In case you missed it over on the TSY facebook page I’ve been obsessed with the below piece of work for quite some time, and finally posted it up and asked the beloved The Selvedge Yard clan for help in identifying the artist. It took about all of 2 seconds.
As a kid, my healthy diet of Happy Days, Sha Na Na, and flicks like The Lords of Flatbush deeply engrained a love of greaser culture and style that will surely remain until I die. “Bad Girls” by James Alfred Meese slays me with every viewing. Obviously the cover art was intentionally as lurid and enticing as possible to get you to part with your money and buy the “pulp” paperbacks that were named after the cheaply produced paper they were printed on. Here are a few other fine examples of pulp art, which really peaked in the ’50s & ’60s, in my humble opinion.
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Bad Girls — paperback cover art by James Alfred Meese, 1958
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Bad Girls– They prowl the fringe of the underworld for kicks — cover art by James Alfred Meese, 1958
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Prize Pupil — unsigned paperback cover art, 1966
Prize Pupil, by Amy Harris — unsigned paperback cover art, 1966
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The Snatch — paperback cover art by Mitchell Hooks, 1958
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The Snatch — Will these three men finally commit the most dangerous crime of all? — 1958
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Too good not to include…
Women Who Prowl for Men — Robert Emil Schulz
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CHECK OUT:
Book Covers: Vintage Paperbacks, Mars Sci-Fi’s photostream
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The Selvedge Yard 
These are fantastic!
I LOVE the Prize Pupil. I found it years ago and always wondered who the artist was. Now I know…Thanks!—Sage
I love this stuff, who needs Grease, Bad Girls artwork says it all. Nice to see the curvature of Prize Pupil’s arse and the contact in the pelvic thrust. It must have been under the counter, even in 1966?
A shame The Snatch artwork isn’t in colour but it evokes some wonderful heavy duty conspiracy atmosphere. Classy cool art! 😉
Early last year I purchased an original Meese, a rough for a book cover. I loved the style and had no idea of who he was at the time. His son sold the originals and I was lucky enough to snaffle one.
Too good!
Have a look at what Hard Case Crime is doing: http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi
I love this era of artwork. One of my faves is Robert McGinnis. He did pulp books and movie posters. Very cool stuff.
Agreed.
I must go and prowl the fringe of the underworld for kicks…….
If you dig greaser culture, check out a cool, obscure film Robert Rodriguez made in the 90s with David Arquette called “Road Racers.”