The saxophone has long been associated with sensuality. And if you’re a man playing it: the ability to attract women. The 1950s and 60s saw many an album cover draw on this sax appeal imagery in its art work.
Take for example the 2 Bobby Dukoff albums that referenced the sensual and sexy fabrics satin and silk. Both of these fabrics are used in lingerie—a fact I’m sure not overlooked by the creative team who designed these album covers.
Sax In Silk appears* to have been the first of these 2 albums to have been released. The year of its release seems to have been 1954.
Source: eBay.com
Bobby Dukoff’s other lingerie album—not the official titles obviously, just a nickname that I gave these 2 recordings—appears to have been released in 1956. Sax In Satin also features a woman in a negligee.
However, rather than being a passive receiver of the music like she was in the Silk album, in Satin she is literally erupting from the bell of the saxophone, with what no doubt is a nothing short of sensual, saxual ecstasy. (Or at least the 1950s version of it.)
Source: Epiclectic
While album covers are certainly art work, they are also an advertising medium. They are a reflection of their times, and allow us a glimpse into the social norms of the era, and then, just like now, may have pushed at the boundaries of what was acceptable to the target audience.
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* The reason I write about these release dates so questioningly, is because there is a lot of contradictory information on the ‘Net with regards to when the various albums were released. Even Bobby Dukoff’s site itself has an incomplete listing of his recordings, and no information about the albums whatsoever. Nowhere did I find an official discography for Bobby Dukoff.
