Acts of Defiance #7, 1983

 

As a lame atonement for the late-summer hiatus I'm posting this chunky bugger - the 40 riotous pages of Acts of Defiance #7. Yes, 40! True, Sned's already made AoDs available on The UK Zine Archive, but here's an opportunity to point you in that direction if you've yet to discover the place. Raf, Russ and Mike at the helm with: interviews - Famous Imposters, Annie Anxiety, Faction, Poison Girls; issues - veganism, Territorial; Army, Militarism, voluntary unemployment, In The City (capitalism), battery chickens, Nuclear Power Fades Your Genes (nuclear accidents), Youth Opportunity Programme; a liberal sprinkling of fanzine round-ups; updates on The Station; tape reviews - Youth in Asia, Napalm Death, Political Asylum, Autumn Poison, Passion Killers, Flowers in the Dustbin, The Committee, Self Abuse, Chumbawamba; a notice on 91 Products; Grangetown Anarcho Punk Gang cartoon; a mini feature on The Stoned Rayzens; and poetry from Edible, Annie Anxiety, Wilfred Owen, and Andy T....and speaking of the lovely fellow... 

Sheffield Marples 1983 pic Andrew Medcalf

...it's well worth noting the recent release of Andy's long player, Life at Tether's End. Yes! Some 32 years since his first appearance on Bullshit Detector we take delivery of this delightful lolloping slab of Andy at his seething 'n' bristling best. Generally I'm not really an advocate of reviews, rather, an adherent of the popular dictum; "writing about music is like dancing about architecture". Suffice to say, there's much to admire in Andy's approach to kicking-up a stink about social injustice and the venality of the political class. Certainly his has been a welcome return to the fray in recent years. As with recent live outings, LaTE sees Andy presenting the poetry in a musical setting interspersed with purely spoken elements. Whilst there's preference here for the highly affective raw ranting, there are some gems amongst the musical offerings, notably the clarion call of the scathing broadside, I Still Fucking Hate Thatcher (itself released as a very attractive 7" on 1in12 records by way of a benefit single for the venerable Club), and the wonderfully depressive Wooden Curtains. Alongside the many excellent new excursions, the CD handily compiles many of the classics first showcased here. LaTE is the debut release on the resurrected All The Madmen records, and it's got to be said that ATM have set the bar bloody high for future releases. The sturdy package houses a 96 page booklet featuring Andy biographised and interviewed by Richard Cubesville and a rake of ace agitart and illustrations accompanying the poetry and lyrics. Easily worth a tenner!          

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Acts of Defiance #7         

Voice of Buddha #1, 1979

 

DEAR READERS,

in this 1st issue we bring you interviews with the Slits, the Modettes and the Detours. Not content with that, we slag off the Stranglers and the Buzzcocks, while drooling over the Human League. Apart from that you'll have to find out for yourself.

NEXT issue (2) will contain interviews WITH THE JAM, ADAM & THE ANTS, MAYO THOMPSON & JOHN PEEL and anyone else upon whom we drunkenly stumble We love you

THE EDITORS...

...namely: Muf (Michael Leonards) and Jim (James Naylor) giving you the lowdown there. I reckon they snaffled the title from the Human League's, Being Boiled. Nothing to add to that really other than VOB #1 also features a brief track-by-track review of The Jam's, Setting Sons. Oh, and issue 2 did contain all they predicted it would - I'll post that one anon. Listen to the....

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Voice of Buddha #1 

Mucilage #2, 1984

Here are the 26 jam-packed pages of Mucilage #2 out of St, Albans courtesy of Aidan and Allan Clifford featuring incisive input from Coral, Debbie and Dave. Top notch interviews with Crass, The Cult, New Model Army, 400 Blows, New Kick, and The Redskins; features on Dr Who & the Rise of Timelord Chic, D.O.A., Beauty Without Cruelty & For Fox's Sake focus on vivesection, animal testing, and bloodsports along with the angry accompaniment of the stirring Black Mass' lyric, Scum (elsewhere there's a note on BM + This is Britain lyric); news on The Shout; live reviews of The Shout, Penumbra/Karma Sutra/No Defences/Chumbawamba, Husker Du; Clive Pig 12" reviewed; Today's Fashionable Cause; comic strips (Nosey Nigel, Baz Razz - He's Always Sick [i.e. he vomits a lot]) + Mucilage charts and a plug for the Mucilage Press, Some Jolly Cheap Printing. 

