Although Led Zeppelin’s double-record “Physical Graffiti” was recorded in the UK, designer Peter Corriston wanted to shoot the cover in a tenement building in New York. After combing the city, he settled on these two buildings on the then-gritty-yet-cool St. Marks Place, mainly because they would fit nicely on a square album cover, and the windows were spaced enough to put one letter of “Physical Graffiti” in each. Shot in 1975, the two tenement buildings were also used for the Rolling Stones video, “Waiting on a Friend”  in 1981, cementing them in rock history.

The buildings are still apartments, with a back and foot rub joint in the basement as well as a tea shop PAINFULLY called “Physical GraffiTea”…my eyes hurt reading that.

Who: Led Zeppelin/Peter Corriston designer

What: Physical Graffiti album cover site

Where: 96-98 St. Marks