We Talk Zines

In early 1979, Tony D(rayton) ceased publication of his trailblazing punk fanzine Ripped &amp; Torn, having experienced a seismic shift in his values by the emergence of anarcho-punks Crass on the scene. After nine months traversing Europe and rethinking his “decadence,” he came back to London and started a new fanzine, Kill Your Pet Puppy. Like its predecessor, KYPP proved highly influential, and at times equally controversial, gradually moving away from music coverage over the course of its six issues to become something more… In this, his second appearance on The Fanzine Podcast (check Episode 13 for the Ripped &amp; Torn story), Tony D. talks about his conversion to the Crass way of living, his sojourns in Europe, falling out with Adam Ant, falling in with a new squat scene, why Kill Your Pet Puppy initially had a far more shocking title, gaining the printing patronage of Joly MacFie at Better Badges, testing the boundaries of what a punk zine could achieve and represent, the attraction of the new ‘Positive Punk’ groups like Alien Sex Fiend, Southern Death Cult and Sex Gang Children, why he launched KYPP with an attack on host Tony Fletcher’s Jamming! fanzine, and why he eventuallyran off to join the circus. Literally. For the full unedited interview with Tony D., and for more about fanzine culture in general, please visit <a href="https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/kill-your-pet-puppy-and-other-pop" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/kill-your-pet-puppy-and-other-pop</a> The Kill Your Pet Puppy archives are at <a href="https://killyourpetpuppy.co.uk/news/the-complete-set-of-kill-your-pet-puppy-fanzines/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://killyourpetpuppy.co.uk/news/the-complete-set-of-kill-your-pet-puppy-fanzines/</a> The Fanzine Podcast Theme is by Noel Fletcher. Logo by Greg Morton. The Best of Jamming! Selections &amp; Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-86 is available from <a href="https://omnibuspress.com/products/the-best-of-jamming-published-on-23rd-september-2021?_pos=3&amp;_sid=10db52d29&amp;_ss=r" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Omnibus Press </a>and other online retailers.&nbsp;

Ep. 34: Kill Your Pet Puppy with Tony D.

For the 33rd installment of the Fanzine Podcast, we welcome Chris Coleman, former editor of at least two important ‘zines from the 1980s post-punk UK Midlands: Stringent Measures and What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen. The first of these zines straddled a vibrant local indie scene that included the likes of Eyeless In Gaza, In Embrace, Attrition, and the Glass Records label (about which Chris put together a special edition) along with Chris’s evident excitement for early U2. What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen, while maintaining the fanzine format, declared itself musically with a first issue featuring interviews with The Waterboys, The Alarm - and Johnny Thunders, to whom it later dedicated&nbsp;a special issue (as it did Marc Bolan). WANWTTS also put out physical vinyl – EP’s and albums alike - that included the likes of The Jazz Butcher, Jasmine Minks, The Membranes, Mike Scott and Nikki Sudden, and which therefore continued to place the zine at the heart of the mid-80s indie music scene. To this day, Chris continues to release records of lost archived recordings on his Seventeen label. Chris spent a Friday night indoors chatting with podcast host Tony Fletcher about his fanzine experiences back in the day. Other fanzines mentioned in this episode include Bucketful Of Brains, Alternative Sounds and Adventures In Reality, and the conversation also diverges into the likes of R.E.M. and The Smiths. We get to hear how Chris’s parents once collated and stapled and distributed zines for him while he was on holiday, and we find out which of the aforementioned musicians once commented to him, “You have great veins.” (Hint: it should be obvious.) Visit <a href="https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/what-a-nice-way-to-turn-seventeen" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/what-a-nice-way-to-turn-seventeen</a> for images of some vintage What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen, to find similar posts and pages dedicated to earlier Fanzine Podcasts, and for Tony’s twice-weekly writings. Thanks to Noel Fletcher for the theme music, and Greg Morton at Omnibus Press for the logo template. The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-86 is available from <a href="https://omnibuspress.com/products/the-best-of-jamming-published-on-23rd-september-2021" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here.</a> &nbsp;

Ep. 33: What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen with Chris Coleman

