So What! (issue #4)
YEAR: 1984
CREATED BY: Andy (with help from Leigh, Attila, Steve Winter and Kool Knotes)
LOCATION: Cowley
SIZE: A4
WHAT’S INSIDE….
Andy starts off by neatly summing up what motivated him and hundreds of other fanzine writers to do what they did….
“So What! is primarily a fanzine about music, nothing more. In the same way as my words won’t change anything, neither will the bands I like or write about. What they can do though is to provide that spark, the catalyst if you like, which will ignite if you want it to.”
The most interesting of the bands in this issue are the Anti Social Workers, who mixed up ranting poetry and vocal harmonies with a reggae beat and released an album called “Punky Reggae Party (Positive Style)” on the Ariwa label (produced by the Mad Professor), tracks from which can easily be found online….
Other bands featured include the Clinch, Animal Farm, the Tempest and the Outcasts. There’s also some ranting verse from Steve Winter and Kool Knotes (AKA Richard Edwards of Cool Notes fanzine) and a page by Atilla The Stockbroker that explains what ranting verse was all about….
I became a big fan of Patrick McGoohan’s classic serial “The Prisoner” after it was re-shown on British TV in the mid-1980s and Andy’s mate Leigh seems to have found it as fascinating as I did, judging by this article….
Andy spends two whole pages plugging other people’s fanzines (his top 10 were: Cool Notes, Vague, Apocalypse, Tongue In Cheek, Tales From The Wasteland, A Pack Of Lies, Grim Humour, Murder By Fanzine, State and Catch 22 - but many others get a mention) plus there’s a short article about Very Mouth Records & Tapes that inspired me to send off for their compilation tape “You, the mouth and the music”, which I’ve still got…. 
my box of 1980s fanzines
flickr
Out On The Floor (issue #3)
YEAR: 1985
CREATED BY: Kevin Aynsleigh
LOCATION: London
SIZE: A4
WHAT’S INSIDE….
After the demise of Cool Notes fanzine, Kevin Aynsleigh created Out On The Floor - named after a track by Dobie Gray that is regarded as a Northern Soul classic. Like its predecessor, the new zine was a celebration of the author’s diverse musical taste, with soul, hip hop and reggae artists featured alongside indie and punk bands, as well as plenty of non-musical content.
Issue 3 starts with an article about Dobie Gray and also includes a brief guide to 1970s soul, Sam Cooke, pirate radio (with a focus on Tim Westwood’s show on LWR), the latest hip hop releases and other new music reviews, bands like the Only Alternative, the Three Johns, the Persuaders, the Men They Couldn’t Hang and the Farm (“just ordinary lads with an exceptional sense of humour”), gigs, a trip to the theatre, the miners’ strike and the best places in London to buy records.
An interview with Pat Nevin - footballer and indie music fan (then playing for Chelsea) - manages to prove that not all footballers are brain dead, and on a reggae tip there’s an article about Fashion Records and a review of their groundbreaking compilation album “Great British MCs”, featuring Asher Senator, Papa Levi, Smiley Culture and other pioneers of the “fast chat” deejay style.
Cover star Porky The Poet is also featured inside. He was very active on the gig circuit in the mid-1980s as well as appearing in a lot of fanzines - and is now better known as Phill Jupitus….
The “Poison Pen” section also features a great selection of mid-1980s fanzines….
my box of 1980s fanzines
flickr
Gakbag (issue #1)
YEAR: 1985
CREATED BY: Arthur Mathews and Mick Nugent
LOCATION: Drogheda
SIZE: slightly smaller than A4
WHAT’S INSIDE….
I remember getting this issue of Gakbag round about the same time as I discovered Viz comic, and Gakbag’s collection of cartoons and wacky articles certainly make it seem like it could be Viz’s more polite Irish cousin. Sadly, while Viz went on to conquer the world, Gakbag seems to have disappeared without trace.
Some sample pages….
my box of 1980s fanzines
flickr
Concrete Beaches (issue #11)
YEAR: 1984
CREATED BY: Concrete Beaches
LOCATION: London
SIZE: A4
WHAT’S INSIDE….
This is a typical edition of Concrete Beaches - eight pages full of appropriated text and images, music and fanzine reviews, plus a few bits of original artwork - all juxtaposed together seemingly at random to make some kind of “statement”.
Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher both have starring roles and the picture of uncle Ron was stolen from issue 15 of Vague fanzine - a good example of how fanzine authors often re-published each other’s content (I guess the modern day equivalent is re-blogging).
Enjoy….
my box of 1980s fanzines
flickr
Grey Matter (issue #1)
YEAR: 1981
CREATED BY: Ian Stirling Anderson and some of his mates….
LOCATION: Sheffield
SIZE: A4
WHAT’S INSIDE….
According to their manifesto, the authors of Grey Matter intended it to be a monthly arts magazine that covered a wide variety of music, poetry, original writing, fringe theatre, modern art, design and so on. In view of this they felt the need to apologise for the fact that issue #1 is mainly music-orientated, for the simple reason that “those involved with music have been more responsive to our invitations to contribute”.
Nevertheless, it was certainly a decent first step towards their goal - it looks pretty stylish and is generally well written, despite veering into “pseud’s corner” territory from time to time. I’ve no idea how many other issues they managed to produce before moving on to other things….
On the musical front there are interviews with Pere Ubu and Gang Of Four during their 1981 UK tour, an article praising local band Artery, a review of Clock DVA and Bauhaus performing at Heaven and a few record reviews.
An upbeat Julian Cope also makes an appearance….
The non-musical content mainly consists of a review of the groundbreaking “Women’s Images Of Men” exhibition by Joyce Agee, Catherine Elwes, Jacqueline Morreau and Pat Whiteread then showing at the ICA, plus several deep and meaningful poems mixed up with arty images….
my box of 1980s fanzines
flickr
Voice Of Buddah (issue #2)
YEAR: 1980
CREATED BY: Michael Leonards and James Naylor
LOCATION: London
SIZE: A5
WHAT’S INSIDE….
They called this the “happy issue” of Voice Of Buddha - and according to Michael and James it was “radical chic at its best”. This apparently means interviews with Adam and the Ants, Mayo Thompson, the Jam and John Peel….
There’s also a sympathetic re-appraisal of Wire’s recorded works (in the aftermath of the release of their excellent third album “154”)….
“Notes From Hostile Street” (the first publication from Paul Weller’s Riot Stories) also gets a favourable mention and its author, Dave Waller, is hailed as a “poet for the 80s”. Sadly, he seems to have disappeared without trace….
Elsewhere there’s a review of a gig by the Bodysnatchers (supporting Lene Lovich) at the Lyceum, advertising for Better Badges and Hard Lines T-Shirts, breaking news about the Nips deciding to split up (although they did in fact continue sporadically for another year or so) and the lyrics to the Jam’s soon-to-be-released single “Going Underground”….
my box of 1980s fanzines
flickr
Ivor The Anarchist (issue #1)
YEAR: 1983/4
CREATED BY: John Green and Mick Bladder
LOCATION: Edinburgh
SIZE: A5
WHAT’S INSIDE….
Ivor the Anarchist cartoons appeared in various fanzines in the mid-1980s and were created by John Green (words) and Mick Bladder (art).
This is the first issue of Ivor The Anarchist comic and brings together several strips from 1983 and 1984, featuring Ivor as a hapless Everyman for the 1980s anarcho-punk dole generation, along with his sarcastic dog Abba, an assortment of losers that he hangs out with and his band - the Vomit Encrusted Chip Butties. 
According to the blurb, “Ivor The Anarchist is an amateur non-profit-making magazine” and this sounds like an accurate description….
my box of 1980s fanzines
flickr
Small Axe (issue #11)
YEAR: 1982
CREATED BY: Ray Hurford
LOCATION: London
SIZE: A5
WHAT’S INSIDE….
Small Axe was a reggae zine published by Ray Hurford from 1978 to the late 1980s.
In this issue the centrepiece is a lengthy interview with Gregory Isaacs (by Penny Reel) that goes through the highlights of his career up to 1982, which proved to be an eventful year - mainly for the wrong reasons. He released his most successful album to date (the excellent “Night Nurse”) but also got involved in drug dealing, ended up addicted to crack cocaine and spent a few months in jail for firearms offences. 
The rest of the zine consists of an article about the film “Countryman”, information about other reggae fanzines in various countries and reviews of many great-sounding reggae records, most of which I’m sad to say I’ve never heard….
my box of 1980s fanzines
flickr
14th May 2013
Notes: 1
