Hapshash and the Coloured Coat was an influential British graphic design and

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

musical partnership in the late 1960s, consisting of Michael English and

Nigel Waymouth Nigel Waymouth (born 1941) is a designer and artist, a co-partner in the boutique, Granny Takes a Trip, and one of the two-man team, Hapshash and the Coloured Coat, which designed psychedelic posters in the 1960s. He has since had a solo career, i ...

. It produced popular psychedelic posters, and two

albums An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records col ...

underground music Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...

. The silkscreen printed posters created by the pair advertised

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

"happenings", clubs and concerts in London, and became so popular at the time that they helped launch the commercial sale of posters as art, initially in fashionable stores such as the

Indica Bookshop Indica Gallery was a counterculture art gallery in Mason's Yard (off Duke Street), St James's, London from 1965 to 1967, in the basement of the Indica Bookshop. John Dunbar, Peter Asher, and Barry Miles owned it, and Paul McCartney supporte ...

and

Carnaby Street Carnaby Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in Soho in the City of Westminster, Central London. Close to Oxford Street and Regent Street, it is home to fashion and lifestyle retailers, including many independent fashion boutiques. S ...

boutiques. Their first album of psychedelic music, produced by a collective in early 1967 and including many famous names, is now seen as being influential on the early works of

Amon Düül Amon Düül was a West German political art commune formed out of the student movement of the 1960s that became well known for its free-form musical improvisations. This spawned two rock groups, Amon Düül (sometimes referred to as Amon Düü ...

and other pioneers of German Krautrock, as well as inspiring sections of the Rolling Stones' ''

Their Satanic Majesties Request ''Their Satanic Majesties Request'' is the 6th British and 8th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in December 1967 by Decca Records in the UK and by London Records in the US. It is their first to be relea ...

'' album.Shirley, Ian (2007) ''Can Rock and Roll Save the World?: An Illustrated History of Music and Comics'' (pp.45–46) Wembley: SAF Their posters remain highly sought after. The original artwork for a poster advertising Jimi Hendrix's 1967 concert at the Fillmore Auditorium in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

– depicting the guitarist as a psychedelic Native American chief with a hunting bow in one hand and a peace pipe in the other – was sold in 2008 by

Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought to ...

for $72,000. Between October 2000 and January 2001, the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, which owns the originals of many of their posters in its permanent collection, mounted a retrospective exhibition of their work titled "Cosmic Visions–Psychedelic Posters from the 1960s".

Partnership

Michael English had studied art under

Roy Ascott Roy Ascott FRSA (born 26 October 1934) is a British artist, who works with cybernetics and telematics on an art he calls technoetic by focusing on the impact of digital and telecommunications networks on consciousness. Since the 1960s, Ascott ...

Ealing Art College Ealing Art College (or Ealing Technical College & School of Art) was a further education institution on St Mary's Road, Ealing, London, England. The site today is the Ealing campus of University of West London. History In the early 1960s the S ...

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North Londo ...

between 1963 and 1966.McNay, Michael (1 October 2009)
Michael English obituary: Graphic artist and rock band member whose posters encapsulated the swinging 1960s
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' (London) Retrieved 2010-10-24Helfand, Jessica (2001)''Screen: Essays on Graphic Design, New Media, and Visual Culture'' (p.35) New York: Princeton Architectural Press English, Michael (2009)
History
''MichaelEnglishArt'' Retrieved 2010-10-24 He took part in Ascott's revolutionary ''Groundcourse'', the first year of which focused on changing preconceptions and involved exercises such as students being subjected to continuous pulses of light and darkness in the lecture theatre before being asked to walk over a floor covered with glass

marbles A marble is a small spherical object often made from glass, clay, steel, plastic, or agate. They vary in size, and most commonly are about in diameter. These toys can be used for a variety of games called ''marbles'', as well being placed in mar ...

. Ascott later recalled that one of the aims was to create disorientation "within an environment that is sometimes unexpectedly confusing, where

he artist He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' i ...

is faced with problems that seem absurd, aimless or terrifying …

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

sat on a trolley for three weeks, because he wasn't allowed to use his legs and

rian RIA Novosti (russian: РИА Новости), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (russian: РИА, label=none) is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013 by a decree of Vladimir Putin it was liquidated and its asset ...

Eno went around with a bag on his head." After graduating, English briefly worked for an

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

. Having become "captivated by the pop movement", however, he was soon selling his pop art designs – described as "a potent mix of art nouveau with hard-edge

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

applied to disposable items such as

union flag The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

sunglasses" – direct to London's trendy boutiques, including Gear on

. As a freelance graphic artist he was also producing artwork for the

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

newspaper '' International Times''.Gorman, Paul (14 August 2008)
Hapshash: Acid, art, music and madness
''The Look: Adventures in Rock & Pop Fashion'' Retrieved 2010-10-25 Nigel Waymouth had graduated from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, where he studied Economic History, and had also studied art at several London colleges.Waymouth, Nigel (2010)
Biography
''Nigel Waymouth'' Retrieved 2010-10-25 Following a period working as a freelance journalist, he opened a boutique at 488

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, in partnership with his girlfriend Sheila Cohen and John Pearse, a

Savile Row Savile Row (pronounced ) is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical ...

–trained

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

. They acquired the premises in December 1965 and opened as

Granny Takes a Trip Granny Takes a Trip was a boutique opened in February 1966 at 488 Kings Road, Chelsea, London, by Nigel Waymouth, his girlfriend Sheila Cohen and John Pearse. The shop, which was acquired by Freddie Hornik in 1969, remained open until the mi ...

