It was well worth it.
The man on the cover of the Arctic Monkeys’ debut album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ has revealed that he was given £700 and told to get as drunk as possible to get the now iconic shot.
Chris McClure is the man whose face is on the cover of the 2006 album, which features hits like ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’, ‘When The Sun Goes Down’ and ‘Mardy Bum’.
McClure recently spoke with Northern Chorus to tell the story of how the photo came to be.
He said that he had been asked to be in some photos for the inlay of the album, which he claims was originally supposed to be called ‘A Weekend With’.
McClure said: “It was based around the notion of a weekend, of this young guy and his view of the world.
“So they wanted some photographs of me from Friday evening, clocking off work to Sunday night reflecting.
“We took some in Sheffield around five in the morning…and then we went to Liverpool to take some more shots, and while I was in Liverpool, the guy [taking photos] asked me if I would pose with a cigarette, but there was no mention of it being the cover.”
McClure believed that his job was done, however, he received a phone call from the band’s then-bassist Andy Nicholson, who wanted something more “authentic”.
He added: “I got a call off Andy and he said ‘The band have seen the image. They like it. We want it to be authentic, though. Would you be happy for us to pay for you to have a day out? And we can recreate that image’.
“So, a week later, I was sent to Liverpool. I was given 700 quid and I had three friends with me and we were told not to come back to the bar until every penny was spent. So you can imagine the day I had.
“I woke up in Manchester, my mate woke up in Sheffield, my other mate woke up in Liverpool. Our car was in Liverpool, the driver was in Sheffield, it was an absolute fallout.”
By the time he returned to the original bar, McClure said his “world was upside down”, but the band got the shot nonetheless.
McClure said: “They rang me and said ‘We’ve got it, we’ve got it and we want it to be the front cover’.
“And then it was the day of the release that bent my head. There was press outside my mum’s house and where I lived.”
