Punkzines: British Fanzine Culture From The Punk Scene 1976-1983

Eddie Piller & Steve Rowland OMNIBUS PRESS

It’s the way they tell ’em.

‘Fanzine (noun/’faen. zi:n)/ – also zine. A nonprofessional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon for the please of others who share their interest.’

As co-author/curator Piller points out in his introduction to this magnificently weighty, exhaustive treasure trove of DIY culture, scrawled enthusiasms, cut-and-paste diatribes and just general good fun, punk fanzines contributed so much to the social revolution that razed parts of the UK and US to the ground in ’76 and ’77. So much, and so unheralded. Wrongly so, too, for, as punk scholar Jon Savage puts it succinctly: “Fanzines are the perfect expression – cheaper, more instant than records, maybe THE medium”.

So what do you get from Punkzines? The raw bones underground version: annotated and heavily illustrated with countless snot-nosed front covers and attitudinal impassioned rants; an over-andunder view of the emergence of punk and the early wave of antiestablishment magazines; punk going mainstream; bands and independent record labels; the collapse of the Sex Pistols; Sniffin’ Glue, of course; and much more.

Out of the chaos, beauty.

And not just beauty, but also an alternative reality, alternative voices. Well worth 15p of anyone’s money. ■■■■■■■■■■

Everett True (formerly The Legend! fanzine, 1984-’86)