You know that feeling when you're flipping through a crate of dusty vinyl at a garage sale and a giant stack of pancakes staring back at you makes you stop? That's the Head East effect. For a band that basically defined the "good-time" Midwestern rock sound of the 70s, their visual identity was just as idiosyncratic as the Moog synthesizer riffs in "Never Been Any Reason."
Honestly, Head East album covers are a weirdly perfect time capsule of an era where art direction didn't always have to make sense as long as it looked cool under a blacklight. They weren't just slapping a band photo on a sleeve and calling it a day. They were leaning into a specific kind of Heartland surrealism.
The Pancake That Launched a Thousand Riffs
Let's talk about the big one. Flat as a Pancake. If you grew up anywhere near Illinois, Missouri, or Iowa in the late 70s, this image is burned into your brain. The 1974 debut featured a massive, lone pancake sitting in the middle of a flat, desolate landscape.
It's a literal joke about the Midwestern terrain, but there’s a grit to it.
The cover was designed by Chuck Beeson with art direction from Roland Young. Young was a heavy hitter at A&M Records, the kind of guy who understood that for a band from Champaign, Illinois, to break out nationally, they needed a hook. The photography by Harry Mittman makes the pancake look strangely majestic, almost like a UFO that just landed in a cornfield.
When the band originally released the album on their own Pyramid Records label, they only pressed 5,000 copies. They sold out instantly. A&M saw that pancake, heard the tracks, and realized they had a gold mine. By 1978, that silly breakfast food cover was certified Gold. It proves that sometimes the most literal interpretation of a "hometown vibe" is exactly what people want to buy.
Beyond the Breakfast Table: The A&M Years
After the pancake success, the band had to figure out what came next. They couldn't just keep doing food items.
The 1976 follow-up, Get Yourself Up, took a sharp turn into the "what on earth is happening" category. The cover features a truck absolutely overloaded with foliage—trees, bushes, the whole forest basically—driving down a road.
Credits for Get Yourself Up:
- Art Direction: Roland Young (the legend returns)
- Cover Concept: Jeff Ayeroff
- Design: Stan Evenson
- Front Cover Photo: Rudi Herzog
It’s a bizarrely busy image compared to the minimalist pancake. If you look at the back cover, there’s an illustration by Glen Iwasaki that adds to the psych-rock aesthetic. It’s colorful, it’s cluttered, and it perfectly matches the transition the band was making into more polished arena rock.
Then you have the 1977 release, Gettin' Lucky. This one feels more like a classic late-70s rock trope. It’s got that high-contrast, slightly grainy look that screamed "we tour in a van and play 200 shows a year."
That Weird Self-Titled 1978 Record
By 1978, Head East was a massive concert draw. Their self-titled album Head East featured the hit cover of "Since You Been Gone." The artwork here is a bit more abstract—lots of blue tones and a stylized logo that felt "modern" for the time.
But if you really want to see the band in their element, you have to look at Head East Live! from 1979. The cover photography by Dennis Fischer captures the raw energy of their stage show. It's got that classic double-LP gatefold feel. When you open it up, you see the massive crowds and the wall of amplifiers. For many fans, this is the definitive Head East "look"—sweaty, loud, and quintessentially rock and roll.
Why These Covers Still Matter to Collectors
Collectors aren't just looking for the music; they’re looking for the era. Head East album covers represent a time before digital perfection.
- The Pyramid Pressing: If you find a Flat as a Pancake on the Pyramid label (PY-1974), grab it. The artwork is the same, but the history is different. It’s the sound of a DIY band making it big.
- 8-Track Aesthetic: Interestingly, the Get Yourself Up 8-track (A&M 8T-4579) is a cult favorite. The white cartridge case with that weird truck photo is a peak 70s artifact.
- The Logo Evolution: Notice how the Head East logo changes? From the blocky, almost collegiate font on the debut to the more "spaced out" 80s vibes later on. It’s a masterclass in how bands tried to stay relevant as disco and then new wave started creeping in.
The Legacy of the "Midwest Institution"
Keyboardist Roger Boyd has often said that rock and roll is the music "between the mountains." The artwork reflects that. It's not the glitz of the Sunset Strip or the grime of New York. It’s something else entirely. It’s quirky, it’s a little bit funny, and it doesn't take itself too seriously.
When you look at A Different Kind of Crazy (1979), you see a band leaning into their reputation. They knew they were the outliers. They knew they were the guys from Illinois who conquered the airwaves with a song about a life-saving chorus.
How to Start Your Own Head East Collection
If you want to dive into the world of Head East visuals, don't just stream the songs on a phone. You need the physical objects.
Go to your local record store and specifically hunt for the original A&M pressings from 1975 to 1979. Look for the gatefold sleeves. Check the inner sleeves for the photo montages by Jeff Lancaster—they often contain candid shots of the band that never made it into the official press kits.
Pay attention to the condition of the "Pancake" cover. Because it has so much white space, it’s notorious for ring wear and "foxing" (those little brown age spots). Finding a pristine, bright white copy is the "Holy Grail" for Midwest rock fans.
Once you have the physical vinyl in your hands, put on "City of Gold" or "Fly By Night Lady," sit back, and actually look at the art. It’s the only way to truly understand what Head East was trying to say. They weren't just a band; they were a vibe that you could hold in your hands.
To truly appreciate the artistry, your next move should be checking the runout grooves (the "dead wax") on your copies of Get Yourself Up. You’ll often find the "KENDUN" stamp or "JG" initials, signifying they were mastered at the legendary Kendun Recorders or by John Golden. This ensures you’re not just looking at the best version of the art, but hearing the best version of the Midwestern soul they poured into those tracks.