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.

THE JAMMING! FANZINE PODCAST is back after a year in exile, now as a Podcast for and about all Fanzines, though still hosted by former Jamming! editor/publisher Tony Fletcher. For this first episode of a new series/season, Tony interviews the authors of the excellent new hardbook book, WE PEAKED AT PAPER: AN ORAL HISTORY OF BRITISH ZINES, namely Gavin Hogg and Hamish Ironside. Before, after and when they could, even during the pandemic, they traveled the length and breadth of the British Isles to track down editors of fanzines dating back to the science fiction era that launched the culture, through the punk, post-punk, new wave, indie and Brit-pop eras of the music fanzines, stopping off to discuss a couple of football fanzines along the way, and ending up in the thriving 2020s world of perzines, compzines, and idiosyncratic little one-off publications in a variety of sizes and some with print runs in the single digits.It's a fascinating, lovingly compiled, and highly professional book - and the interview covers a similarly wide range of subject matter. Tony, Gavin and Hamish date the first ever British 'fanzine' back to 1936 (Novae Terrae), they debate what defines a fanzine, the commonalities among the various editors they interviewed, the shift from the music press culture (including those of fanzines) as a 'men's club' to the current 'zine fairs predominantly frequented by female editors, the financial struggles experienced by most zine editors, those moments of recognition that make it all worthwhile. And David Icke.Among the editors and zines referenced in this podcast that were also featured in WE PEAKED AT PAPER:Rob Hansen (Epsillon)Mark Perry (Sniffin' Glue)Mick Middles (Ghast Up)Mark Hodkinson (Untermensch)Pete Paphides (Perturbed)Karen Ablaze (Ablaze!)Siaân Pattendon (How to Win Friends and Influence People)Saskia Holling (Heavy FLow)Saleena Laverne Daye (Without You, I'm Nothing)Elias Nebula (The Hegelian)and of courseHamish Ironside (Soudade) andGavin Hogg (Bag of Tricks and Candy Sticks)WE PEAKED AT PAPER can be purchased from Boatwhistle books at https://www.boatwhistle.com/we-peaked-at-paper.Gavin Hogg's podcast, The Giddy Carousel of Pop, is at https://giddypoppod.home.blog/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