1 Punk Fanzines
In 1976-79 punk fanzines were the mirror image of punk culture in all ways. The punk band (and arguably fashion explosion) was primed by the Sex Pistols and by 1977 hundreds of bands forming/changing overnight, charged with the energy and the possibilities of expressing themselves. Independent record labels followed the lead of Stiff or Chiswick to get those raw punk masterworks out to the public on a shoestring; short sharp shocks of punk singles appeared. In parallel the DIY spirit and attitude were taken up by Mark Perry and Sniffin’ Glue and the birth of an independent punk media. You didn’t even need a band to be part of punk; you could destroy the music press from your bedroom. Hundreds of variations followed, fell and more came evolving as the multiple strands of punk evolved into post punk and beyond.
Below Mathew Worley summarises the whole of his excellent 2024 book Xerox Machine – Punk, Post-Punk and Fanzines in Britain 1976-88 into the feature below.
Mathew Worley (September 2024) Punk didn’t invent the fanzine, but it did reimagine just what could be done with some paper, a pen or a typewriter, and a little bit of teenage spleen.
Fanzine history is typically routed back to the sci-fi community, the term ‘fanzine’ being invented by Russ Chauvenet in 1940 as he sought to distinguish homemade, self-distributed fan publications from commercial ‘prozines’ (as in professional). Sci-fi aficionados made up their own stories and added their own illustrations to distribute through networks that crisscrossed the US and UK. They did it themselves, making their own media in response to a lack of adequate, insightful or positive coverage of science fiction in the mainstream culture.
In just the same way, Mark Perry’s Sniffin’ Glue was born of a response to the music press’s slow and lacklustre coverage of the emergent ‘punk’ bands forming in 1976. With just 50 copies, scrawled and Xeroxed over the space of a week, Perry inspired a deluge of self-made magazines; a growing mess of staples, stencils and UHU glue holding together pages of pictures cut from the music papers to decorate opinionated musings on gigs seen and records released. By November 1976, the third issue of Sniffin’ Glue was held up on BBC’s Nationwide as a signal of punk’s assault on culture.
Perry’s innovation had been noted earlier in the pages of Melody Maker, Caroline Coon corralling Sniffin‘ Glue into the ‘new wave explosion’. As others began to follow his example, regular fanzine round-ups appeared in Sounds and NME. Titles such as Tony D’s Ripped & Torn, Shane MacGowan’s Bondage, Jon Savage’s London’s Outrage, Arcane Vendetta’s These Things, and Adrian Thrills’ 48 Thrills began to feel familiar.
Record and book shops in London, most obviously Rough Trade and Compendium, stocked copies as they came in; new titles – More On, Jolt, White Stuff, Kid’s Stuff, Panache etc, etc. – appeared and disappeared. Beyond the capital, as local punk scenes began to develop, so fanzines emerged in tandem. Shy Talk and Ghast Up from Manchester; Hanging Around and Jungleland in Edinburgh; Gun Rubber in Sheffield; Rotten to the Core in Nottingham; Up Yours from Cardiff; Alternative Ulster from Belfast; Vomit in Norwich; Censored in Birmingham; Revenge from Grimsby. In every city and every town a punk fanzine was dreamt up and pasted up for a handful of issues. Like the multitude of punk singles released over 1977–78, fanzines offered an immediate and often short-lived statement of intent. Doing not consuming; being active not passive.
Above Up Yours (Cardiff, Wales), Alternative Ulster (Belfast, Northern Ireland) & Hanging Around (Edinburgh, Scotland)
As Perry’s first editorial for Sniffin’ Glue made clear, fanzines offered an alternative to the music press. They were produced from within rather than without; they were close to the ground and the grassroots of punk’s bottom-up revolt. Rather than analyse and adjudicate, fanzines reported and recorded – tracing punk’s becoming at the point of origin. Though many fanzine writers soon found their way into the music press (Garry Bushell, Dave McCullough, Mick Mercer, Adrian Thrills, Paul Morley, Jon Savage to name just a few), the medium served best as a commentary on the sounds, spaces and places where punk circulated below or adjacent to the media spectacle. Fanzines bypassed the gatekeepers, allowing access to cultural communication. They covered bands and scenes ignored by the London-centric music press; they gave a sense of importance to local scenes cultivating regional cultures that later evolved into the post-punk diaspora now celebrated as a bounty of innovation.
Style-wise, punk fanzines soon developed a recognisable look. Initially, their slapdash design and irreverent prose rubbed against the usually staid and standard formats of the pre-punk fanzine. In time, the collages of media debris and blackmail lettering forged a recognisable aesthetic, while the language of ‘ain’t’, ‘fuck’. ‘kids’ and ‘boredom’ began to appear more affectation than genuine ‘street talk’. Yet such innovations permeated the look and design of the NME; they infused commercial practice to become part of the branded design arsenal. A visual language was effectively created: as much ‘punk’ as the safety-pin and anarchy symbols that served also as visual signifiers.
