#Robin Sloane Seibert

[fredseibertdotcom]

Robin Sloane, my mentor.

Robin Sloane is a badass. 

First thing, full disclosure. as they say. I’m not one of those folks who posts about family though sometimes you just gotta call it like it is. To be completely upfront, Robin Sloane Seibert is my wife and the mother of our sons. But, this post is about about work and how this amazing woman has been one of my most important guides and advisors. Right from the start, without intending to be at all advisory, she upended –all in a good way!– exactly how I’ve thought about my work. That doesn’t happen often in life and more than worth this shout out.

Robin Sloane has been a major innovator in the world of music video, always ready to work with emerging talent, encouraging them to dream. She started in the record business at a fantastic indie label outside of Burlington, Vermont, Philo Records. Founded by the charismatic entrepreneur Bill Schubart and his brother Michael Couture, Philo specialized in the contemporary folk scene that Robin followed, and, added to her college radio experiences and love of rock, she thrived at the label. After college she did a quick stint at Rolling Stone before landing in the publicity department of Epic Records, now part of Sony Music.

Getting a whiff of what was going on in music video in the early 80s, Robin jumped in, promoting Epic’s artists to any television outlet that would play her clips. When MTV went on the air she was more than ready. She started out strong, and promoted Adam & The Ants –among many others– to the channel, earning MTV its very first gold record. And after that things only got better.

Adam and The Ants Gold Record Party, Epic Records & MTV, Windows on the World NYC (Top, L-R) Buzz Brindle, Roberta Cruger, Alan Hunter, Julian Goldberg, Chip Rachlin, Bill Bennett, Walter Winnick, Robert Smith (Bottom, L-R) Robin Sloane, Harvey Leeds, Gail Sparrow, John Sykes, Nina Blackwood, JJ Jackson, Martha Quinn, Liz Nealon

By the time that Robin and I met on a blind date in October 1992 I was more than a bit intimidated. She had special talent and had a winning way with arts so she’d become a major player in the industry. She’d run video in the 80s era of the storied Elektra Records, winning the very first MTV Video Music Award for The Cars’ “You Might Think.”

Moving on to the powerhouse Geffen Records she was running the entire creative department, charged with imaging the company’s artists in video, album covers and whatever ephemera went along with it all. Among the highlights she was responsible for the famous album cover of Nirvana’s “Nevermind” and it’s breakout video, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

As we got to know each other, bonded by a shared passion for music of all kinds, Robin filled me in on what makes great artists tick, how to identify a true “star” and, possibly most important of all, the critical role of ambition in success. Honestly, these were things that had never occurred to my somewhat academic and intellectual approach to the work I loved. I had been under the mistaken impression that “talent” was the driver, that the most talented person would “win.” Robin had a much more intuitive approach, one that had been honed by her personal experiences as much as her professional ones. She might have had the intuition, sure, but she’d mastered it into approaches that completely bowled me over.

Talent was great, of course, now I found out it was only one of the things that made the world go ‘round. Ambition and competitiveness were key too. And maybe most of all, the one that had completely eluded me for my entire life, was the artist’s blinding self regard, the fuel for the whole package. So, while I thought there was one driving factor, Robin let me know that it was more like a table that had to be held up by three equal pillars.

Who knew?! Robin did. Now, I had a clue too, and I’ve worked with it for the past 30 years.

Over time, I also realized that Robin’s view of corporate politics made me look like the truly naive rube I was. She had a street understanding that I lacked, and set the stage for my ignoring how to “get ahead” and focus instead on the independent life that was better suited for me.  

Robin went on to rack up more platinum records and VMAs as the 90s wore on, but soon she was able to move from her role as a creative enabler to being a creative person herself. Over the years, she’s morphed into a classical musician and perceptive writer.

For me, my failures are my own. But, the successes over the years are a true partnership with this woman.

Endlessly curious, deliciously smart and totally fucking badass, Robin Sloane is a real force of nature.

[mosaicrecords]

“What are some of your all-time favorite record album covers?”

The 1950’s saw the explosive convergence of new technology, mass media, and middle class affluence bumping right into an expansive view of civil rights political freedoms and the empowerment of young people. And popular music –jazz, rhythm & blues, and pop– quickly shoved aside theatre, movies, and even television as the epicenter of popular culture. Nowhere was this more reflected than in the eruption in innovative graphic design, embodied most perfectly in the LP cover.

Which is why I was so depressed to see the JerryJazzMusician feature, Reminiscing in Tempo: “What are some of your all-time favorite record album covers?” 25 distinguished artists of all stripes weigh in, and it goes to show you that being fabulous at one art can often blind one to some of the others. Mostly the collective picked music its members liked (nothing wrong with the music) with very little regard to any visual distinctions. And really, in a world where jazz graphics set the standard, and the Beatles were the nuclear power behind 25 years of visual metamorphosis, in over 200 selections there just seven meh Blue Notes and three Beatle mentions. And not for nothing, three hip hop covers. No surprise, the most sublime choices generally came from the graphic designer and photographer who responded to the survey.

Don’t get me wrong, picking just 10 great anythings from a creative renaissance is tough –my first cut for this survey has over 40 choices and I left out a lot of greatness– but jeez.

The 10 I’ve selected (I know it seems like 11; in my mind, Elvis and The Clash are of a piece) above try to showcase a balance of penetrating photography, sublime typography, the dying art of illustration, and overall visual and cultural impacts. And yes, I used a few of the killer ones from the JerryJazz post and avoided the great Blue Notes, which we’ve featured many times. Make your own list, and let us know about it. 

–Fred Seibert

Credits: John Coltrane, Ascension: Photograph, Chuck Stewart; Run-D.M.C., King of Rock: Art Direction, Andrea Klein, Photograph, E.J. Camp; George Szell Conducts Beethoven, photographer unknown; Thelonious Monk, Underground, Photograph,  Horn Griner Studios, Art Direction, Richard Mantel & John Berg; Nirvana, Nevermind: Creative Director, Robin Sloane, Art Direction & Design, Robert Fisher, Photograph: Kirk Weddle; With the Beatles, Photograph, Robert Freeman; Big Brother & the Holding Company, Cheap Thrills, Illustration: R. Crumb Art Direction: John Berg; David Bowie, Aladdin Sane, Photograph: Brian Duffy; James Brown, photographer & illustration/design unknown; Inside Sauter-Finegan, Illustration, Jim Flora.

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