Fanzines from the 1970s
I started buying music fanzines in the late 1970s (when there was no such thing as desktop publishing, the internet, file sharing, blogging, streaming or social media) and although many of them subsequently got lost or thrown away over the years, I still have some good ones from the punk and immediate post-punk era and Iâm having fun looking through them again after leaving them to gather dust for a long time.
Before punk came along I was already buying and reading the mainstream music papers that were popular in the UK (NME, Melody Maker, Sounds, Record Mirror and Disc) as well as one or two smaller scale and niche publications like ZigZag and Blues & Soul. There were even a few pre-punk music fanzines, self-published by enthusiasts like Brian Hogg.
But the new wave of zines that emerged alongside the punk rock explosion (and in parallel with independent record labels, shops and distribution channels) were something fresh and exciting, and became a vibrant DIY subculture channelling punkâs âanybody can do thisâ attitude into print. These fanzines captured the iconoclastic energy of punk rock as it was actually happening - challenging the blandness and vacuity of mainstream pop and the staleness and self-indulgence of mainstream rock.
The first book about the new musical and social landscape created by the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned and the deluge of bands that followed in their wake - âPUNKâ by Julie Davis - was published in 1977 and mainly consisted of articles culled from some of the best fanzines of the era like: Ripped & Torn, Septic Ears, 48 Thrills, Live Wire, Jolt, Situation 3, Gun Rubber, Shews, Chainsaw and others.
Initially most fanzines concentrated on interviews with bands (sometimes done by mailing the artist a list of questions), reviews of records and gigs, gig photos, coverage of local music scenes, letters from readers and so on. But they also increasingly became vehicles for non-musical content - personal and anti-establishment rants, collages, art, cartoons, poetry and âranting verseâ, short stories, socio-cultural, political and historical issues, the promotion of causes (like vegetarianism, environmentalism, alternative lifestyles, anarchism, anti-racism, feminism and anti-sexism) or specific organisations (like Amnesty International, Traidcraft, Greenpeace, Mencap, CND, Hunt Saboteurs and the Animal Liberation Front)âŠ.
Punkâs raw power created a spirit of adventure that carried the music forward in many different directions - and as time passed the musical content of fanzines also diversified.
Fanzine writers were free to say whatever they wanted without having to worry about journalistic standards and conventions or the demands of owners, publishers, designers and production editors. Spelling mistakes, bad grammar and egomania were commonplace but nobody really cared.
Individual pages were written either on a typewriter or by hand (or a combination of both) - sometimes with the aid of Letraset sheets - and often illustrated with original drawings and artwork, as well as images and text cut out of newspapers or magazines, which were generally used with a sense of irony and literally stuck onto the rest of the content. Tippex, scissors and glue were essential toolsâŠ.
In the beginning fanzines were usually photocopied and stapled together by the fanzineâs creator. Even basic technology like photocopying was expensive at the time (if you didnât have access to a copier at school or work). A better option, which soon became a viable alternative for many fanzine writers, was to get your fanzine printed by companies like Better Badges, and this in turn led to advances in graphic design and even the appearance of colourâŠ.
Fanzine writers often encouraged their readers to create zines of their own, even to the extent of writing âhow toâ guides which would generally include a breakdown of how much everything cost. It also became customary for fanzines to include (usually favourable) reviews and/or the mail order details of other fanzines. So buying one zine often led you to send off for several more. Naturally, there were also some feuds and squabbles between rival fanzinesâŠ.
The emergence of independent distributors helped to spread fanzines around the country. Although some punk zines ended up selling hundreds or even thousands of copies, sales were generally very modest and rarely led to the writers making a profit. The vast majority had small print-runs and many were entirely self-produced and distributed (mainly by selling them at gigs and persuading local record shops to stock them), with maybe as few as 50 copies in total. It was also rare for a fanzine to last for more than a few issues and many were deliberately created as one-offs.
But despite all the problems that fanzine writers had to overcome, the zine culture that began in the late 1970s continued to grow and develop throughout the 1980s and beyond. Several punk fanzine editors and contributors - like Jon Savage, Paul Morley and Danny Baker - went on to become well known writers and journalists. Others - like Mike Scott, Shane MacGowan and Morrissey - subsequently became famous singers and musicians.
I had a great time growing up in the 1970s and fanzines were an important part of itâŠ.
