One of a series of five oversized posters produced by innovative Stiff Records design director Barney Bubbles to promote the first Stiff Records tour, which was known as the Live Stiffs Tour or 5 Live Stiffs, from 3-5 October 1977. Signed to Stiff Records as a solo artist, Elvis Costello started performing with his backing band the Attractions for the UK Live Stiffs Tour alongside Ian Dury & the Blockheads, Wreckless Eric and The New Rockets, Nick Lowe's Last Chicken in the Shop, and Larry Wallis's Psychedelic Rowdies. Although the running order was planned to rotate each night, it became clear that Dury and Costello were the most popular acts. Costello played mostly new material and cover versions, rather than numbers from his recently released album 'My Aim is True', so the gigs usually ended with most of the artists on stage performing Dury's 'Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll'. A live album 'Live Stiffs Live' was released in 1978 following the successful tour, which had made Costello and Dury into household names.

For the five promo posters, which were designed to be sold at the gigs, each of the five lead musicians (Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Nick Lowe, Larry Wallis and Wreckless Eric) were photographed by Stiff photographer Chris Gabrin and the resulting images silkscreened with crude overlaps in five lurid colourways by the prolific Bubbles, creating an enduring image of Costello that Stiff described as "like Buddy Holly on acid". Although all five posters in the series are now extremely rare, the posters of Costello and Dury are the most sought after.

Hailed as the "missing link between pop and culture" by Factory Records designer Peter Saville, Bubbles had what musician Billy Bragg identified as an "unerring ability to make unprepossessing blokes look cool: Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Johnny Moped, me... we were misfits in the pantheon of pop and Barney made us look magnificent." An example of this electrifying poster resides in the permanent collection of MOMA, New York, and formed part of their 2016 exhibition 'Making Music Modern: Design for Ear and Eye.' 

Condition

Very good (B+)

Unfolded, not backed. Nicks and creases to edges and small dog-ears to corners. A 4 inch horizontal wrinkle to left edge and a couple of small edge tears, the largest 1 inch to left edge. Scattered light vertical creases through image, predominantly to upper and lower 12 inches. Some wavy undulation to paper from storage rolled. Image and colours otherwise excellent.