Almost 25 years before Sabrina Carpenter was born, it was Carly Simon in a department store in New York – and was in good spirits. She had just released her fifth album “Playing Possum”, and the cheeky single “Attitude Dancing” was on the way to accompanying her hits “You’re So Vain”, “Haven’t Got Time for the Pain” and “Anticipation” on the radio. Then a woman came up with her, apparently familiar with the cover of Playing Possum.
“She had either seen a picture of it or knew someone who had the album,” recalls Simon. “And she said, ‘What did you think?’ The voices were loud. “
Last week Carpenter presented the now notorious cover of her upcoming album “Man’s Best Friend” – she kneels on the floor, a hand stretched out to a figure in a suit that you pull on your hair. It broke out heated discussions about whether the picture clever, self -confident female authorization or simply represents the authorization of the male look.
The debates are not new
But as Simon knows only too well, the representation of female pop stars in similar poses with a similar effect did not begin with MAN’s best friend. As early as 1975, the cover of “Playing Possum Carly Simon” showed kneeling, mysterious and combative in a black negligee and boots, with concentrated fists, partly hidden face and slightly open mouth – photographed by Norman Seeeff. In contrast to the previous album Hotcakes from 1974, which showed Simon with a smile and visible pregnant, this picture was provocative. “I thought that when that works, people also see that I hurt my body back,” says Simon.
However, as in the Carpenter case, many fans and feminists did not know what to think of it – debates broke out. According to Rolling Stone, the department store chain of Sears, a large LP dealer, did not consider leading Simon’s album. The competitive magazine “Crawdaddy” devoted its review completely to cover analysis, not music. The picture became so memorable that the Negligé was later included in Simon’s exhibition to include the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
Random origin of an iconic image
The ironic background: The cover was created by her daughter Sally. She was a few months old when she was in Bloomingdale with her mother. “I leaned over a shelf with underwear and she leaned away,” says Simon. Sally pulled a black negligee into her stretcher – unnoticed at the cash register.
At the photo shoot in Seeffs Studio in La, Simon was wearing this piece of clothing under skirt and blouse. After the shoot, when moving, she heard Isaac Hayes’ “Theme from Shaft”, ran out and danced spontaneously. Seeff photographed when she got up from the ground. “And that’s where the picture was taken,” says Simon. “It was not planned. No staging.”
Seeff remembers: “I saw this picture, cut head, movement, concentrated fist – it had energy. Nobody thought of the meaning. It was fascinating, unique, leaving a lot of space for interpretation.”
Then as now: reactions between admiration and outrage
Simon was initially unsure, but soon recognized the artistic effect: “In black and white it looks like an art photo, even if it wasn’t meant.” The first feedback – by husband James Taylor and producer Richard Perry – were positive. Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash also saw it at a party. “Everyone reacted, but nobody really told me what he thought,” said Simon.
With the appearance of the album, more violent reactions followed. One critic asked: “How does that fit the image of the beaming, expectant mother from the last cover?” Another said her just a whip. Her mother Andrea Louise Heinemann asked shocked: “Carly, darling! What are you doing?”
Photographer Seeff adds: “Suddenly Time and Newsweek called: ‘One of the most erotic cover ever.’ Suddenly it was all about interpretation-it was simply a nice picture.
Sabrina Carpenter in good company
Carpenters Man’s Best Friend is not a direct quote from “Playing Possum”, but Simon is not alien to modern pop stars. Both Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo have recently called Boys in the Trees in an interview.
To the cover says Simon: “She doesn’t make anything shocking. It seems tame. There were much more bold cover – sticky fingers from the Stones, for example. So why the excitement?”
New music – new ways
Simon has not released a album since 2009, but has been writing new songs for years – many produced by her son Ben. Among other things:
“Howl”, with Nile Rodgers and Chris Stills – a powerful song about revenge
“Mother of Pearl”, about daughter Sally
“Do it anyway”, a kind of coach song
“Pity the Poor Man”, with Natasha Bedingfield
A set -to -music poem by WH AUDEN
“I didn’t record them as a album,” says Simon. “We have ten songs, so enough for an album – but today you publish individual tracks.”
She doesn’t have a cover design in her head. And your advice on Carpenter? “Every press is a good press. And she is certainly not casual. She is nice and should be proud of herself.”
One last thought of Man’s best friend: “That with the man’s knee may have been a little too much,” says Simon Laucen. “She shouldn’t have done that.”