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Mucilage #2

City Chains #2, 1977

Don't ya just love that snap of The Bazoomis' Metin Kamil (R.I.P.) sneering at ya from the cover of this fanzine? There's a fantastic write-up and live review of The Bazoomis at The Roxy in this the second issue of City Chains - it's such a shame that we can't actually hear how the band sounded. Apparently they did record a demo but legend has it that the blighter is languishing in some obscure cupboard just awaiting to be rediscovered. Worth noting though, members of the band did go on to form the estimable The Expressos, and The Escape Club. Anyway, this here fanzine was the work of Chig and Elaine and a right riveting read it is too. Apart from the tantalising look at The Bazoomis, issue 2 also includes an interview with The Boomtown Rats, The Members and The Victims live at The Roxy, You & The Pistols appraises Sex Pistols, the punk movement under discussion in, Posh or Poor?, news on Sham 69, Ian Dury, The Yachts, and The Damned + a spot of carping about Elvis Costello on Top of the Pops. I like it...

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City Chains #2

Dangerous Logic #3, 1978

Issue 3 of Oliver Lowenstein's, Dangerous Logic is quite a contrast to recent posts such as Grinding Halt. DL is something of professional-looking proposition with design and layout credits going generally to Ian Denning, and Laura Rae Chamberlain for the rather stylish cover. Oliver remains vibrantly active in publishing, primarily through his Fourth Door Review, which is essentially a vehicle for championing the benefits of progressive societies - or as Oliver would put it: "[t]he way I imagine it, the Fourth Door is a way into possible futures, with the emphasis on the plurality implied by possible. It feels today as if the increasing tug and ubiquity of one omnidominant official future, drowns out the capacity to even imagine other, unofficial futures."

Anyway, this edition of DL features a superb bunch of interviews with, and articles on Pere Ubu, The Fall, Buzzcocks and Caroline Coon. The only whiff of a review comes in the shape of an appraisal of Julie Burchill's and Tony Parsons', The Boy Looked at Johhny. A cracking read throughout.

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Dangerous Logic #3

Grinding Halt #8, 1980

Here's another cracking issue of Callous and Snide's Grinding Halt. It's always a pleasure to see the GH masthead screaming out from ee but really I'm posting this now as an artifice directing you towards Stewart "Eddie Snide" Osbourne's, Grinding Halt Facebook page onto which Stewart has begun uploading the full run of the fanzine - topper stuff indeed. As with all GHs, #8 is heaving with delights, namely: superb interviews with The Passions, The Skids (Richard Jobson), Killing Joke, The Dead Kennedys (Jello Biafra); live reviews of The Suspects/The Seize, The Passions, The Diagram Brothers/The Undercoverman/Freudianslip, The Delmontes/Foreign Press, The Thing/Paris/Foreign Press, The Revillos, The Saints, The Skids, The Specials/Swinging Cats/223, The Comsat Angels/Liliput/Wah! Heat/Killing Joke/Pink Military (what an extraordinarily ace line-up!), The Dead Kennedys/UK Decay, The Ramones/The Spectres, Rockpile/The Polecats, John Cooper Clarke, The Durutti Column Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls; tons of vinyl reviews - 7"s, The Seize, Potent Human EP (Manchester Mekon, The Spurtz, The Liggers, Bathroom Renovations), 8 From '80, A Carlisle Compilation (The Spive, The Pedestrians, Mr Buider, No Support, The Toolbox Murderers, The Limps), Killing Joke, Liliput, Sector 27, The Spectres, Mo-Dettes, Basement 5, Glaxo Babies, Bullseye, UK Subs, Dolly Mixture, Purple Hearts, Echo & The Bunnymen, X-S Discharge, The Monochrome Set, The Professionals, The Distractions, Wasted Youth, Josef K, The Residents, The Rat & The Whale, The Tea Set, Gen X, Poly Styrene, Orange Juice, Athletico Spizz 80, The Revillos, The Passions, The Damned, The Teardrop Explodes, Joy Division, Victim, The Diagram Brothers, The Astronauts, Some of My Best Friends are Canadians, Data, The Psychedelic Furs, Motorhead, The Bollock Brothers, The Stiff Sampler (The Equators, Joe "King" Carrasco & The Crowns, Tenpole Tudor, Dirty Looks, Any Trouble); 12"s, The Saints, The Skids, The Specials, The Cockney Rejects, Killing Joke, UK Subs, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, The Piranhas, XTC; and a mini feature on Bugle Records (Johnny Curious, The Astronauts, Bob Green, The Produkt, The Screws, War Effort, The Plague 1980).

