Chester’s free ‘Worst Record Covers’ show opens 26 September

A free exhibition devoted to spectacularly misguided album artwork opens at Chester’s Grosvenor Museum at 10.30am on Saturday 26 September. The Worst Record Covers in the World Exhibition runs until 17 January 2027, with no booking required and entry open to the general public.

Vinyl collectors, music fans and visitors with an eye for accidental comedy will find a selection drawn from collector Steve Goldman’s archive of about 700 records. Visitors can inspect the sleeves, hear tracks from some of the albums and vote for the three covers they consider the best of the worst.

A 10p record started an unusual collection

Goldman’s fascination began with Peter Rabbitt’s album Roadstar, which he found in a bargain bin for 10p several decades ago. Its cover placed band members’ faces onto the bodies of five rabbits gathered around a magician’s hat.

After losing the record, the Huddersfield computer programmer later found another copy through Discogs. That discovery led him to search for other unusual releases and, around a decade ago, begin collecting dreadful album artwork in earnest.

His selection has one defining rule: a cover must be unintentionally funny. Goldman looks for sincere design ideas that went badly wrong, rather than artwork created to be deliberately outrageous. He also excludes covers that are gory, violent, sexist, homophobic or racist, keeping the exhibition suitable for a broad audience.

From Huddersfield to the Edinburgh Fringe

The collection was first exhibited in Huddersfield in 2021 and has since toured the country. It has appeared on BBC programmes including Have I Got News For You, Front Row and BBC Breakfast, as well as in several national newspapers.

The Chester exhibition follows an appearance at Assembly George Square during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Cheshire West and Chester Council says the Grosvenor Museum will display a selection of the funniest and strangest sleeves from Goldman’s wider collection, rather than all 700 records.

Alongside viewing the artwork, visitors can listen to music from the featured albums and cast votes for three favourite covers. A 2027 Worst Record Covers calendar and Goldman’s accompanying book, The Art of the Bizarre Vinyl Sleeve, will also be available to buy.

Free entry and Grosvenor Museum opening hours

The Worst Record Covers in the World Exhibition is at the Grosvenor Museum in Chester from Saturday 26 September 2026 to Sunday 17 January 2027. Entry is free, donations are welcome and visitors do not need to book.

The museum opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10.30am to 5pm and Sunday from 1pm to 4pm. It is closed on Mondays except Bank Holiday Mondays. Because the final exhibition date falls on a Sunday, the museum’s stated Sunday hours are 1pm to 4pm.

Goldman, who had a stroke in 2020 at the age of 53, is also asking visitors to consider donating to Different Strokes, a charity supporting younger stroke survivors.

Source: Cheshire West and Chester Council