The Rolling Stones’ “Some Girls,” released on June 9, 1978, features one of rock’s most controversial and censored album covers. Designer Peter Corriston created a parody of a 1950s Valmor Products beauty advertisement, showing the Stones members in drag alongside images of female celebrities including Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett, and Marilyn Monroe. The provocative sleeve design, with its die-cut format revealing colorful inner sleeves, sparked immediate legal challenges from the depicted celebrities who hadn’t authorized use of their likenesses, forcing Atlantic Records to quickly recall and redesign the album.
The cover’s backstory reflects the band’s deliberately provocative approach during this era. Mick Jagger had discovered vintage wig advertisements that inspired the concept, but the execution crossed legal boundaries. After receiving cease-and-desist letters, the band initially released an interim version with the women’s faces obscured and text reading “PARDON OUR APPEARANCE – COVER UNDER RECONSTRUCTION.” The final approved version replaced celebrity images with colored backgrounds and anonymous female faces, though original pressings became highly sought-after collector’s items.
“Some Girls” represented a critical and commercial renaissance for the Stones during a period when many considered them outdated amid the punk and disco explosions. The album brilliantly incorporated these contemporary sounds while maintaining the band’s blues-rock foundations, producing radio staples like the disco-influenced “Miss You,” the rock classic “Beast of Burden,” and the country-tinged “Far Away Eyes.” As their first full album with guitarist Ronnie Wood, it captured the band responding to the gritty reality of late-70s New York with unflinching lyrics addressing race, gender, and urban decay. Despite the cover controversy, the album went on to sell over six million copies and reinvigorated the Stones’ career, proving their continued relevance in a rapidly changing musical landscape.