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Grinding Halt #8

Adventures In Reality #G, 1981

Stylishly staying Coventry-side here with Alan Rider's excellent, Adventures in Reality. Get the low-down on all things AinR from Alan himself in this great Zine Weekly interview. To ogle the full run of AinR covers, and those of Alan's, Not the Jobhunter, check out part 2 of  the ZW feature. Well worth noting is Alan's working towards charting Coventry's punk fanzine output in a, hopefully, soon to be published book. Apparently Alan has catalogued 50 or so fanzines! Consider that lot alongside recent ee posts such as Smart Verbal, Alternative Sounds, and this here AinR and you've just gotta marvel at how richly Midland UK was zine-served. Good Work! Contributors to #G included Andy C., Steve Teers, Nick Edginton, Hugh Tobin, 'Pamala', Lynne Wallace and Benjamin Allen. Rammed with: Crass, Poison Girls, Anne Anxiety, and Flux of Pink Indians at Digbeth Civic Hall (April 22), Eyeless in Gaza, Human Cabbages, and 3 Way Dance at the General Wolfe (May 7), Modern Zoo/Famous Five/Speech Majors; a report on the closure of Cov' Tiffanys  featuring an alternative venue checklist (The Launch, Coventry Theatre, Gen' Wolfe, Belgrade); Component Erotic with contributions from Simon and Christie; interview with Attrition, including of course Martin Bowes of Alternative Sounds fame; the AinR Coventry Family Tree part 1 covering Night Train, Chapter Five, Ray King Band, Squad, Urge, Berlin, DGB, Urban Blight, Transposed Men, Swinging Cats, Tearjerkers, Aching Tongue, Solid Action, Outlook, Fallen Heroes, Editors, Team, X-Certs, Gods Toys, Aorta Major, End, Mix, and L'Homme de Terre; vinyl reviews for The Misunderstood, Au Pairs, Killing Joke, Blue Orchids, Pressure Stops, and Pre-Set; Poetry from Andy C.; helpful hints on doing a zine, and Alan essays Urban Life. Topper!  

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Adventures in Reality #G

Alternative Sounds #17, 1980

Here's the penultimate issue of Martin Bowes', Alternative Sounds. Martin (still active in the band Attrition) pulled-off a remarkable feat in producing all 18 copies of Alternative Sounds between February '79 - November '80. I say remarkable because as issue 17 attests, Alternative Sounds was a rather snazzy proposition, not at all a slap-dash affair. Check out the nifty variations in layout and presentation - all making for a dazzlingly dynamic fanzine experience. Apparently the name, Alternative Sounds, was something of a swipe at the decidedly more corporate, Sounds. At any rate, Martin was clearly a dab-hand at the fanzine lark and here in #17 he kindly offers notes from his mooted guide to fanzine creation. Elsewhere we see Martin championing Coventry fanzines (1 page), another page given over to fanzines in general + Do-it-Yourself; tips and pointers to creating a fanzine. Lastly, Martin offers a teaser for the then upcoming Something Else' visit to Coventry on which he was set to demonstrate the art of fanzine creation. A true ambassador for the D.I.Y. ethic, make no mistake. Elsewhere, Alternative Sounds is stuffed to the point of bursting with: profiles - Ambivalent Scale collective, Coventry record shops, The Civil Servants, The Silence, The Wild Boys; interviews - The Abstracts, God's Toys (featuring former AS contributor Dill); reviews - Boys & Girls Comp' (The Human Cabbages, The Clique Syndicate, L'Homme de Terre, The Famous 5, First Offence), Bouncing in the Red Comp' (Steel Pulse, Steve Gibbons, Ricky Cool, UB40, The Denizens, Dangerous Girls), T Rex, Cockney Rebel, The Dead Kennedys, The Louder Animal Group, The Observe, The Damned, Killing Joke, The Glaxo Babies; cassettes - Fantaccini Playground (The Muliple Jesu), The Stick Insects (Puritan Ethic), Cryptic Clues (Half Alive); live - The Fall, The Nightingales; letters and news on X-Certs, the Bush Telegraph, and the Squad's splitting-up. Brilliant stuff!

