Kasim Sulton

Artist: Kasim Sulton

LP: Kasim

Song: "Don't Break My Heart"

[ listen ]

The cover of this 1982 solo album by Utopia bassist/vocalist Kasim Sulton is about five times more exciting than the music inside. And the music inside isn't really half bad. But with direction by Bill Burks and concept, design, and photography by Peter Corriston and Brian Hagiwara, the LP's artwork is what I like best about this one. Peter Corriston won a Grammy for this LP cover shortly before the "Kasim" LP was released, and he also did the art for this one and this one. He even worked with Andy Warhol! Brian Hagiwara has worked on a long list of album covers over the years and maintains a studio in New York City. To me, the cover of Kasim Sulton's solo record is slightly reminiscent of some of the stuff 23 Envelope put together for The Wolfgang Press and Ultra Vivid Scene in the UK over a decade later. The music on "Kasim," however, is pretty much your basic early-'80s top 40 pop/rock, resembling a mixture of Huey Lewis and Wham, with a dash of Quarterflash thrown in for extra flavor. After determining that "Don't Break My Heart" was the song I would post, since it is, indeed, the catchiest track on the album, I learned on Wikipedia here that it was a top 40 hit in Canada! You can read more about Kasim Sulton and stay up-to-date on his whereabouts and goings-ons at the Kasim Info website here.

[ Kasim Sulton with John Oates ]