PATTERNS AND TONES

This promotional postcard I made for Tower Records featured two very close friends of mine and was styled with items they literally had laying around the house. Throwing their iconic plastic bag into the middle of midcentury wax, I was able to place the Tower Records brand into a time warp and emphasis the joy teens derived from laying around listing to music and reading the album liner notes. When I began shooting commercially I rarely used professional models. I suppose its due to the fact that I have always been surrounded by interesting people who are willing to be photographed in the various projects I had going on. I also saw that by employing everyday people in my commercial work, it gave the images a more genuine feeling. This postcard was so popular they even made them into notebooks and date savers. The outakes below have never been published nor seen since 1997! For the love of vinyl, Julie Green May 7, 2016

I cannot discuss the work I did for Tower Records back in the 9T's without sharing a few shots from the photo shoot I did with the incredible Marian Anderson . Her sweet, good natured personality and her tough as nails attitude intrigued me. She was  the lead singer for  The Insaints , a local Bay Area punk band that were known for their outrageous live shows.  I asked her to pose for me for a promotional postcard for Tower and she didn't hesitate to jump in. Styled by the amazing Rosalie Jacques of Gypsy Rosalie's Wigs and Vintage, I asked Marian to "wear" the Tower Record bags as a dress. She didn't miss a beat and easily slipped into the less than comfortable plastic making it look glamours and stylish. Looking back on the day we shot this ad, I remember no one batting an eye while Marian posed for me. I supposed that's what I loved most of all about San Francisco. It was a place where a 6 foot tall goddess with an  outrageous  wi...

Back in the 9T's my friend Wendy Powell, who at the time was drumming for The Groovie Ghoulies , got me a job shooting for Tower Records. For a few years I supplied them with a steady stream of images to illustrate Pulse! their monthly in-store magazine. I don't normally post images I have shot commercially for this blog but since this particular collection of images met at the corner of Capsers Famous Hot Dogs Way and Tower Record Road, I couldn't resist. On top of that, this set of images feature the amazing Danielle Pimm from The Trashwomen dressed up as Catwoman! These images have never been seen before, as they never ran in the magazine. I had been using the Tower Record bag as a prop for several illustrations and ended up using it here as a makeup band and tail storage! The interior of this Caspers still had all of its vintage charm and was a perfect foil for the graphics and color of the iconic Tower bag. Tower Records ceased to exits and filed for ba...