With V. Vale from RE/Search Pubs

It’s time for a new episode of The Fanzine Podcast, and we start 2025 off with one of the pioneers from the explosion of punk zines in 1977: V. Vale, editor and publisher of San Francisco’s legendary Search &amp;&nbsp;Destroy along with its successor, RE/Search Publications. Now in his late 70s, Vale – who grew up in foster homes in the Midwest and found refuge in public libraries – has been active in the U.S. counterculture pretty much all his life. He attended U.C. Berkeley during the Free Speech Movement of 1964-65, was active on the city’s hippy scene, worked at the equally legendary City Lights book/magazine shop, and was on hand when San Francisco’s first punk bands – Crime, Nuns, The Avengers, Sleepers, Negative Trend among others – emerged in 1977, at which point he decided to document the culture. Basing Search &amp; Destroy on the format of Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine (founded in 1969), Vale’s preferred newspaper print and unadulterated Q&amp;A format combined with the energy of those interviews and the explosive visuals of its layout to make Search &amp; Destroy a must-read zine far beyond the city’s borders. This was just as well given that Vale reckons it took two years to get 200 people on board the SF punk scene but that he printed 5000 copies of that debut issue, helped by donations from Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.&nbsp; ...To read on, to see examples of Search &amp; Destroy and RE/Search, please visit https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/search-and-destroy To order from RE/Search Pubs, visit <a href="www.researchpubs.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">researchpubs.com</a> Thanks to Noel Fletcher for the theme music, and Greg Morton at Omnibus Press for the logo template. The Best of Jamming! is available via https://omnibuspress.com/products/the-best-of-jamming-published-on-23rd-september-2021

Ep. 32: Search & Destroy

with Negative Capability, Peppermint Iguana, & Bubblegum Slut

For more information, pictures, how to contact the zine editors, and zine updates, visit <a href="https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/relaunching-your-fanzine" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/relaunching-your-fanzine </a> Most fanzines are not designed to be permanent: their editors grow up, get "proper" jobs, start families, or just grow bored and want to move on. But occasionally, years down the line, fanzine editors come back around and decide to have another go at it. For this episode, we welcome back from Episode 17 Alison B, whose Confessions of an Ex-Zine Editor, dedicated to exorcising the addictive demons created through her original zine Bubblegum Slut, has resulted in a Guest Ex-Editor 'zine, for which she cajoled and convinced 14 other ex-editors to resurrect their zines, if only for 2-3 pages. Two of those ex-editors, Jøsh Saitz of Negative Capability, and Clint Evans of Peppermint Iguana, are now at work on new print issue after years away, and they join Alison, and host Tony Fletcher, in discussing why they would want to go through it all over again. Listen on to learn what an Adult Activity Book looks like, why Jøsh named his son Damon, why Clint was going off to Turkey the day after our interview, and whether Alison puts fake fur on her back covers (hint: she does). Other zines mentioned: Black Velvet, Abaxis, Artcore, Lunchtime For Wild Youth, Meal Deal Zine, Festival A, Golf Sale, Pretty But Schizo, Adventures In Reality, Pint Sized Punk, Myth &amp; Lore, Mondo Grebo,. Please visit <a href="https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/relaunching-your-fanzine" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/relaunching-your-fanzine </a> for way more content.Thanks to Noel Fletcher for the theme music, and Greg Morton at Omnibus Press for the logo template.

Ep. 31: Restarting an old Zine

Archie Patterson and David Elliott and the Experimental/Electronic Euro Scene of the 1970s and 80s

In 1973, a Californian by the name of Archie Patterson became so enthused by all the interesting underground European experimental/electronic music he was hearing&nbsp;that he started up a fanzine dedicated to it, called Eurock. It lasted 40 issues, through 1990. In 1979, a Brit by the name of David Elliott felt much the same way and, in part inspired by Eurock and also by post-punk DIY culture, started his own zine Neumusik. While it only lasted 6 issues, until 1982, during that time it grew to over 70 pages and set David off exploring Europe to interview many of the important artists in person. What kind of artists are we talking about? Some of them you may know, like Can, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Nektar, Neu!, Heldon, Chrome, or Urban Sax.. Others you may never have heard of, like Guru Guru, Asmus Tietchens, Atem, Art Zoyd III, Gunter Schickert, or Shub Niggurath. All of them were at the forefront of musical creativity towards the end of the 20th Century, and Eurock and Neumusik were at the forefront of the fanzines writing about them, interviewing them, and cataloguing their culture. Patterson grew a distribution service and began publishing books; he still posts twice-weekly about the music on his Facebook. Elliot started a “band,” a cassette label, and recently wrote an extensive book on the British pop music of 1984. For more information about their zines, their culture, and where to get copies of their books, please head on over to https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/adventures-in-neumusik-and-eurock&nbsp;

