Celebrating the bus artistry of Ray Stenning
The Swinging Sixties segued into the Glam Rock Seventies. Until Punk mounted its strident challenge, the 1970s became a high-point for concept albums and top-notch cover artwork. In all a great time if you were into the music. But what about us lot followed the more mundane route of liking buses? We kept our heads below the parapet, aware that our passion was deemed uncool, unhip, stoically underlining our numbers in spotters' books. Then along came Ray Stenning - a man who liked buses and even went to art school. Mick Jagger and Brian Ferry were likewise stylish art school grads, but sadly weren't into buses. Back in 1982, Ray Stenning published what could be regarded as the first concept album for bus aficionados - The Years Before National (1948-1968). What a visual feast it was. Not just standard pix of buses and coaches that made up the fleets of the companies that were drawn together to form the National Bus Company, but arranged in themes that reflected the geography, society, culture and industry of the era. The frontispiece here is a taster of the delights within. A book to savour indeed.
Ray Stenning has just turned 70. His compilation album was just a stepping-stone to greater fame. For more than 30 years, he has left his mark on the buses and coaches we travel on in the UK, having been retained as a design and image consultant by numerous bus operators via his Best Impressions business.
Happy Birthday, Ray!
Celebrating the bus artistry of Ray Stenning
The Swinging Sixties segued into the Glam Rock Seventies. Until Punk mounted its strident challenge, the 1970s became a high-point for concept albums and top-notch cover artwork. In all a great time if you were into the music. But what about us lot followed the more mundane route of liking buses? We kept our heads below the parapet, aware that our passion was deemed uncool, unhip, stoically underlining our numbers in spotters' books. Then along came Ray Stenning - a man who liked buses and even went to art school. Mick Jagger and Brian Ferry were likewise stylish art school grads, but sadly weren't into buses. Back in 1982, Ray Stenning published what could be regarded as the first concept album for bus aficionados - The Years Before National (1948-1968). What a visual feast it was. Not just standard pix of buses and coaches that made up the fleets of the companies that were drawn together to form the National Bus Company, but arranged in themes that reflected the geography, society, culture and industry of the era. The frontispiece here is a taster of the delights within. A book to savour indeed.
Ray Stenning has just turned 70. His compilation album was just a stepping-stone to greater fame. For more than 30 years, he has left his mark on the buses and coaches we travel on in the UK, having been retained as a design and image consultant by numerous bus operators via his Best Impressions business.
Happy Birthday, Ray!