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Bryan Thomas

@munkiman.bsky.social

2.3K followers 1.6K following 7.5K posts

Here for posts on: Music. Films. TV Shows. Writing. 20th Century Fiction/Poetry. Art. History. Science. Humor. Progressive Politics. Photography. Nature. Ecology. Hippies. Navel-Gazing Existentialism. Baseball. Not sure if I'm even in the right place, tbh.

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Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 12h

Magically give me a flat stomach like this dude has and I'll put on the goddamn sweater with the belt, I don't care

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 13h

I've done this my whole life.

Oblique Strategy of the Day… #BrianEno #PeterSchmidt

Oblique Strategy of the Day… #BrianEno #PeterSchmidt

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 13h

Drew Struzan also did this classic rock cover for Alice Cooper's 'Welcome to My Nightmare' (1975) when he was working at the Pacific Eye & Ear agency.

Other famous LP covers include:

Earth, Wind & Fire - 'Open Our Eyes' (1974): Struzan illustrated the cosmic image for this breakthrough album.

Iron Butterfly - 'Scorching Beauty' (1975): Struzan used airbrush for the first time to create the fiery, surreal butterfly figure for this album cover.

Paul Kantner, Grace Slick & David Freiberg - 'Baron von Tollbooth & The Chrome Nun': This was the first album cover Drew Struzan created with art director Ernie Cefalu.

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 13h

More illustrations by Drew Struzan, classic rock edition. Here's the famous illustrations he did for Black Sabbath's 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' (Warner Bros. 1973). He was 27 years old, and was paid $250 for his artwork.

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In 1973, a 27-year-old illustrator named Drew Struzan was asked to create cover art for Black Sabbath’s fifth studio album.

The request was simple: “Draw a picture of a dying man.” But Drew, working out of the Pacific Eye & Ear agency in Hollywood, envisioned something more layered. What if the cover told the story of two deaths — one of torment, one of peace?

On the front cover, a man writhes in agony, surrounded by clawed demons as “666” looms above the bed.

On the back, we see a mirror image — the same man, this time passing quietly, surrounded by mourners and bathed in blue light.

Both illustrations were created with colored pencils on white illustration board, under the direction of art director Ernie Cefalu.

Drew’s original concept sketches — seen here — were immediately approved by the band and show just how clear his vision was from the beginning.

And yes — that’s Drew himself in the reference photos. These rare behind-the-scenes images show him posing as the dying man in both scenes. He wasn’t just the illustrator — he became the subject. The agony, the serenity… all of it was drawn from real reference and emotion.

He was paid $250. He never got royalties. And yet over 50 years later, this is still one of the most talked-about album covers in rock history.

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 13h

He's owed three more, no?

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 13h

BARF

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 13h

BARF

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 13h

BARF

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 13h

Drew Struzan (b. 1947 - d. October 13, 2025, age 78) was best known for creating over 150 iconic, hand-painted movie posters during the 1980s and '90s. His distinctive airbrushed-style illustrations defined the look of major movie franchises. Here's a few lesser-known images he did (more: alt text)

Return to Macon County (1975; d. Richard Compton)

A sequel, a small town, and young Nick Nolte, Don Johnson, and Robin Mattson.

A Small Town in Texas (1976; d. Jack Starrett)

Timothy Bottoms, Susan George, and Bo Hopkins sweat it out in another small town.

Harry and Walter Go to New York (1977; d. Mark Rydell)

James Caan and Elliott Gould star in a 19th century bank heist picture.

Meatballs III: Summer Job (1987; d. George Menduluk)

Patrick Dempsey goes to summer camp. "This will be his year to score!"

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 14h

@kenjennings.bsky.social

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 14h

Are the clouds brown in Milwaukee?

The Dodgers are playing the Milwaukee Brewers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at American Family Field tonight, October 14, 2025, for Game 2 of the NLCS.

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 14h

YouTube video by Eddie Henderson - Topic

www.youtube.com

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 14h

YouTube video by Eddie Henderson - Topic

www.youtube.com

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 14h

#OneAlbumADay; trumpet prince Eddie Henderson's funky, psychedelic-y fusion jazz second solo LP finds him backed by keyboardist George Duke, drummer Harvey Mason, bassist Alphonso Johnson, reedman Bennie Maupin, and trombonist Julian Priester. Fave trax: the title cut and "Galaxy." (More: alt text)

Recorded after Henderson's time with Herbie Hancock's experimental Mwandishi band, 'Sunburst' (Blue Note 1975) shows Henderson pursuing a more structured, harder-edged, and funky sound. Reviewers note that the album has a great balance of technical skill and funkiness.