(GTT) in February 1966, initially selling

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

and antique clothes with what author Paul Gorman describes as "an up-to-date feel that appealed to the young hippie denizens of what was becoming known as Swinging London". They also sold their own designs – "very decadent, flowery and over the top, but without being totally tasteless" – which were soon in demand with bands such as

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

(photographed wearing GTT clothes on the back cover of '' Revolver''), the Rolling Stones (front cover of ''

Between the Buttons ''Between the Buttons'' is the fifth British and seventh American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 20 January 1967 in the UK and on 11 February in the US as the follow-up to '' Aftermath''. It reflected the S ...

''),

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

The Animals The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...

and Pink Floyd.Adams, Guy Sangster (29 October 2008)
The Iconic History of Artist and Designer Nigel Waymouth, by way of Granny Takes A Trip, Hapshash & the Coloured Coat, and The Look Presents…
''Plectrum–The Cultural Pick'' Retrieved 2010-10-24 In December 1966 English and Waymouth were introduced to one another by

Joe Boyd Joe Boyd (born August 5, 1942) is an American record producer and writer. He formerly owned Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked on recordings of Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The Incredible String Ba ...

and John "Hoppy" Hopkins, co-founders of the

UFO Club The UFO Club ( ') was a short-lived British counter-culture nightclub in London in the 1960s. The club was established by Joe Boyd and John "Hoppy" Hopkins. It featured light shows, poetry readings, well-known rock acts such as Jimi Hendrix, ...

Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road t ...

, who asked them to collaborate on posters advertising the club. Waymouth said: "They wanted a distinctive style. The idea was to pair us off and see what happened." The pair worked well together, with Waymouth saying "The chemistry between us was brilliant", and English describing how their combined talents "created a very interesting melange of visual delights". At first they operated under the name Cosmic Colors, but only produced one poster before changing the name to Jacob and the Coloured Coat, producing two more works. In March 1967 they chose the name Hapshash and the Coloured Coat, which suggested both hashish and psychedelic patterning (Joseph's " coat of many colors"). They set up a small studio on Princedale Road in Holland Park, close to the '' Oz'' offices, and where, according to the magazine's editor Richard Neville, "their sole inspiration was

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

and their regular 'tripping partner' was Pete Townshend." The posters were then printed and distributed by Osiris Visions, owned by the ''International Times'', in the basement of the Indica Bookshop in Mason's Yard (off Duke Street), St. James's.

Art

The posters they designed for the UFO Club and ''Oz'' magazine drew on elements of

Mucha Mucha (; Czech and Slovak feminine: Muchová) is a Slavic surname, derived from ''mucha'', meaning " fly".''Dictionary of American Family Names''"Mucha Family History" Oxford University Press, 2013. Retrieved on 4 January 2016. Mucha is the standa ...

Ernst Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (1975-) ...

, Magritte, Bosch,

Blake Blake is a surname which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory, presuma ...

, and

Dulac Dulac can refer to: People * Bill DuLac, American football player * Catherine Dulac, a professor for molecular biology * Edmund Dulac, French book illustrator * Germaine Dulac, French film director and early film theorist * Henri Dulac, French m ...

, pulling them together in a style that art critic

George Melly Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an ...

called "Nouveau Art Nouveau" and ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' was beginning to call "Nouveau Frisco".Graphics: Nouveau Frisco
(7 April 1967) ''

'' (New York) Retrieved 2010-10-27 They also designed posters for the

Middle Earth Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

club, Pink Floyd (who were the resident band at the UFO),

The 5th Dimension The 5th Dimension is an American popular music vocal group, whose repertoire includes pop, R&B, soul, jazz, light opera, and Broadway. Formed as the Versatiles in late 1965, the group changed its name to "the 5th Dimension" by 1966. Betwe ...

The Move The Move were a British rock band of the late 1960s and the early 1970s. They scored nine top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of their car ...

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are an English rock band formed by singer Arthur Brown in 1967. The original band included Vincent Crane ( Hammond organ and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwood (bass). This early incarnation w ...

, Soft Machine, and the

Incredible String Band The Incredible String Band (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a Scottish psychedelic folk band formed by Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron in Edinburgh in 1966. The band built a considerable following, especially in the British ...

. While other designers at the time opted for "an indiscriminate use of rainbows and any clashing colour combination, apshashstrived for maximum colour effect without sacrificing balance or harmony", and frequently used expensive gold and silver metallic inks, which previously were rarely seen on advertising posters. They also introduced a new technique to screen-printing which allowed them to "graduate from one colour to another on a single separation". Their work has been cited as an inspiration by

surrealistic Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

artist

Mark Wilkinson Mark Wilkinson (born 3 October 1952) is an English illustrator. He is best known for the detailed surrealistic cover art he created for a number of British bands. Wilkinson's breakthrough came through his association with the neo-progressive r ...

, known for his designs for bands such as Marillion, Judas Priest, and

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

Music

They also released two albums, ''Featuring the Human Host and the Heavy Metal Kids'' ( Minit: MLS 40001) in 1967, and ''Western Flier'' (

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

: LBS 83212) in 1969.

Discography

Albums

*''Featuring The Human Host And The Heavy Metal Kids'' (1967) *''Western Flier'' (1969)

Singles

*"Colinda" (1969)

References

External links

Nigel Waymouth–official website
* {{Authority control Psychedelic artists British graphic designers Album-cover and concert-poster artists British psychedelic rock music groups Musical groups established in 1967