Adding php to theme.php

[suppster]

I am trying to add a custom image for each album, instead of the thumbnail. I was thinking to edit theme.php and use an if statement to check the album name then display the appropriate image, for example:

<?php if($ALBUM_TITLE=="funny") {?>
<span class="alblink"><a href="{ALB_LINK_TGT}"><b>{ALBUM_TITLE}</b></a></span> <?php } ?>

But for some reason no php seems to work in theme.php, not even <?php echo"blah"; ?>

Is there another way to do this? Why is php not working in the  templates in theme.php?

Thanks!