What do a chicken plucker, an insurance clerk, a fruit vendor and dock worker all have in common? No, it's not the start of a joke. They're all odd jobs that Alan Aldridge worked before he heeded his calling as an artist.

Alan Aldridge is generally regarded as one of the premiere artists and designers of all time, but the bedrock of his reputation is in the work he produced in the 60s and 70s. Born in the UK in 1943, Alan quit school at age 14, first finding work as a dock worker at the Banana Wharf in London. For the next few years, he worked a series of odd jobs in and around London. Until 1963.

At age 20, without any formal art schooling, Aldridge began his art career, sketching portraits in Soho and designing book covers for Penguin. Eventually, he would become Senior Art Director for Penguin Books, and it was in this time that Alan developed the unique visual style which would become his trademark. Full of eye-popping visuals, intricate details and rich colors, Alan's work quickly propelled him to "it" status on London's social radar.

With a flowing, cartoon-like style and muted airbrushing that visually matched the psychadelic and surreal spirit of the times, Alan's work helped define the graphic style of that era. An era in which a certain group of mop-topped Brits were singing their way into superstardom. Yes, the Beatles.

In the mid 1960s, Alan Aldridge met and became friends with the Beatles, serving as design consultant for Apple Corps and beginning a collaboration that would culminate in "The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics". For many artists, this work would be the crowning point of a career, but for a man with a career like Alan Aldridge, it's just one of several highs.

Some of Alan's other notable work includes the poster for "Chelsea Girls", Andy Warhol's first commercially successful film, and many album covers and posters for artists The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and The Who. Aldridge also put his design skills to the test, creating logos and interiors for both the House of Blues and the Hard Rock, as well as the Playboy Club in London. Running in circles with the rock star elite that dominated London in the 1960s, Alan Aldridge became a clebrity in his own right, with his own fan club as proof.

A project with Elton John brought Aldridge to Los Angeles, where he's lived ever since, and though the project was never completed, Alan authored several children's books in that time, most notably "The Butterfly Ball and The Grasshopper's Feast", a best-selling and award-winning title.

Today, much of Alan Aldridge's work is still in print and he continues to create new work (Incubus album cover 2004). When we asked him about a poster he created earlier in his career, he looks at first a bit puzzled, and then with a grin, shaking his head, he simply says, "Oh yeah. The 70s".

Indeed.