Over time, too, fanzine styles evolved and mutated. New influences – not least Crass, but also designers working with various bands – replaced Jamie Reid as the progenitor of graphic tropes promoting the contents of fanzines that followed the dissipating strands of punk into the late 1970s. The best punkzines – be it Vague, Kill Your Pet Puppy or Toxic Grafitty – created their own visual identities: instantly recognisable and standing out from an ever more crowded field. Colour, too, helped in part by Joly MacFie getting the printing presses rolling for fanzines at Better Badges in Ladbroke Grove, allowed for further experimentation and reimagining of how a punk-informed fanzine could and should look.
As this suggests, fanzines were essential to punk. They embodied much of what the culture was deemed to be about. That is: doing things yourself, having a voice, finding your own creative outlet, cultivating an alternative culture. Inside the punk fanzine, the politics of punk were discussed and debated. Poems, illustrations and short stories were presented. Ruminations on everything from television to racism found space between the lists of favourite records and breathless reviews of gigs held in venues large and small. As a result, networks and friendships were forged, enabling information to be exchanged and contacts made. Before the internet, fanzines offered one means of accessing what was otherwise hard to access – especially once letters started coming in from the US, Europe and further afield.
Below random fanzines, styles and typical features – click for larger images
Not many survived for long. Fanzines provided a self-generating medium, inspiring new bursts of energy as previous moments of impetus gave way. Most titles lasted for around 3 to 6 issues, usually moving from eager enthusiasm to jaded disillusionment as young minds inspired by punk began to dull or seek new stimuli. Exceptions existed: Vague, again, proved an exception to the rule as it evolved into book-like chronicles of all things countercultural. But most began as a way into punk’s cultural ferment; a means to take part in and contribute to something genuinely exciting and life-affirming. Though it was relatively ‘easy’ to do, making a fanzine was not always ‘cheap’ and the content was not always as forthcoming as might be imagined. The lack of an editorial lead or deadline could prove both liberating AND intimidating. Nevertheless, it was the ephemeral nature of the fanzine that mattered most to many. It was done quickly, immediately … then time to move on to something else.
As a legacy of punk, the fanzine is a testament to youthful ingenuity and punk’s own service as cultural catalyst. Fanzines captured a moment; they allowed for ideas to be tested and skills to be honed; they formed part of the process by which punk intervened in and transformed the social and political fabric. They were also fun to do and fun to read. And perhaps that alone is enough.
All you kids out there who read SG don’t be satisfied with what we write. Go out and start your own fanzines or send reviews to the established papers. Let’s really get on their nerves, flood the market with punk writing. Mark Perry – Sniffin’ Glue
We began ‘More On’ because we wanted to get ‘involved’. The whole feeling at the time was that you had to do something. We felt something special, part of a new thing which was very radical- underground. ..we wanted (still do) really to be the ones on stage…More On 1 was done in two hours at school one afternoon. Sarah, ‘More On’ Fanzine writer
For me, punk meant an escape from a very boring job in banking. it gave me the chance to be creative and share my ideas with others who seemed to be on the same wavelength. I thought I could change the world. We were in action; we had the time; we had the vision. It wasn’t just punk rock, Sniffing’ Glue, The Sex Pistols, The Clash…it was art in action. Mark Perry, Sniffin’ Glue – The Essential Punk Accessory.
We acknowledge the fanzine as the only legitimate form of journalism, and consider the ‘established’ press to be little more than talentless clones, guilty of extreme cerebral laziness. Ant Manifesto, Adam Ant 7/11/78
By mid 77 the fanzines were wallowing in the mire of a golden age long gone…the fanzine press.. had degenerated from what was initially a potentially worthwhile project into an overpriced, green-eyed, pale imitation of all they had purported to detest. Julie Burchill & Tony Parsons, The Boy Looked At Johnny
Fanzines were amateurish nonsense. Beginning of the end. Lowest common denominator. Chris Sullivan, The Punk Book (and former member of Blue Rondo a la Turk – ha ha)
Two excellent resources where you can download or read online a wide variety of punk fanzines – Still Unusual Blog spot and You’re A Disease. The latter’s scans are from Mick Jones’ (The Clash) personal collection when he made it available to the public.
Books to check out – Mathew Worley Zerox Machine and Piller & Rowland’s Punkzines: British Fanzine Culture from the Punk Scene 1976-1983
TalkPunk
Post comments, images & videos - Posts are checked and offensive or irrelevant ones will be removed
