The "swinging sixties" in London had its dark side, as suggested by Hamilton’s play on the word swinge (to thrash or punish). This composition captures the contemporary media frenzy surrounding the Rolling Stones and the drug-fueled lifestyle with which such rock stars were associated. Robert Brownjohn, a keen pop music and jazz aficionado, was close friends with Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, for whom he designed the memorable album cover for Let it Bleed, released in December 1969—five years after Goldfinger. Brownjohn spent the 1960s at the epicenter of this vibrant London scene before fatally succumbing to his long-term heroin and alcohol addiction in 1970.
Gallery label from Goldfinger: The Design of an Iconic Film Title, October 5, 2012–March 18, 2013.