Ep. 30: Adventures in Eurock and Neumusik

With Derek Steel (Razur Cuts) and Roual Galloway (Spinners) 

For Episode 29, Tony's guests are Roual Galloway of <a href="https://5767.co.uk/product/spinners-issue-5/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spinners</a>, and Derek Steel of <a href="https://razurcuts.com/shop" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Razur Cuts</a>, two of the more prominent among the many Litzines currently flourishing in the UK (and beyond). Litzines – independent zines of literature from outside the mainstream – are surely among the oldest of all forms of fanzines. Depending on your historical perspective, you could even argue that they predate the concept of the fanzine itself, which as noted back on Episode 21, was a word first knowingly used in 1940. Certainly, self-published zines of prose and poetry writing were an important part of the Beat culture on both US coasts through the 1950s and 1960s, have an anchor in the current vibrant world of perzines, and have&nbsp;been especially strong in the UK ever since the emergence of a new generation of poets in the early 1980s. These were people encouraged by the examples of cross-over artists like John Cooper Clarke and Linton Kwesi Johnson, and aided by the support of rock artists like The Jam’s Paul Weller, and they took to the pubs and small theaters of the UK to reclaim the form “for the people.” In the UK, the medium, in prose and short story form too, has also always had a close connection to the football terraces and others aspects of pop culture, and recent issues of Razur Cuts and Spinners, each weighing in at about 80 pages, readily demonstrate as much... For more info, including photos, more words, and more links, please visit <a href="https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/the-flourishing-world-of-litzines" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/the-flourishing-world-of-litzines</a>

Ep. 29 : The Flourishing Litzine Scene

The first issue of Mick Mercer’s fanzine Panache came out in January 1977, with Iggy Pop on the cover, perfectly poised for the punk/new wave/DIY revolution that was exploding across the UK. Mick kept the zine in print for a further 50+ issues, all the way to 1995, which makes it one of the longest-running, and arguably the most consistently prolific of all the original UK punk-inspired zines. In the decades since, Mick has carried on demonstrating his passion for indie music, comics, and cats, via blogging, radio shows, a Substack column, and his Cat Olympics. Oh, and he’s also written a few&nbsp;books over the years, for which he is rightly considered one of the gurus of Goth. For more info on this episode, including images from various issues of Panache over the years, and direct links to Mick's radio shows and other creative outlets, please visit <a href="https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/the-fanzine-podcast-ep-28-mick-mercers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/the-fanzine-podcast-ep-28-mick-mercers</a>And please subscribe while you are there; it’s where Tony continues to exercise his own fanzine muscles by writing about underground and pop culture on a twice-weekly basis. If you enjoyed this episode and your podcast platform allows it, please hit the like button, consider leaving a review and, if you haven't yet, hit "subscribe" to ensure you don't miss the next monthly episode.&nbsp;Mick Mercer can be found at <a href="https://mickmercer.substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mickmercer.substack.com/</a> The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-86 is published by <a href="https://omnibuspress.com/products/the-best-of-jamming-published-on-23rd-september-2021" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Omnibus Press</a>.'The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast Theme' is by Noel Fletcher.The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast logo was designed by Greg Morton.

Ep. 28: Mick Mercer's Panache

Throughout the 1980s, Tim Anstaett ran The Offense, an influential, prolific, jam-packed fanzine out of Columbus, Ohio, where he still lives. In the 1990s, Jay Hinman began the underground zine Superdope fanzine out of Seattle, and after a hiatus, picked back up on zine publishing in the 2010s with Dynamite Hemorrhage, which set its stall with a 68-page debut issue. For the last few years, Jay has also been running the Fanzine Hemorrhage web site and newsletter, offering 200 reflective reviews (so far) of select music fanzines (and occasional magazines) from his enormous personal collection. The Offense is one of the few zines Jay has reviewed twice, writing that it “would have been my favorite mag in 1982 had I’d known it existed.” So for this episode of the Fanzine Podcast, podcast host Tony Fletcher brings the pair together for the first time. Over a one-hour conversation, Tim and Jay talked about their early entry points into punk and fanzine culture, hand-written first issues, why they each abandoned advertisers and distributors, their love of 4AD Records in general and the Cocteau Twins in particular, Jay’s cult heroes the Flesheaters, their fave zines of all time, and the best letter they ever received. Read more about this episode, and get links to various items discussed – from zine downloads to bands to TV shows and where to get Tim's books – at <a href="https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/midweek-update-51-the-american-in" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/midweek-update-51-the-american-in</a> ... And please subscribe while you are there; it’s where Tony continues to exercise his own fanzine muscles by writing about underground and pop culture on a twice-weekly basis. If you enjoyed this episode and your podcast platform allows it, please hit the like button, consider leaving a review and, if you haven't yet, hit "subscribe" to ensure you don't miss the next monthly episode.&nbsp;Jay Hinman can be found at <a href="https://fanzinehemorrhage.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://fanzinehemorrhage.com</a>Tim Anstaett can be e-mailed via tkarunner2001@aol.com The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-86 is published by <a href="https://omnibuspress.com/products/the-best-of-jamming-published-on-23rd-september-2021" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Omnibus Press</a>.'The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast Theme' is by Noel Fletcher.The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast logo was designed by Greg Morton.