While a shift from his more psychedelic early work, the album maintains some of Henderson's "spacier instincts," particularly on tracks like the title cut and "Galaxy."

Some critics suggest this turn toward more accessible funky rhythms meant a slight loss of the "magic" found in his earlier work, though they still consider it a very good album.

Some reviews regard Sunburst as a peak in Henderson's career and a "minor masterpiece of funked up jazz".

One review calls it a "brilliant album" and "one of the greatest jazz recordings of the 70s," noting its enduring, futuristic sound.

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 15h

Teoscar Hernández runs like a guy who is turning 33 years old tomorrow and had a groin injury earlier this year

Baseball Highlights 野球のハイライト @baseballhighlights.bsky.social · 15h

Teoscar Hernández blasts his 4th homer of the Postseason

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 15h

Yep, you're right, "Flat Pluto Cult"

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 15h

Ah, yes, I did not read carefully, "Trooper"

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 16h

The price of beef is making people a little crazy

Messiah of Evil (1974)

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 18h

Did you vote for Trump, "US Soybean farmer"?

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 18h

National Treasure!!!

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 1d

Oh! Didn't know!

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 1d

This Licorice Pizza store very similar to the Anaheim store where I worked. Check out the redwood accent walls, the brown & orange signs for music genres, the printed bin cards (we used to hand-draw those when I first started working at the store, so my guess is this is sometime in the early '80s).

I spy Pat Benatar's 'In The Heat of the Night' (1979) Van Halen's 'Women and Children First' (1980) and other early '80s albums, plus LP and KMET t-shirts.

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 1d

Licorice Pizza memories...

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Here's a flyer for Licorice Pizza showing some of the company's main employees, including Jim Greenwood (A&M t-shirt, second from left, back row), who founded the company.

I don't think this was a display in our store, but it looks very much the way Licorice Pizza stores looked, with end-caps and bins with hand-drawn cards and signs (I did a lot of those because my penmanship was pretty good). I did wall displays with "flats" like the ones you see here. Again, not Licorice Pizza in Anaheim, but similar.

Here's Barry Hydeman, Anaheim #4 store manager, putting away cassettes the Anaheim way. Barry is the guy who hired me. We went out and sat on the curb on Lincoln Ave at the tiny little store (when it was still open), and he hired me on the spot to open the new store, just down the street, when it opened on November 20, 1977.

The author (that's me) on the left with the inestimable Tim E., who I worked with a lot at the Anaheim store. We're at the front counter, with the tape wall visible behind us. Tim had great taste in music, and turned me on to jazz albums, and all sorts of '70s music I still listen to today. Tim and I are still friends. I can't believe my hair was ever this short!

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 1d

"The future belongs to those who can hear it coming."

David Bowie's new LP 'Heroes,' released October 14, 1977, was sale-priced for the opening of the Licorice Pizza record store in Anaheim, opening in November '77, where was hired as Christmas help (I worked for them until '84). (more: alt text)

I believe his was the first print ad that ran on November 20, 1977, in the L.A. Times and probably other SoCal newspapers, promoting the opening of the new Licorice Pizza record store in Anaheim, just down the road from the old Anaheim store, which was much smaller.

I'd just been hired to work at the new store as Christmas help. I was a senior in high school at the time. They liked my positive attitude and music knowledge and kept me on after Christmas, gave me more responsibilities and in a year or so I was the LP Buyer for the store, after also being the Singles Buyer and the Tape Buyer (sorry about the poor quality of the flyer, it was very tiny and I had to blow it up).

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 1d

"Have you been to the Motor Vehicle Bureau? It's a leper colony down there..."

("Seinfed" - "The Opposite," Season 6, 1994)

Caught the new CBS sitcom "DMV."

@robertlloyd.bsky.social called it "a perfectly average, perfectly pleasant watch."

I think I might need something more than "pleasant."

"Colette" (Harriet Dyer, not seen in this photo), "Gregg" (Tim Meadows), "Barbara" (Molly Kearney), "Noa" (Alex Tarrant), "Vic" (Tony Cavalero), and "Ceci" (Gigi Zumbado) are some of the DMV employees in the workplace comedy series, written by Dana Klein, based on Katherine Heiny's short story "Chicken-Flavored and Lemon-Scented."