I decided to start scanning and posting the covers of the fanzines Iâve got and also to scan some of the most interesting articles, interviews, photos, reviews, artwork and cartoons that they contain.
UPDATE (10th June 2021)
Over the last few years Iâve received a lot of requests to scan and upload the fanzines that Iâm documenting in full, instead of just posting selected highlights. I eventually started doing this and also decided to use the extra time I had during the Covid-19 lockdown to revisit the zines I already posted, scan all the missing pages and upload them to Flickr, then update the related Tumblr posts.
Scans of all the fanzine covers are collected (in approximate chronological order)Â HERE.
From the fanzine cover you can click on a link to a Flickr album that contains scans of all the zineâs pages and a link to a Tumblr post with more info about the zine. Tumblr links to all the fanzines Iâve posted are also listed below (in alphabetical order).
The story so farâŠ.
48 Thrills (issue #3 - 1977)
Allied Propaganda (issue #2 - 1979)
Alternative Ulster (issue #72 - 1978)
Anarchy In The UK (issue #1 - 1976)
Anti-Climax (issue #3 - 1979)
Away From The Numbers (issue #1 - 1977)
Bam Balam (issue #4 - 1976)
The Beat Goes On (issue #1 - 1979)
The Best Of Rebel Music (issue #1 - 1978)
Blackpool Rox (issue #3 - 1979)
Bondage (issue #1 - 1976)
Bored Stiff (issue #2 - 1977)
Bowie Bureau (issue #22 - 1978)
Brass Lip (issue #1 - 1979)
Burnt Offering (issue #3 - 1979)
Chainsaw (issue #3 - 1977)
City Fun (issue #8 - 1979)
Crash Bang (issue #2 - 1977)
Damaged Goods (issue #4 - 1979)
Dangerous Logic (issue #1 - 1978)
Deviation Street (issue #3 - 1977)
Escape As Jet (issue #3 - 1979)
Final Notice (issue #1 - 1978)
Flicks (issue #1 - 1977)
Garage Land (issue #5 - 1977)
Ghast Up (issue #1 - 1977)
Gun Rubber (issue #4 - 1977)
Guttersnipe (issue #2 - 1978)
Hanging Around (issue #7 - 1977)
Headbanger (issue #2 - 1979)
Impulse (issue #7 - 1979)
Industrial News (issue #3 - 1979)
Jamming (issue #9 - 1979)
Jolt (issue #3 - 1977)
Juice (issue #1 - 1977)
Kidâs Stuff (issue #8 - 1977)
Kill It (issue #1 - 1977)
Kingdom Come (issue #11 - 1978)
Live Wire (issue #7 - 1977)
Londonâs Burning (issue #1 - 1976)
Londonâs Outrage (issue #1 - 1976)
Look At The Time (issue #1 - 1977)
Look Out (issue #2 - 1978)
Modern Drugs (issue #1 - 1979)
More On (issue #3 - 1977)
New Pose (issue #4 - 1977)
New Wave (issue #3 - 1977)
The Next Big Thing (issue #1 - 1977)
Next Mondayâs Exciting (issue #2 - 1979)
NMX (issue #9 - 1979)
Oh CardiffâŠ.Up Yours! (issue #1 - 1978)
Printed Noises (issue #2 - 1979)
The Rings (issue #1 - 1977)
Ripped & Torn (issue #10 - 1978)
The Secret Public (issue #1 - 1978)
Septic Ears (issue #1 - 1977)
Shy Talk (issue #3 - 1977)
Sick! (issue #2 - 1978)
Sideburns (issue #1 - 1977)
Situation 3 (issue #3 - 1977)
Small Axe (issue #1 - 1978)
Sniffinâ Glue (issue #8 - 1977)
St Albans Antibof (issue #2 - 1977)
Street Talk (issue #1 - 1977)
Surrey Vomet (issue #3 - 1979)
Suspect Device (issue #6 - 1979)
Temporary Hoarding (issue #9 - 1979)
Trash-77 (issue #3 - 1977)
TRB Bulletin (issue #8 - 1978)
Underground Beer (issue #1 - 1979)
Unlimited Edition (issue #1 - 1979)
Up + Coming (issue #1 - 1977)
Voice Of Buddha (issue #1 - 1979)
White Stuff (issue #2 - 1977)
ZigZag (issue #75 - 1977)
ZigZag (issue #85 - 1978)