ZEROX MACHINE -
PUNK, POST-PUNK AND FANZINES IN BRITAIN -
1976 - 88 -
MATTHEW WORLEY
Just as flyers and posters advertising concerts of the punk rock kind are ephemeral creations with but a singular purpose so too are fanzines also ephemeral though their purpose is manifold. Punk was always a myriad and diverse culture and therein was always its great strength which means anyone who cares to discuss such things, in a bid to find meaning they often end up rendering safe that which once enamoured and enthralled. For some, punk is a very uncomplicated affair and is easily described and even easier to understand and that's fair enough because - just as it can be for those who think punk is one of the most fascinating of cultures - even a basic understanding of it can be life-changing, life-affirming and worth its weight in gold. Likewise for fanzines.
For some, the fanzine medium is a very simple, very basic, almost primitive one but for others it's nothing less than a representation of the world turned upside down. Fanzines are history as recorded from below. They are the corpuscles in the bloodstream. An antidote to the mainstream. They are fragments of dream from a whisper to a scream. If as William Burroughs once opined, that language is a virus from outer space then a fanzine can not only be (as Tim Medlock of Bristol's 'Be Bad Be Glad' zine said) "a means to raise cash for booze" but also a form of biological warfare with the dominant culture.
For anyone who's ever written a fanzine, however much it might appear to be of little significance, the actuality of it is that in doing so it has fed into the great river flowing into the ocean of cultural fecundity, which in itself is nothing less than the expression of humankind that sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. Creativity is the spark that starts with scratches on the stone wall of the cave and proceeds to a rocket being launched to the stars. 'Art' isn't the right word for it as art comes laden with multiple contradictions. The only contradiction in creativity is that it's a destructive urge but then as arch anarchist Mikhail Bakunin said, you have to destroy in order to create. So right there is the perfect balance. The perfect totality. The perfect and authentic source of all things.
Of course, all of this that I'm writing here reads as just so much hyperbole in regard to what is essentially a few scraps of paper held together by some staples. And yes, that is exactly what most fanzines have always been but in that simplicity is a purity and on occasion that purity can be transcended, turning a fanzine into an inspired slither of inspiration. A fanzine can enthuse. It can excite. It can empower. It can move the reader to action.
One of the most well-known examples of this is 'Sideburns' fanzine from 1977 and its drawing of three guitar chords with the added words: 'This is a chord. This is another. This is a third. Now form a band'.
Who knows how many teenagers on reading that in their bedrooms were moved to start a band? Another subliminal message underneath, however, was even more powerful, made clear by simply having the imagination to change the word 'chord' to 'fanzine' as in: 'This is a fanzine. This is another. This is a third. Now write your own'.
Matthew Worley spent eight years writing Zerox Machine - Punk, Post-Punk And Fanzines In Britain 1976-88, and after ploughing through acres of tiny print that fanzines are notorious for, I hate to imagine the state of his eyes now. So has going half-blind been worth it? Well, seeing as how this is the most comprehensive book on the subject of fanzines that I've ever read, then I would say 'Yes. Without any question'. Matthew's book is definitive. For anyone interested but with little knowledge in regard to fanzines, Matthew's book is the go-to. For those already au fait with the subject there's an overload of information for your delectation here. So much so in fact that if you've ever written a fanzine between the allotted years as said in the title, there's a good chance you've been given a mention or if not you personally then the name of your zine. Hell, even my name is in there. Zerox Machine is comprehensive, to say the least.
Most people would probably agree that Mark Perry's 'Sniffin' Glue' fanzine is the touchstone and the point at which all this zine malarkey began although as Matthew rightly points out 'The fanzines produced through punk had tangled roots'. Sniffin' Glue was Mark Perry's response to the sudden sense of freedom that punk offered though apart from creating a fanzine (even if a seminal one) the question quickly arose as to what to do with that freedom? Pointed to the exit and given the keys it became apparent that freedom and even life itself is not black-and-white.
Punk was a freedom in itself of course even if it was only the freedom of the playground in between the tedium of the school lessons, and it was this freedom that Ripped & Torn zine revelled in. On a personal note, Ripped & Torn was where I first read about Crass in a review of their Feeding Of The 5000 EP, that in hindsight was a significant event not only for myself but also for Ripped & Torn's editor, Tony Drayton. 'This album's gonna split punk in two - those in it for the right reasons, and those who aren't', Tony wrote - and he was right.
Inspired also by the Crass phenomenon, Mike Diboll's 'Toxic Grafity' zine blew a hole in the fabric of fanzine production and expanded massively the potential for both political and mental liberation. Likewise for Tony Drayton's other zine 'Kill Your Pet Puppy', particularly his 'Ants/Tuinal/Crass' edition. These are some of the zines that Zerox Machine highlights as being significant players, and I'd agree. It begs the question, however, about what actually makes for a significant and successful fanzine? Is it a large readership? A transition from underground to overground? Transformation to hard covers? The truth of the matter is that there is no precise definition because once you begin thinking in terms of 'success' it means you've lost grip of the rope attached to the rising balloon you're hanging onto. It's the 'Withnail And I' analogy all over again but rather than selling hippy wigs in Woolworths you're selling product to be consumed rather than bullets from the front line and cultural missives from the heartland.
Distribution and availability is important although it's not the be-all and end-all as just because something is easily available, it doesn't mean it's any good - and vice versa. These highlighted zines such as Sniffin' Glue, Toxic Grafity, and Kill Your Pet Puppy somehow found their way to Bristol where I was growing up so that's how I was encountering them although other significant ones that Zerox Machine also highlights such as Jamming! and Anathema and even Alan McGee's Communication Blur didn't make it there so they passed me by. A zine such as Bristol's 'Are You Scared To Get Happy?' on the other hand was obviously on my doorstep and is another that is highlighted as being a significant player and rightly so. In fact for the record, I'd say Are You Scared To Get Happy is one of my most favourite zines ever.
It's obvious from reading Zerox Machine that the subject of 'fanzines' is a huge one and as a book it offers much to think about and to discuss. Every other page opens up a new topic to explore in regard to notions of creativity, culture, punk rock and its diaspora, alternative politics, and - of course - music and the role it plays within society and in the life of the individual.
There are insights galore into fanzines you've probably never heard of but will want to read after Matthew's synopsis of them. I knew nothing, for example, about the zine Final Straw and the arrests that followed its publication. And to my shame, I've never read a copy of 'anti-zine' Monitor either. There are names dotted about throughout Zerox Machine that are familiar such as Martin Fry (of ABC) Mike Scott (of The Waterboys), Miki Berenyi (of Lush), Fatboy Slim, Ian Astbury (of The Cult), Dave Haslam, Steve Lamacq, etc who all started out from writing zines and who all went on to so-called greater things, plus numerous others who 'progressed' from zine writing to becoming mainstream journalists. Matthew also offers insights into certain individuals who were once prominent figures in the world of fanzines and DIY punk such as Andy Martin of The Apostles, Jon Savage and Mick Mercer. All laid out, I should add with the text on each page in two columns rather than the usual full-page block, making for a much easier-on-the-eye read.
But back to hyperbole: If you understand the meaning of the lines from William Blake's Auguries Of Innocence as in 'To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour' and more importantly recognize these lines to be true, then you should also have the wit and the wherewithal to be able to apply these lines to the medium of a fanzine? Just swap 'grain of sand' and 'wild flower' for the word 'fanzine' or even 'a few scraps of paper held together by some staples' then you're there.
And if you're able to do that then you should probably get hold of a copy of Zerox Machine because it's more than likely you'll really enjoy and appreciate it.
John Serpico
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