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Tidal Wave (issue #2) YEAR: 1980 CREATED BY: Terri LOCATION: London SIZE: A4 WHAT’S INSIDE…. It’s very rare that I kept more than one issue of the same fanzine so I must have really liked Tidal Wave. Terri’s second effort finds her still struggling...

Tidal Wave (issue #2)

YEAR: 1980
CREATED BY: Terri
LOCATION: London
SIZE: A4

WHAT’S INSIDE….

It’s very rare that I kept more than one issue of the same fanzine so I must have really liked Tidal Wave. Terri’s second effort finds her still struggling with the same dodgy typewriter that she used for issue #1 and still highly obsessed with Joy Division.

It includes a review of their second album “Closer” as well as a fabulous encounter with Mark E Smith of The Fall, and interviews with Echo and the Bunnymen, Section 25 and U2. The zine also contains some excellent photos and gloomy artwork.

I wonder who the crossed-out artist on the front cover was?

Click on the title above to see scans of all the zine’s pages….

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Tidal Wave fanzine post-punk joy division u2 the fall echo and the bunnymen section 25 better badges 1980
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V Sign (issue #3) YEAR: 1980 CREATED BY: Les LOCATION: Stevenage SIZE: A4 WHAT’S INSIDE…. Issue #3 of V Sign is printed on various shades of coloured paper but the quality of the printing, the layout and the graphics all leave a lot to be desired. On...

V Sign (issue #3)

YEAR: 1980
CREATED BY: Les
LOCATION: Stevenage
SIZE: A4

WHAT’S INSIDE….

Issue #3 of V Sign is printed on various shades of coloured paper but the quality of the printing, the layout and the graphics all leave a lot to be desired. On the editorial page Les makes it clear that he thinks the music scene which emerged from the UK punk rock explosion that happened three years earlier is now growing stale. Nevertheless, there’s a lot of great content in the third issue of his zine, including articles about Lemon Kittens and The Flowers that the bands sent in themselves, a long interview with UK Decay, shorter mentions of mainly obscure bands like The Clefts and some gig reviews.

In retrospect, the most interesting of these is Les’ lengthy account of going to the Lyceum in London on 29th February 1980 to see Joy Division co-headlining with Killing Joke, supported by A Certain Ratio and Section 25.

He was highly unimpressed with the venue, the bouncers, the audience and the other bands - but also found that “the only interesting group left” didn’t live up to his expectations.

Joy Division’s set that night consisted almost entirely of as yet unreleased songs, and in Les’ opinion only their forthcoming single “Love Will Tear Us Apart” stood out. The complete performance is available on the “No More Ceremonies” bootleg (five of the tracks are also included on the live CD in the “Heart And Soul” box set) and with the benefit of hindsight it sounds like a truly excellent gig. However, even though Joy Division were being heavily promoted by some influential writers in the UK music press at the time, one of the nice things about fanzine culture was that it gave the likes of Les the opportunity to say “don’t believe the hype”….

His "pretty shoddy” interview with Martin Atkins of Public Image Ltd is also well worth a read.

Click on the title above to see scans of all the zine’s pages….

my box of 1980s fanzines
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v sign fanzine post-punk fanzine post-punk joy division lemon kittens the flowers uk decay public image ltd 1980s 1980
Joy Division / New Order Songbook YEAR: 1983 CREATED BY: ? LOCATION: ? SIZE: A4 WHAT’S INSIDE…. This songbook was one of several zines dedicated to Joy Division and New Order that were published in the 1980s. It was the first edition of what became...

Joy Division / New Order Songbook

YEAR: 1983
CREATED BY: ?
LOCATION: ?
SIZE: A4

WHAT’S INSIDE….

This songbook was one of several zines dedicated to Joy Division and New Order that were published in the 1980s. It was the first edition of what became known as the History In Cuttings. The front cover features a picture of Ian Curtis (with Steve Morris in the background) taken during Joy Division’s gig at Les Bains Douches in Paris on 18th December 1979.

I’m not sure who was responsible for putting it together. According to Max Admiraal of Standard fanzine, Gerard Davelaar was one of a number of people who contributed to the songbook, as well as another Joy Division/New Order fanzine called Factsheet (which also dates from 1983) - and there is definitely some stylistic resemblance between these two publications.

The zine contains the lyrics to all known songs by both bands (circa 1983) as well as complete discographies (official releases and bootlegs). These are mixed up with photos and cuttings reprinted from various sources and arranged in somewhat random order.

Much more reprinted material was added to subsequent editions (usually with no indication of the original source) and the zine eventually grew to over 300 pages in length, split into two volumes.

Click on the title above to see scans of all the zine’s pages….

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joy division new order songbook history in cuttings fanzine joy division new order post-punk 1980s 1983
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CSBT (issue #?)

YEAR: 1983
CREATED BY: James Nice, Ewan Burke and various contributors
LOCATION: Edinburgh
SIZE: A5

WHAT’S INSIDE….

The exact number of issues of CSBT fanzine that preceded this one is unclear….

A substantial chunk of the content is devoted to what James Nice refers to as “the usual Factory-ish rubbish” - an article about Dutch minimalists Minny Pops, a neat Durutti Column discography and a fascinating contribution by Crispy Ambulance vocalist Alan Hempsall, recalling his “day out with Joy Division” which occurred on 8th January 1980 - just months before the untimely death of Ian Curtis.

There’s also an in depth article about Sheffield band In The Nursery, then only a couple of years old. Formed by twins Klive and Nigel Humberstone in 1981, they continued to release new music on a regular basis for the next four decades, despite languishing in relative obscurity.

