Fanzines

A fanzine is a nonprofessional publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest. Typically, publishes, editors and contributors to fanzines receive no financial compensation. Fanzines are traditionally circulated free of charge, or for a nominal cost to defray postage or production expenses.

By the mid 1960s, several fans of active science fiction and comics recognized a shared interest in rock music, and the rock fanzine was born. Paul Williams and Greg Shaw were two such fans turned rock zine editors. Williams 'Crawdaddy' and Shaw's two California-based zines, 'Mojo Navigator' and 'Who put the bomp?' are among the most important early rock fanzines.

The punk subculture in the UK spearheaded a surge of interest in fanzines as a countercultural alternative to established print media. The first and perhaps still best know UK 'punk zine' was 'Sniffin Glue', produced by Deptford punk fan Mark Perry. 'Sniffing Glue' ran for 12 photocopied issues.

In the UK, there were also fanzine that covered the local music scene in a particular town or city. Mainly prevalent in the 70s and 80s, all music styles were covered, whether the bands were playing rock, punk, metal, futurist, ska or dance. Featured were local gig reviews and articles that were below the radar of the mainstream music press. They were produced using the technology of the time, ie typewriter and letraset. Examples included 'Bombsite Fanzine' and 'City Fun'.

I have found that the diverse content of fanzines is one of the most striking features. There is a perception that fanzines deal with one particular band or personality, however the majority of fanzines are exactly the opposite of this. In fact, the majority of music fanzines do not even limit themselves to just covering a variety of music. Fanzines also commonly include articles on films, books, short stories and pieces on the zine producer's life. Art and drawings are also commonly an important part of many fanzines.