essential ephemera

Friday, 10 July 2020

Safe As Milk #1, 1979

We have never sold out

Spending hours on clever art

And funny advertising quotes

That make you buy it and raise your hopes

It’s the new leather thing

SMASH CRASH CRACK RING

Just as the title of Safe As Milk (SAM) was inspired by a Captain Beefheart LP, that lyric from The Fall was to be adopted as the title of another fanzine; Crash Smash Crack Ring - itself a nice little number - - we’ll see some of that anon on ee.

SAM was a thoroughly decent fanzine from the get go, as can be evidenced from this here issue 1. SAM was a great group effort from Briz, Neal Smith, Neds, Colin Fancy, and Ben, along with contributions from Woodrow, Sam Bigot, and Nick Corker. As noted in this issue, SAM was ‘brought to you via Woolwich Resource Centre’ and ‘Mrs W’s typewriter’. All told, the SAM bunch proved to be an engaging and well informed bunch of correspondents and thus delivered informative and entertaining product. Issue 1 features: articles on Lew Lewis, The Fall, Mod culture, The Skids, The Piranhas; live reviews of Peter and the Testtube Babies / The Numbers, Cash Puppies / Bad News, Stiff Little Fingers / Essential Logic / Robert Rental and the Normal, The Boys, Alternative TV / The Transmitters / Fashion, The Chords; ‘News from Garageland’ appraises The Red Lights, Morris and the Minors, The Proles, Extros, The Infants, Simon and the Virgins, The Cool Boys, The Chords, These Strange and Beautiful Things, The Monitors, and The Covent Nuns - with name checks for Flavia, The Fagends, Catch 22, Rupert and the Palm Trees, Harry’s Haircut, The Third Sex, The Sleeping Airforce, The Future, and The Musical Chairs. It says 'Buzzcocks' on the cover, but it's merely a mention in the editorial, and by that measure they could also have adverted Throbbing Gristle and Gang of Four. ‘Is it safe’? You betcha!!

A4 Duplex Stapled scanned at 600dpi

Safe As Milk #1

Sunday, 21 June 2020

PiN #1, 1979

"This is PIN's first English-Language issue...we'd like to get so much reaction we'd break our promise of never down' this fucking backbreaking, typewriterbreaking job of translatin' all over again! !so, very maybe, this isn't a real ONE-OFF."

Luckily enough for non-Dutch speakers, Herman Haagplein (Ed.), Jan Stamhuis, Ruud van Egmond, and Jos did break their promise by going on to produce more English language PiNs. Having 12 Dutch editions under their belts, this first English edition arrives as a marvellously accomplished, Better Badges produced, article - - in my view it's almost always a good thing for a fanzine to have passed through Joly's clutches - chiefly on account of the excellent photo reproduction assured by the BB team - and there are some ace pics in here; I mean have a look at X Ray Spex here...

...such an animated shot!! - imagine being at the front of that gig with Poly so excitedly mugging ya!!

Anyroad, ropey comments about 'Siouxsie's tits' aside, there's lots to go at in this great fanzine - we get: interviews with Brian James and the Brains, Fatal Microbes / Poison Girls, Swell Maps, Penetration, Gang of Four, Mark Perry; articles about Last Band / Crunchy Frogs, Punk Rock in Holland and Belgium (featuring Ivy Green, Flyin' Spiderz, The Tapes, The Filth, The Bugs, The Helmettes, The Mollesters, Munk the Punk and his Flying Testikels, Average Power, Tedje and the Flikkers, Motorboat, Infexion, Jesus and the Gospel Fuckers, The Nix, The Kids, and The P.I.G.Z.; a PIL family tree; snippets on The Members, Iggy Pop; an update on The Slits, and a very brief fanzine round-up. All told, an entertaining read.

A4 duplex scanned at 600dpi

PiN #1