Moreon

More On was a 1976 punk fanzine written by two schoolgirls Sarah Rapson (Sarah Shosubi/Vinyl Virgin) and Rebecca Hale (Crystal Clear) that ran for four issues. The girls had met The Clash in George’s Cafe on Camden High Street and were inspired to write the fanzine both by the band and the sheer accessibility of punk and ease in which you could get involved in it. The other thing is that like women musicians in punk or all-girl punk bands, they were a minority. The only other women running fanzines I can think of were The Jolt’s Lucy Toothpaste and Fishnet Tights’s Cariola Chaos.

The first one was all handwritten and starts – ” I should be doing my homework but these days – like I’m sure you’ve noticed there’s actually something happening -and we’re allowed to join in – so that’s what I’m doing now.”

Over the four issues, they developed quickly from a rough handwritten sheet to a combination of type and handwriting and cut-and-paste juxtaposed pictures and content. They weren’t afraid to challenge or criticise – saying the Sex Pstols‘ ‘Anarchy In The UK’ was a bit boring now and they were heavy on featuring The Slits and The Clash. Crystal’s photos of Viv Albertine twice made the front cover; the first with issue 3 and Viv adjusting her fishnets at the Roxy Club and the second the last issue. The Issue 3 cover is particularly striking because you’re not sure what Viv is doing. There’s also some nice design around the front cover that’s carried through the issue and each page is densely filled with images and content.

Sarah was interviewed by the British Library about More On in 2016 on their Sound and Vision blog.

British Library: How old were you when you started the fanzine?

Sarah Rapson: I was 17 and still lived at home in North London. I was in the sixth form at Camden School for Girls. I hand-wrote the words and my school friend Rebecca Hale took most of the pictures, although I did take the picture of Viv Albertine in fishnets sitting on the bar at the Roxy Club (above), but probably with her camera. We developed the photos in a darkroom in Kentish Town that we accessed by signing up for the local council’s photography evening classes. Rebecca called herself Crystal Clear and I gave myself various pen names, one of them being Vinyl Virgin. I think we did this so as not to be embarrassed or maybe so as not to get expelled from school. We printed the first issues on the school’s copying machine.

BL: How many issues did you publish?

SR: I think there were four issues and they were all published 1976-77 – it seemed like a much longer time period! I think we made about 50 copies of the first one using the school machine and then we went to copy shops. Joe Strummer gave me £100 after he saw the first issue, so that we could make more and get them printed at a copy shop. I credit this act with sort of inspiring my whole life and he was I think a sort of angel. We sold them at the Roxy Club and the market down the World’s End. Rough Trade also had them in their record store. 

When we went to see the Clash play we talked to them and then immediately did this magazine. I think it was a way to express my love because I really did have a crush on Joe Strummer! I think what punk was against was the ‘detached star’ thing – I don’t think it was against ‘glamour’ as there was something glamorous about it too.

We were invited to watch them rehearse and to take pictures and to interview them, and maybe this was to do with us seeing them in the cafe but they were also accessible. There was no sexism in the scenario, it was more about recognizing charisma and creativity. We were both schoolgirls but I recognize that we were artists, and I think about Patti Smith in all of this because she was an important discovery too. 

The newspaper Sunday People ran a feature ‘The Punk Rock Exploiters’ featuring Miles Copeland and Nigel Brickell from the Kings Road shop Smuts and an MP’s warning about punk. It also featured Cristal Clear talking about what they did to cause controversy!

There are other Punk Rock magazines on the scene, some informational, many obscene and nearly all anti-authority.

Typical is one called More-On the product of two sixth form girls in Camden High School For Girls.
For the last six months Sarah Shosubi 18, and Rebecca Klear 18 have been leading double lives as gymslip punk rockers producing their magazine alongside their studies.

Outside school they are known as Vinyl Virgin and Cristal Clear. “For ffect and shock we deliberately played up a lesbian scene between us,” said Cristal sipping on her red vinyl mac, “But really we are normal and both have our fair share of men.” Cristal concentrates on the photographs for the magazine and vinyl on the features. Both spend several evenings each week seeing bands at clubs to get their material.

But their existence too is dependant for its existence on advertising revenue from record companies, in whose interest it is to keep the enthusiasm for Punk Rock alive. 12.6.77

Very true last point. The money from one advert would probably pay for the printing of the fanzine.

Anyway, if you want to read a copy head over to the Still Unusual blog spot to read issue 3.

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