Why That Dude on the Arctic Monkeys Album Cover Was Puffing Like He Just Made a Deal with the Moon—And It’s Stranger Than You Think
Added on May 10, 2025 inMusic News Cards
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Ever wonder why some album covers etch themselves into our collective memory like a cosmic tattoo? Sure, you might instantly think of The Beatles’ Abbey Road or Nirvana’s Nevermind—those images swirling around in the pop culture constellation forever. But if you dig a little deeper—and maybe peek at today’s stars, with Mars reigniting passion and a sprinkle of Mercury messing with communication—you might just stumble upon the unexpected face behind one of the most rebellious debuts of the 2000s: Arctic Monkeys’ Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. Spoiler alert—it’s not the lead singer on the cover, but a Manchester Met student whose story is as twisted as a retrograde transit gone sideways. Trust me, this isn’t your everyday band snapshot; it’s a laugh-out-loud tale involving cigarettes, a £700 bar tab, and a day out that turned this Sunday league TikTok legend into an unwitting icon. Curious how a random photo shoot turned into one of Britain’s fastest-selling albums? Here’s the lowdown. LEARN MORE.
When you’re asked to name some of the most iconic album covers, you probably think of The Beatles’ Abbey Road, Nirvana’s Nevermind and David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane.
If you’re of a slightly younger age, then you may well consider Arctic Monkeys‘ debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, in that conversation.
It’s difficult to know exactly what the younger generation is listening to these days, considering many in Benson Boone’s Coachella audience had no idea who Brian May (an original member of Queen) was.
However, you would hope that the vast majority recognise the dulcet tones of Alex Turner, whether he’s singing about wanting to be your vacuum cleaner or someone being a Mardy Bum, which is Sheffield speak for someone who’s moody.
Back when the band were first starting out, they recruited Chris McClure, a student at Manchester Metropolitan University, to be the face of their first album.
Chris, who you may well recognise as the alter-ego of Sunday league TikTok icon Steve Bracknall, has opened up on the bizarre reason why he’s smoking a cigarette on the cover.
Speaking on the Northern Chorus podcast, Chris said: “We took some [photos] in Sheffield at around five in the morning and then we went to Liverpool. While we were there, the guy asked me to just pose for a portrait photo with a cigarette, but there was no mention of it being a cover.
“I thought that was job done but then I got a call off Andy Nicholson who was bass player at the time.
“He said, ‘The band have seen this image, they like it but we want it to be authentic. Would you be happy for us to pay for you to have a day out, and then we can recreate the image’.”
Forget Alex Turner, Chris is the true face of the Arctic Monkeys (Samir Hussein/WireImage)
Chris said he was given £700, which might only get you seven pints in London these days but back in 2005, you can imagine just how much boozing was completed.
He added: “I had three friends with me and I was told not to come back to the bar until every penny was spent. So you can imagine the day I had. I rolled back into the venue at around 11. I essentially had a joint and I was taken downstairs.
“By that point, my world had turned upside down and I was thinking ‘Get me out’. I woke up in Manchester and they rang me up and said ‘We’ve got it, we want it to be the front cover’.”
Another of the photos from that shoot (X/@chrismcclure86)
He almost forgot about it until the album came out in January 2006, with the press visiting his family home and his face well and truly plastered across the UK, as it became the fastest-selling album at the time. Though the lad probably wished he’d taken some residuals instead of the free pints.
Chris reckons he’s had a conversation about the album almost every week in the 19 years since its release, so it just goes to show what can happen on a night out, even if one too many mojitos means that you don’t remember everything you initially did.
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