Colin Newman gets a much briefer write up, consisting of “odds and sods” which were omitted from an interview with Newman that appeared in issue #7 of Blam! fanzine (which I wasn’t sufficiently curious to send off for)….

Pages are also dedicated to jazz explorations and the work of artist Nanny Mulder, broadening the zine’s scope beyond the post-punk mainstream.

Various contributors review recent releases (including New Order’s groundbreaking 12" single “Confusion”, which is dismissed as “so inane and mind numbingly boring that it has to be a joke”), a few zines, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival of 1983 and some gigs (most notably a lukewarm appraisal of the The Smiths’ seventh ever live performance, supporting the The Fall at the Electric Ballroom in London).

Click on the title above to see scans of all the zine’s pages….

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Tear It Up (issue #2)

YEAR: 1981
CREATED BY: Janette Anderson, Dave Belcher, Kenneth Bergeron, EW Musgrave
LOCATION: Kilwinning
SIZE: A4

WHAT’S INSIDE….

Kilwinning isn’t exactly the rock ‘n’ roll capital of Scotland, but the self-styled “gang of four” responsible for creating this excellent zine back in early 1981 (with a bit of help from future journalist and broadcaster Stuart Cosgrove and a couple of other contributors) were definitely punching above their weight.

Issue #2 of Tear It Up includes a review of a gig by New Order which took place at Glasgow’s Eglinton Toll Plaza on 12th January 1981. Kenneth Bergeron managed to interview Bernard Sumner (still calling himself “Bernard Albrecht” at the time) before the band went onstage, and got some interesting insights from him about what it was like to be following in the footsteps of Joy Division. Sumner also recounts the story of the band getting all their gear nicked in New York in September 1980 and laments about the “fucking useless” quality of the hired sound system they were using (which ended up malfunctioning during their set). Bombers Over Vienna and Positive Noise were the support bands….

There’s also an entertaining four page feature about BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel which is packed with amusing anecdotes, including Peel’s thoughts about some of his fellow Radio 1 DJs (he describes Dave Lee Travis - who was convicted of indecent assault many years later - as “such a loathsome person”).

A page about Grace Jones mainly focuses on her iconic appearance on Russell Harty’s chat show in November 1980.

One of my most played records of 1980 was her 12" single featuring extended versions of The Pretenders’ “Private Life” and Joy Division’s “She’s Lost Control”. A shorter version of “Private Life” appeared on Jones’ album “Warm Leatherette”, which is included in the Tear It Up summary of 1980’s best releases….

Other artists featured include Scottish post-punk band Boots For Dancing (who released a few half-decent singles between 1979 and 1982 and also recorded two Peel sessions) and John Dowie - best known at the time for his “comedic” contributions to the legendary “A Factory Sample” ep, which contrasted starkly with the rather more sombre tracks by Joy Division, Cabaret Voltaire and Durutti Column (the article about Dowie was “stolen from another magazine with an arrogant disregard for copyright laws”).

There’s even a thoughtful piece about American actor Buster Keaton.

Click on the title above to see scans of all the zine’s pages….

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tear it up fanzine music fanzine post-punk fanzine new order john peel post-punk indie 1980s 1981
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Getting Nowhere Fast! (issue #3)

YEAR: 1981
CREATED BY: Keith Alcorn, Judy Leighton, Neil Griffin and various contributors
LOCATION: York
SIZE: A5

WHAT’S INSIDE….

The third issue of Getting Nowhere Fast! offers an engaging and eclectic snapshot of the independent music scene in the early 1980s. The zine was named after the debut single by Leeds band Girls At Our Best! and there’s a short tribute to them inside.

With its neat layout and effective use of colour, Getting Nowhere Fast! also stands out aesthetically from many of its contemporaries.

The centre pages are dedicated to Scottish indie darlings Orange Juice, whose frontman Edwyn Collins also graces the cover in a playful cartoon rendition. Their Postcard label mates Josef K are also featured, as are Scars - another seminal name in the Scottish post-punk landscape.

For anyone interested in the origins of goth music, there’s an early article about The Sisters Of Mercy. While the term “goth” is nowhere to be found (unsurprising, as the genre didn’t really exist yet) the band is described as “an apocalyptic union of fuzz and echo”, Andrew Eldritch is referred to simply as “A” and there’s an interesting account of why the band didn’t have a drummer….

Elsewhere, the zine keeps its ear to the ground with coverage of local bands like Nerve Senta (from York) and Loss Of Head (from Horsforth), who failed to escape from obscurity, but find a moment of recognition here.

Gig reviews include a write-up of Pere Ubu and Gang Of Four at Newcastle Mayfair. Reviewer John Lake unfortunately missed the first set from Leeds band Delta 5, but the omission is rectified with a separate review of the band’s recent performance at Jaspers in Leeds (I saw all three bands in Liverpool in March 1981 and even bought the fanzine-style programme that they created for their spring tour of the UK).

Somebody called Pete Owston also reviewed a gig at Bradford University featuring Echo And The Bunnymen and Blue Orchids.

There’s an enthusiastic appraisal of “Love Backed By Force”, the first album from The Tronics, which is also promoted with a full page ad. Adverts for Ruby Hearts Original Clothing, Red Rhino Records, Track Records and Plunkets Restaurant also appear in the zine.

More vinyl and indie cassette reviews, eclectic playlists, and a somewhat unexpected two page deep dive into the Italian rock scene add to the zine’s offbeat charm.

And then there’s the massive crossword, which I never bothered to attempt….

Click on the title above to see scans of all the zine’s pages….

my box of 1980s fanzines
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getting nowhere fast fanzine music fanzine indie fanzine post-punk fanzine indie pop indie rock post-punk 1980s 1981
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