Signals from Mars

Raymond Taylor's composition, A Signal from Mars (1901).

This sheet music cover turned up recently as one of the pieces of science fiction-related graphics which will be on display at the British Library's Out of this World: Science Fiction but not as you know it exhibition when it opens on Thursday. I don't know what the music sounds like but the design is very familiar from a reworked version used for the cover of A Beacon from Mars, the second album by psychedelic band Kaleidoscope. It was always obvious that this cover had been copied from somewhere but I hadn't seen the original until now. On the reissue CD there are no design credits so I've no idea who drew the cover; given its rather crude felt-tipped appearance that may be just as well. It's a nice idea but poorly rendered.

A Beacon from Mars (1968) by Kaleidoscope.

There are two Kaleidoscopes among the psychedelic groups of the late 60s so it should be emphasised that it's the American one we're discussing here. The UK group were very good, especially on their second album, Faintly Blowing (1969), but the US band are in a different league altogether. I'd rate them as highly as any other group you care to name from the period 1967–69, including The Beatles. A troupe of formidable multi-instrumentalists, they started out as the Baghdad Blues Band (the name change was prompted by their manager), and played a unique blend of psych-rock, blues, bluegrass, English folk and Middle Eastern instrumentals. Jimmy Page called them his favourite band of all time, and it's notable that Led Zeppelin adopted a similarly eclectic formula shortly after. The last of Kaleidoscope's trio of 60s albums is aptly titled Incredible; the standout piece on that album is Seven-Ate Sweet which can be heard in its full 11-minute glory here. For more about the band, this fan site is the place to go.

Previously on { feuilleton }

• Design as virus #13: Tsunehisa Kimura

• Design as virus #11: Burne Hogarth