On this day in 1980, a billboard was erected at Tower Records on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles to promote Pink Floyd's new album, The Wall.
A blank wall was pasted up and each day a brick was removed to slowly reveal the inside spread and title of the album.
During the 1970s, you knew you’d made it big if your record label paid for a hand-painted billboard on the Strip. The billboards were visual interpretations of a musician’s ethos, spirit and vibe.
These giant artworks were often variations on album art, relying on eye-catching imagery and minimal text to remind passersby of the music they needed to hear immediately.
Borne out of the social and artistic upheaval of the late 1960s, rock-’n’-roll billboards flourished for a little over a decade, disappearing in the early 1980s as musicians put their money into music videos and televised ads.
Executed by skilled painters who mostly remained anonymous, these billboards pushed the boundaries of roadside advertising, with cryptic imagery and unpredictable designs that literally burst from their rectangular borders.
Photo of The Wall billboard by Robert Landau