Regression Toward the Zine (4)
By:
July 5, 2013
The biggest news about fanzines during the Seventies (1974–1983) is the arrival of punk fanzines, which for a few years eclipse all other varieties.
NOTE: The zines mentioned and shown in this post are not included in my own collection, the earliest zines in which date to the 1980s.
* Shown above: 48 Thrills!, a British fanzine that appeared in 1976 and whose first issue featured writing on the Sex Pistols and The Clash. Mark Perry’s British fanzine Sniffin’ Glue also started in 1976.
* Shane McGowan, who later fronted the band The Pogues, was a zinester! Shown above at age 18 (in 1976) with his punk fanzine Bondage. I wish I owned copies of this; also Raymond Pettibon’s 1981–85 zine Tripping Corpse.
* Flipside, one of the longest running, and best-known punk fanzines, was first published in 1977; it chronicled the early Los Angeles punk scene.
* The punk fanzine Slash also start in LA in 1976; Gary Panter was one of its contributors!
* The fanzine Punk, which supposedly lent its moniker to the music and the scene (in fact, the magazine Creem first popularized the term), was first published in 1976 — in New York.
* Coolest Retard was a seminal punk fanzine from Chicago; it ran from 1979–84. Maximum Rock’N’Roll first appeared in 1982.
This is a 25-part series in which HiLobrow editor Joshua Glenn, who from 1990–93 published the zine Luvboat Earth and from 1992–2001 published the zine/journal Hermenaut, bids a fond farewell to his noteworthy collection of zines, which he recently donated to the University of Iowa Library’s zine and amateur press collection. CLICK HERE to view the online finding aid for this collection.