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Alternative Sounds #17

In The City #6, 1978

Still lot's of other titles to appear on ee but I thought I'd slap on another ITC - definitely one of my favourite fanzines, despite its knockers. As usual, Pete Gilbert and Frank Drake dish-up lashings of intelligent comment, interviews, news, reviews and original Gilbert photos. Quick note, I can't quite scan the cover correctly - it should be garish puke green but appears here a tame turquoise - ho hum! Anyway, bollocks aside, ITC#6 features: an extensive review of The Rezillos at the Marquee + in depth interview with Eugene, Faye and John; TRB in the USA reviewed by Cathy Nemeth and an ITC interview with Dolphin + bonus poem from the charming TRB drummer (he really is sound, I once interviewed him alongside Jake Burns during his stint with SLF - that interview appeared in the 3rd and last issue of my Fanzine, Creation, limited to a measly  20 copies - if I ever find a copy I'll whack it on ee and give y'all a laugh); onwards with an extended appraisal of Magazine's, Real Life; Patrik Fitzgerald live; Jawing offers an Ultravox Warning; reviews of 7"s by The Diodes, Johnny Thunders, Skooshny, Tonight, Steel Pulse, The Normal, Ian Gomm, The Lurkers, Rich Kids, Automatics, Patrik Fitzgerald, Jet Bronx, Fruit Eating Bears, Penetration, The Tights, Elton Mottelo, Essential Logic, Destroy All Monsters, Cane (3X3), Buzzcocks, and Martin & The Brownshirts. Its Killa dilla! 
'
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In The City #6

Chumbawamba 1982 - 2012

R.I.P. Chumbawamba

http://www.chumba.com/

Early Chumbas by Fritz The Cat

Guttersnipe #4, 1979

Guttersnipe was a collective effort produced at Telford Community Arts centre Printshop between 1978 - 1982. Largely the work of 'young punks', Guttersnipe was overseen by TCA staff, Graham Peet amongst them. Partly funded by Arts Council money, pressures saw a degree of bowdlerisation - evident in this issue - and the source of heated discussions in later issues. Lots of Guttersnipes to appear here on ee. This issue has Angelic Upstarts, including a brief interview with Mensi; the Seventh Anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Hyde Park; Guttersnipe talks to two 16 year olds Mickey + Jean about their attempts to commit suicide; Guttersnipe in London featuring The Angelic Upstarts at the Marquee and a review of the Small Wonder Records showcase (Patrik Fitzgerald/The Molesters/Crass); live - Public Image Limited/John Cooper Clarke/Linton Kwesi Johnson/The Pop Group, Bette Bright & The Illuminations/Spizz Energi, The Damned/The Radio Stars/Capital Letters, The ID/Strange Pleasure, Scherzo, 90 Degrees Inclusive; 7"s - Eddie & The Hot Rods, The Ruts, The Fall, Blondie, The Mekons, Throbbing Gristle, The Cure, The Weirdos, The Members, T.V. Personalities, Neon Hearts; Virgin and Reggae charts and letters.


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Guttersnipe #4