrian, Hitchcock, Alec Issigonis’s Morris Minor car) supplied by Landscape, and included a bus ticket as an additional tribute to Schwitters. The title panel is in Blake’s distinctive handwriting. Peter was a joy to talk and correspond with, as he still is.

When the artwork was brusquely rejected by the record company, Ian Wright (known for his work on The Face and Straight No Chaser) was swiftly called in to design a replacement sleeve, also using the Aris photos. Although Blake’s cover has not yet been used for a Landscape release, it has been widely seen and admired in exhibitions, books and magazine articles about Blake’s work.