The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast

Back in 1980, Alan Rider started a fanzine in Coventry called Adventures in Reality. Over in Southend-on-Sea, Graham Burnett started his own fanzine called New Crimes. Forty years later, independently, without knowing each other, Alan and Graham both felt compelled to document their home city's thriving scene zine - Alan, with Tales from the Ghost Town: The Coventry Punk Fanzine Revolution 1979-1985 - and Graham, with Southend-on-Zine: FIfty Years of Voices and Stories from Southend's Underground and Alternative Press. Tony Fletcher, who started his Jamming! fanzine back in 1977, brought them together for the first time on this Zoom call to talk about their adventures in self-publishing, the thriving scenes they were part of. the ups and downs of running a 'zine back in the supposed heyday, why they took on the giant task of putting these compendiums together, and how the lessons they learned back then have remained applicable to this day. Artists referenced include The Specials, Crass, Dr. Feelgood, Attrition, Speedball, God's Toys, Eyeless In Gaza, Stress, the Sinyx and many more. Fanzines referenced include Hard As Nails, Alternative Sounds, Cobalt Hate, Anti-Social, Sniffin' Glue, Kill Your Pet Puppy, Toxic Graffiti and more.Tales from the Ghost Town and Alan's compendium of his own zine Adventures In Reality: The Complete Collection are both available from https://adventuresinreality.bigcartel.com/Southend-on-Zine is available from https://spiralseed.co.uk/product/southend-on-zine/, as is the Vegan Book of Permaculture and more. A short video about Southend-on-Zine is on YouTube here.Tony Fletcher can be found at https://tonyfletcher.net/Tony's latest music, writing and social media can be accessed from https://linktr.ee/TonyFletcherOne Step Beyond podcast is at https://shows.acast.com/onestepbeyondThe Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-86 is published by Omnibus PressOmnibusPress.com 'The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast Theme' is by Noel Fletcher. Logo by Greg Morton.

We close out the first Series/Season of the Jamming! Fanzine Podcast with an interview conducted by James Endeacott, for Soho Radio's Morning Glory show, with Jamming! founder Tony Fletcher. The conversation traces the full story of the fanzine that grew up, from schoolboy beginnings to corporate break up. Between them, they discuss The Clash, The Jam, the DIY Records Scene, fanzines, regionalism, Crass, reggae, Smiley Culture, the Rezillos, the Undertones, Billy Bragg, the Dead Kennedys, R.E.M., Robert Wyatt, The Smiths, The Fall, politics, poetry, synth pop, and much much more. James is a former member of Loop, a former A&R Director with Rough Trade, and author of his own memoir The Tall Short Stories of James Endeacott, published by Rough Trade Books.Tony Fletcher will be appearing at the following cities to discuss THE BEST OF JAMMING! SELECTIONS & STORIES FROM THE FANZINE THAT GREW UP 1977-1986.Weds Feb 23rd, LONDON, CAMDEN TOWN ROCK n' 'ROLL BOOK CLUB, in conversation with Tony GleedThurs Feb 24th, BRIGHTON, RIALTO THEATRE, in conversation with Guy PrattFri FEB 25th, HASTINGS ELECTRIC PALACE CINEMA, in conversation with DJ Wendy May following a screening of the movie ROUGH CUT & READY DUBBED.Tues Mar 29th, NEW YORK CITY, BOWERY ELECTRIC, in conversation with John Schaefer.For more information on all of these events, including times and ticket prices, visit https://www.facebook.com/theTonyFletcher/eventsJames Endeacott can be found at https://twitter.com/jamesendeacottTony Fletcher can be found at https://tonyfletcher.net/The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-86 is published by Omnibus PressOmnibusPress.com 'The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast Theme' is by Noel Fletcher. Editing assistance and art by Greg Morton.https://shows.acast.com/the-jamming-fanzine-podcast

In the middle of 1981, Jamming! expanded from fanzine to record label. Between that summer and the end of 1982, Jamming! Records released five singles, all of them independent chart hits: two from the band Rudi, three from Zeitgeist, and one by Apocalypse. For this episode of the Jamming! Fanzine Podcast, we have one member from each of those groups: Brian Young from Rudi, Peter “Jaffo” Jervis from Zeitgeist, and Tony Fletcher from Apocalypse (and yes, from Jamming! Records too). The conversation revolves primarily around Rudi and Zeitgeist, about how the groups dealt with being based in the far corners of the British Isles, about the attractions – or not - of moving to London, and about what their experience was like releasing records on an independent label run by a 17-18 year old kid, but financed by a major pop-rock star, that being Paul Weller. Rudi were the first group on Good Vibrations Records out of Belfast, and Brian talks about that label, fellow Northern Irish groups like The Outcasts, The Undertones and Stiff Little Fingers, and of touring with The Jam and appearing on the TV show Something Else.Zeitgeist hailed from Cornwall, and came to Jamming! after a couple of singles on Human Records. Jaffo talks about their cover version of The Temptations' Motown classic 'Ball of Confusion', of working with Dale 'Buffin' Griffin and Overend Watts from Mott the Hoople, and how their last single, 'Over Again', ended up being a collector's item. Apocalypse were from London, and released the single 'Teddy' in two versions, one producer by Paul Weller, the other by Griffin and Watts. You will hear snippets from all five Jamming! releases across the course of this show.Brian Young is at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100023024891685. His group The Sabrejets are at https://www.facebook.com/thesabrejetsPeter Jervis can be found at https://www.instagram.com/therealjaffo/ and his radio show can be heard at www.mixcloud.com/bluesandgroovesTony Fletcher can be found at www.tonyfletcher.net and https://www.instagram.com/leaglealien/The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-86 is published by Omnibus PressOmnibusPress.com For details about the book events mentioned on this episode visithttps://www.facebook.com/theTonyFletcher/events'The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast Theme' is by Noel Fletcher. Editing assistance and art by Greg Morton.https://shows.acast.com/the-jamming-fanzine-podcast