Thanks for the assistance Calorie & SirAdrian, the following works for me

I'm still getting used to vb's objects, taking me some time but persistance is my best learning aid... and the vborg community :banana:
Code:
$qryartists = $db->query_read("
SELECT erc_artist.*, erc_artisttype.artisttype, MIN(erc_artistimage.artistimageid) AS artistimageid
FROM erc_artist
LEFT JOIN erc_artisttype ON erc_artist.artisttypeid = erc_artisttype.artisttypeid
LEFT JOIN erc_artistimage ON erc_artist.artistid = erc_artistimage.artistid
WHERE artistisactive = '1'
GROUP BY erc_artisttype.displayorder, artisttitle
");