The Clash: London Calling - Ray Lowry's cover design

Ray Lowry, cartoonist, illustrator and satirist, wrote about the design of the London Calling cover:

The “London Calling” album cover had to feature the infamous pink and green Rock and Roll lettering. God made me do that. Early roughs show that as the one constant with say, the band roughly delineated, depending upon which photo was eventually to drop from heaven. Joe would often look over my shoulder, as would Michael, and Mr. Strummer thoroughly approved of my choice, as he made quite obvious. Everything was done on a wink and a nod basis and why the hell I thought I was even going to get near to the cover is a bit of a mystery. Sod it, let’s just have a go. We couldn’t do worse than Hipgnosis [sic], God help us .. I believe that Joe and I were the only ones to share that exultant, ‘Yihaa!, This is it,” moment when we spotted that marvellous little shot among the many, many shots on Pennie’s sheet of contact prints one shady, smokey evening in some hotel in some state, towards the end of the trip. I didn’t know until just recently that the dear chap had wrangled long and hard with Pennie about it. The old gal didn’t fancy it because it was obviously out-of-focus, but I think that his Strummership and moi saw a fantastic rocking moment, Monsieur Simonon smashing the tool of his trade to Smithereens on the stage of the New York Palladium – Pow! – Take that you yankee upstarts – we’re still so bored with the U.S.A. Actually I had no idea that it was out of focus. Half blind at the best of times and probably half pissed at the time, that simply had to be the one. History seems to have proved us correct. But back then, it seemed that the combination of the rip-off lettering and an unrecognizable central figure would cause all sorts of difficulties with the powers that be’d at C.B.S. We need not have worried. My design and myself were met with something a little short of indifference back in London and I was confined to the obscurity of some corner in their art department while the big boys excited themselves with the then, latest Shakin’ Stevens slice of vynil [sic] regurgitation. I seem tor recall Radio 1 being on most of the time. Nom du merde! We who would valiant be etc, etc,. Joe’s only other contribution was his stipulation on a matt finish to the picture. Oh well, these boys all have their ideosincracies [sic] and I had had a nice stateside holiday. We pushed the bugger through – only regret the pink wasn’t quite hot enough. Fluorescent would have been nice, but I still felt that I was walking on thin ice. Monseiur [sic] Green and I, reunited, made odd trips to the printers, just to make sure that they weren’t putting Shaking’ Stevens on the cover. The old boy even suggested to me, recently that they should erect a “London Calling” sign instead of the tired old Hollywood sign. Neat bloody idea, when you come to think of it.

From: The Clash by Ray Lowry and Ben Myers, Angry Penguin Publishing 1992, pages 78-84