Ep. 27: Fanzine Lifers Jay Hinman (Fanzine Hemorrhage) & Tim Anstaett (The Offense)

The big book of British fanzines

For show notes, and to see images from Zerox Machine and other books discussed in this episode, please visit <a href="https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/zerox-machine-the-big-book-of-british" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/zerox-machine-the-big-book-of-british</a>And, while there, please subscribe to receive regular updates on this and other Tony Fletcher podcasts and writings.<a href="https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/subscribe</a> Matthew Worley is Professor of Modern History at the University of Reading, where he is gainfully employed studying punk and post-punk culture. (Yes, it’s a thing these days.) To this end he has just published an arguably definitive new book, the culmination of many years’ research, Zerox Machine: Punk, Post-Punk and Fanzines in Britain, 1976-88. Across almost 350 pages and approximately 140,000 words, Worley takes an unprecedented deep dive into the subculture of the British fanzine scene, drawing on access to an incredible number of publications – six pages’ worth are cited at the end - and direct communication with many of the editors. Most importantly, he straddles the thin line between an authoritative research project with the kind of thought-provoking analysis one would expect from a Professor of Modern History, with a book that you average Joe and Jane ex- or current- fanzine editor can read and relate to without reaching for a Thesaurus. Zerox Machine is published in the UK by <a href="https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/zerox-machine" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Reaktion Books</a>:And in the US by <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/Z/bo214800162.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">University of Chicago Press</a>:&nbsp; For show notes, and to see images from Zerox Machine and other books discussed in this episode, please visit <a href="https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/zerox-machine-the-big-book-of-british" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/zerox-machine-the-big-book-of-british</a>And, while there, please subscribe to receive regular updates on this and other Tony Fletcher podcasts and writings.<a href="https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/subscribe</a>

Ep. 26: Zerox Machine with Matthew Worley

Join Tony Fletcher as he interviews fanzine editors past and present, along with authors, curators and anyone else contributing to the prevalence and preservation of the home-spun DIY press. Tony Fletcher started Jamming! fanzine as a 13-year old schoolboy in 1977, and went on to publish 36 issues and take Jamming! monthly before folding it in 1986. He has since gone on to write many books about music, including biographies of Keith Moon, The Smiths, R.E.M., Wilson Pickett and others, plus a memoir, a novel and a Jamming! compendium: The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-86 was published by Omnibus Press in 2021 and comes complete with reproduced interviews, articles, photographs and cartoons, fresh recollections from those who were part of the Jamming! story, and a foreword by Billy Bragg. More information and online purchasing options available at:<a href="https://omnibuspress.com/products/the-best-of-jamming-published-on-23rd-september-2021" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Omnibus Press</a><a href="https://open.acast.com/shows/613f6abff5e01d00136472e4/TonyFletcher.net" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TonyFletcher.net</a>Signed copies direct from the author, ideal for readers based in the USA, are available from <a href="https://tonyfletcherauthor.bandcamp.com/merch" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tonyfletcherauthor.bandcamp.com/merch</a> Sign up for free at <a href="https://tonyfletcher.substack.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tonyfletcher.substack.com</a> for weekly updates on this podcast, other fanzine news, music, reading and writing recommendations, and for a free long-read weekend article by Tony. 'The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast Theme' is by Noel Fletcher. Copyright reserved.The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast logo was designed by Greg Morton.The Best of Jamming! book cover was designed by Martin Stiff Tony Fletcher Socials:<a href="https://www.facebook.com/tony.fletcher.549" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/leaglealien/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a> &nbsp;&nbsp;

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