Ep. 11: A History of British Zines
Listen now
Description
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/TonyFletcher One Step Beyond podcast is at https://shows.acast.com/onestepbeyond The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-86 is published by Omnibus Press OmnibusPress.com 'The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast Theme' is by Noel Fletcher. Logo by Greg Morton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More Episodes
With Andy Lyons (WSC), Mike Harrison (City Gent), Kevin Whitcher (The Gooner.) For links to and pictures of these fanzines, to post comments, and to read more related writings and podcasts, visit https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/the-fanzine-podcast-ep-25-40-years For over 40 years now,...
Published 05/02/24
Published 05/02/24
Please visit (and subscribe to) tonyfletcher.substack.com for more writings on zines and beyond. In this episode, Tony offers a short update on the Fanzine Podcast's future episodes and some of the activities around the zine scene before using the opportunity of being in the UK for a while to...
Published 04/04/24