John Byrne: Music was his first love.

After eulogising on Tutti Frutti (A slight bruising of the crotch ) I’ve been trying to track down footage from Your Cheatin’ Heart, John Byrne’s BBC follow up which followed a rather doomed romance between John Gordon Sinclair’s down at heel food critic ‘Frank McClusky’ and Tilda Swinton’s waitress/singer ‘Cissie Crouch’. Hopefully Tutti Frutti’s success will hurry the release for this drama which does for country music what the former did for 50’s rock n’ roll. If anyone knows where any footage exists I would be grateful for the information.

While looking in vain for clips I did discover examples of the popularity of Byrne’s artwork in 1960’s pop culture. His particular style can be found on these album covers for Gerry Rafferty, Stealers Wheel, Donovan and that little known beat combo The Beatles. Music’s influence on Byrne’s art can be seen in these evocative covers, and provide early evidence of what was to follow.