WHAT? Worst Record Covers in the World WHERE? Mansfield Museum and Art Gallery WHEN? Saturday, June 6 to Saturday, August 29, 10am–3pm, Tuesday–Saturday FREE ENTRY
If you’ve ever stumbled across an album sleeve so baffling it loops all the way back to brilliance, you’re going to want this in your diary.
Worst Record Covers in the World, a gloriously daft, award-winning exhibition celebrating the most unintentionally hilarious vinyl artwork ever made, lands at Mansfield Museum and Art Gallery this summer. It runs from Saturday, June 6 to Saturday, August 29.
And yes — the man behind that iconic bunny cover is making an appearance.
Wait, what bunny?
Among the exhibition’s many visual oddities is Roadstar, a truly unforgettable sleeve featuring five rabbits gathered around a magician’s hat — with human faces (including frontman John Thompson, aka JT) rather questionably superimposed onto their fluffy bodies.
It’s weird. It’s slightly unsettling. It’s very funny. And it’s the record that kicked this whole thing off.
JT — former singer of Hollywood rock band Peter Rabbitt — will be attending the launch event in person, embracing the cult status of what he cheerfully admits is a terrible cover.
“When I saw it featured, my reaction was ‘Well, finally!’” JT says.
“We always thought it was a terrible cover — like Invasion of the Bunny Body Snatchers… We actually had nothing to do with it!”
Now 74 and still performing in California, he’s heading to the UK to bask in some unexpected second-wave fame. Frankly, it’s well deserved.
From 10p bargain bin to touring hit
The exhibition is the brainchild of collector Steve Goldman, who first picked up Roadstar back in the 1980s — mainly because it was 10p and looked utterly bizarre.
Years later, rediscovering it online sparked a simple declaration: he’d start collecting dreadful album covers.
Nearly a decade on, that hobby has snowballed into a touring phenomenon, racking up fans (including Mark Radcliffe and Stewart Lee) and even winning the ‘Spirit of the Festival’ award at Leicester Comedy Festival.
For its Mansfield run, the exhibition will showcase around 400 sleeves from a collection now numbering more than 700 records — each one carefully selected for being unintentionally funny rather than offensive.
Alongside gawping at the artwork, you can:
- Vote for your favourite worst cover
- Listen to tracks from the albums (yes, including Roadstar)
- Try a tongue-in-cheek “crap or classic?” activity
- Bring the kids — there are family-friendly activities throughout
There’s also a book tie-in, The Art of the Bizarre Vinyl Sleeve by Simon Robinson, available to pick up on-site.
A joyful celebration of creative misfires
Goldman’s rule is simple: no mean-spiritedness, just appreciation for when artistic ambition goes spectacularly sideways.
“I love records where someone has tried to do something creative and it’s gone horribly wrong,” he says. “But it’s all good, clean fun.”
Following a stroke in 2020, he now also uses the exhibition to raise awareness and optional donations for Different Strokes, a charity supporting younger stroke survivors.
So, Whether you’re a vinyl nerd, design enthusiast or just in it for a laugh, this is one of those delightfully niche exhibitions that punches way above its weight.
As Mansfield’s Cultural Services Manager Christopher Neil puts it, it’s a chance to experience music history “from a completely new angle” — and maybe even tempt first-time visitors into the museum.
Expect to laugh, cringe, and leave wondering how some of these covers ever made it past a label meeting.
Honestly? We’re obsessed already.
