#mark wilkinson

227. Ram It Down - Judas Priest (Heavy Metal, 1988)

<1985.06.17> Marillion - Misplaced Childhood

CD, EMI - CDP 7 46160-2

Illustration & sleeve design by Mark Wilkinson

1982: Marillion - Market Square Heroes.

Marillion: Lavender EP (1985)

Now that I’ve blogged about every Fish-era Marillion LP here on VinylSpinning (see links below), of course I’ve started collecting all of the band’s 12-inch singles and EPs -- whatever it takes so I can keep writing about my favorite progressive rock band.

Not that there was anything proggy about “Lavender”: the second single from the band’s commercial breakthrough Misplaced Childhood, and pretty much a mirror image of first single “Kayleigh,” which had stormed European charts and music video channels on its way to total ubiquity in the summer of ‘85.

The wistful “Lavender” wasn’t as successful (nor as good, to be honest), peaking at No. 5 in the U.K. vs. “Kayleigh’s” No. 2, but it did underscore Marillion’s remarkable feat in taking a progressive rock album to No. 1, a full decade after the genre’s ‘70s heyday and messy demise at the hands of punk.

How, exactly?

Well, by stitching together a conceptual, album-long suite out of ten, relatively “conventional” songs (maybe not the introductory “Pseudo-Silk Kimono,” and second half numbers like “Lords of the Backstage” and “Blind Curve”), Misplaced Childhood achieved the impossible: simultaneously qualifying as the most progressive and best-selling album of Marillion’s career.

But what makes this 12-inch collectible isn’t the single edit (roughly one minute longer than the album version), nor even the alternate mix dubbed “Lavender Blue” (longer still), but a more dynamic, impish outtake from the album’s sessions called “Freaks,” which soon became a fan favorite in concert, guaranteed to elicit cheers every time Fish proclaimed:

“All the best freaks are here!” 

In fact, I presume that the rear sleeve image represents said freak and, like the front cover, it was painted by airbrush master Mark Wilkinson, who handled all of Marillion’s imagination-piquing cover art during this classic period, and would later work with Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and others.

As for Marillion, their career would obviously continue to thrive, even surviving Fish’s traumatic and controversial departure a few years later, but they would never again release another Top 5 single after “Lavender.”

Judge Dredd Megazine v2 #20