Join Tony Fletcher as he interviews fanzine editors past and present, along with authors, curators and anyone else contributing to the prevalence and preservation of the home-spun DIY press.
Tony Fletcher started Jamming! fanzine as a 13-year old schoolboy in 1977, and went on to publish 36 issues and take Jamming! monthly before folding it in 1986. He has since gone on to write many books about music, including biographies of Keith Moon, The Smiths, R.E.M., Wilson Pickett and others, plus a memoir, a novel and a Jamming! compendium: The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-86 was published by Omnibus Press in 2021 and comes complete with reproduced interviews, articles, photographs and cartoons, fresh recollections from those who were part of the Jamming! story, and a foreword by Billy Bragg. More information and online purchasing options available at:
Signed copies direct from the author, ideal for readers based in the USA, are available from https://tonyfletcherauthor.bandcamp.com/merch
Sign up for free at tonyfletcher.substack.com for weekly updates on this podcast, other fanzine news, music, reading and writing recommendations, and for a free long-read weekend article by Tony.
'The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast Theme' is by Noel Fletcher. Copyright reserved.
The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast logo was designed by Greg Morton.
The Best of Jamming! book cover was designed by Martin Stiff
Tony Fletcher Socials:
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Join Tony Fletcher as he interviews fanzine editors past and present, along with authors, curators and anyone else contributing to the prevalence and preservation of the home-spun DIY press.
Tony Fletcher started Jamming! fanzine as a 13-year old schoolboy in 1977, and went on to publish 36 issues and take Jamming! monthly before folding it in 1986. He has since gone on to write many books about music, including biographies of Keith Moon, The Smiths, R.E.M., Wilson Pickett and others, plus a memoir, a novel and a Jamming! compendium: The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-86 was published by Omnibus Press in 2021 and comes complete with reproduced interviews, articles, photographs and cartoons, fresh recollections from those who were part of the Jamming! story, and a foreword by Billy Bragg. More information and online purchasing options available at:
Signed copies direct from the author, ideal for readers based in the USA, are available from https://tonyfletcherauthor.bandcamp.com/merch
Sign up for free at tonyfletcher.substack.com for weekly updates on this podcast, other fanzine news, music, reading and writing recommendations, and for a free long-read weekend article by Tony.
'The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast Theme' is by Noel Fletcher. Copyright reserved.
The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast logo was designed by Greg Morton.
The Best of Jamming! book cover was designed by Martin Stiff
Tony Fletcher Socials:
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ten years after she ceased publishing her 2000s rock’n’roll fanzine Bubblegum Slut due to the lifestyle it induced (i.e. drug addiction), Alison B. found herself producing a new zine about her old zine, the lifestyle it induced and the year she spent in limbo before getting clean. That zine is entitled Confessions of an Ex-Zine Editor and it is astonishingly original and entertaining. Partly a “trainwreck memoir” in zine format, it has the benefit of additionally being side-splittingly funny, what with its reviews of old clubs that are now train stations and of snail mail that no longer brings free CDs. With Confessions now up to Issue 3, Alison is also the first ongoing fanzine editor to be featured on this podcast.
Alison is joined by Jane Appleby, who produced multiple different zines in the 1990s and early 2000s, including Jezebel, Bambi, This Is Our Truth, Pretty But Schizo, Pussy Rock, Jezebel, and Trophy F*ck. In conversation with Tony, Jane and Alison talk about their zines and the scenes from which they sprang, about sex and sexual stereotypes, about publishing and printing, about how the Manic Street Preachers inspired more zines than any other band of the era, about recovery Bingo and receiving explicit fetishist letters in the mail.
Bands mentioned in this episode include Hanoi Rocks, Guns ‘n’ Roses, the Manic Street Preachers, the Glitter Band, Sheila E, Shampoo, and We’ve Got A Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use it.
Franchises mentioned in this issue include Taco Bell and Trust House Forte.
Plus, Tony learns a new word: Edgelord.
Alison’s current Confessions of an Ex-Zine Editor and Bubblegum Slut can be found at https://www.instagram.com/bubblegumzinearchive/
And copies can be ordered via:https://linktr.ee/bubblegumzinearchive
Jane Appleby’s fanzine archives can be found at: http://pussyrockfanzine.blogspot.com/
She is active on http://tumblr.com/jaynedolluk
The Best Of Jamming! can be found here and signed copies are available in the USA direct from https://tonyfletcherauthor.bandcamp.com/merch/
For Tony Fletcher’s weekly newsletter, long weekend read, and for exclusive access to archived interviews, just visit tonyfletcher.substack.com.
Theme music by Noel Fletcher. Logo by Greg Morton.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
