York," he explains. "I called them and asked if they would come down to my studio to be photographed. Everyone knew what I was doing. I was looking for jobs. But, enough people had seen my work and I was straightforward enough in my approach that they all agreed. They could see my space, witness how I work, get to work with me and about a week later they received a small print." The strategy paid off. Within approximately six months Kennedy was shooting album covers and his business flourished.

"David came up with this great scam to break into the record business," says former CBS art director John Berg. "He was going to do this giant article on record-cover designers and got a lot of people to come down and sit for portraits. He tried me and I finally did it. It's true, he did dress me in his shirt and his jeans but it was a great portrait. I started using him and I discovered that he is extremely adaptable. David can do anything. To find a photographer who can really cover everything, and if he doesn't know how to do it will learn, is spectacular. He became my personal photographer at CBS."

"I always liked the larger formats," Kennedy adds of his affinity for covers. "I never liked 35. 1 started shooting 4x5 and 21/4 in California and always related to the square. So, album covers were a natural."

After a second bout with back surgery in the fall of '83 and a year-and-a-half hiatus in his career, Kennedy became increasingly involved in the advertising community. Working with a rep named Chris Conroy, he attracted a wide variety of accounts.