Iggy Pop: New Values (1979) album cover

I can count the number of times that I have been in a record store this year on one hand. Now, when I'm listening to a track on my computer or on my phone, I have this compulsive desire to hold a physical copy of whatever I'm listening to in my hands; to dissect the album artwork and skim the liner notes. But I hardly ever get a chance to look at the artwork that accompanies the music I listen to anymore, which is a shame. It makes me all the more grateful for the time I spent at record stores in my teens when the artwork on a cover was often an indicator of whether the music was any good.

This is the cover of Iggy Pop's 1979 album, "New Values". The image is provocative on several levels, but mainly for its reference to S&M. It is theatrical--Are they in a play? Are they doing performance art? Is that a spotlight in the background?--with a hint of violence. What are those ballerinas going to do with him? Are they performing some sort kind of satanic rite? In leotards? It's a bit like Iggy Pop meets Suspiria.