Anarchist Monthly #4

Anarchist Monthly #4.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly
Issue: 4
Created by: Aaron Pfendler
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Forestport, NY
When: 1988

I used the second page of issue four of Anarchist Monthly as the cover image, because AP sent this one with a protective mailer on the outside. Read as: blank cover and back with an address. It was around issue four where I started accumulating a prodigious number of Anarchist Monthly stickers, as Aaron and I were sending stuff back and forth almost monthly. This issue has another Alberto Kroeger work, a Marty Schlesinger interview, some good old fashioned scrapbooking cut and paste, and a page listing for the first Heins/Schierling collaboration, Monkey Meets the Blowtorch. There's a shot of me grunting out as much of a method air as I could muster off of side of our junk launch ramp (black O.G. Powell Tommy Guererro, neon green rails, Tracker trucks, Powell freestyle wheels) and an image I sent of a bar-split boomerang by Jeff from Topeka, shot at the Rick Allison Western Auto show in Emporia. 

Notes: I swear there's a Rockville BMX sticker on that Tommy Guerrero. 

Anarchist Monthly #3

Anarchist Monthly #3.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly
Issue: 3
Created by: Aaron Pfendler
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Forestport, NY
When: 1988

The early issues of AM were a lot of freeform loose layout with typewriter text and a lot of handwritten goods. This tight and tidy issue has a Chris Lashua interview, a little bit of bike, a little bit of skate, and an interview/artwork with Alberto Kroeger.

Notes: This is the first time I remember seeing Alberto's work.

Anarchist Monthly #2

Anarchist Monthly #2.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly
Issue: 2
Created by: Aaron Pfendler
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Forestport, NY
When: 1988

Anarchist Monthly number two is packed with good stuff – an interview with Mark Lewman, comics/art and a fair amount of Pfendler prose. 

Notes: I love the zines from back in the day that had the receiver's address on the back page of the zine with stamp and postmark. Not only does it carbon copy the zine as far as age, but there's usually hand-scribbled notes to whoever is receiving the zine that postal workers would inevitably read. 

Anarchist Monthly

Anarchist Monthly.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly
Issue: unknown
Created by: Aaron Pfendler
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Forestport, NY
When: unknown

Aaron Pfendler's Anarchist Monthly was consistently one of my favorite zines, and it's the title I have the most copies of in my collection. Pfendler and I traded content for a couple of years, and there's even an interview with me in issue 12. I'm not sure which issue this is, but I do have 2-12, so it's somewhere after 12 I'd imagine. 

Notes: Vital Force zine address in this issue, probably how I started trading zines with Mike Ging in Westchester, PA.

Whiplash #9

Whiplash #9.

Zine: Whiplash
Issue: 9
Created by: Lou Wolgast, Darren Kraft
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Newton, NJ
When: 1989

Issue nine of Whiplash has a piece about Lou Wolgast and some of his art, a cool Arizona trip recap and the usual thoughtful writing. The xerox on this particular issue was really tight, with nice, crispy photos and text. Good layout. 

Notes: In the 'zine review section, there's a zine called Drop Dead Oklahoma that I wish I'd sent off for back in the day. It sounds fantastic. 

Whiplash #7

Whiplash #7.

Zine: Whiplash

Issue: 7

Created by: Lou Wolgast, Darren Kraft

Format: 8 1/2" x 11"

Where: Newton, NJ

When: 1988

BMX freestyle was having a hard time at the end of the 1980s. The AFA was waning and factory-sponsored contest-culture was dying out. Like skateboarding at the time, the sport had a huge pop-culture influence and subsequent cash influx by bandwagon-esque companies. But just when you thought it was going to stick, there was an equally huge decline and mass exodus of funds once the market determined the "fad" was over. What was left was a grand mal seizure-like shaking out, and an underground that rose from its ashes. 

This transition was documented well in zines like Whiplash. 

Notes: No notes. It's a great zine.

Warp 'Zine #5

Warp 'Zine #5.

Zine: Warp 'Zine
Issue: 5
Created by: Brett Foster
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Jefferson City, MO
When: 1989

This issue has some fine coverage of the Kansas AFA State Championship Freestyle comp in Wichita, a Woodward vacation story, and a Plywood Hoods sighting while Brett was at Woodward.

Notes: The photo of Kansas City local Ben Mahoney from the AFA series brought me back a bit. I remember seeing Ben ride a number of times, I just don't remember where and when. It was 30 years ago, but I remember the face...

Warp 'Zine #6

Warp 'Zine #6.

Zine: Warp 'Zine
Issue: 6
Created by: Brett Foster
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Jefferson City, MO
When: 1989

Brett Foster put  Warp out from the capital city of Missouri – Jefferson City. There wasn't a lot of bmx freestyle news coming out of the midwest, but Brett was on top of it, especially new tricks. This issue has write-ups of summer tours by Mongoose and Haro, and the AFA Masters Finals in Wichita, Kansas that Eric and I also attended. Excellent representation of bmx freestyle in the midwest at the time.

Notes: Brett and I met once at an amateur contest in Kansas City. He rode flatland and did very well if I recall correctly. I have negatives from that contest somewhere, and I think there's a few shots of Leo "Animal" Chen riding the quarter pipes, and I think Dennis McCoy was there for a bit. The last page of this issue has a pair of MMTB stickers on display, among others. 

Swank Zine

Swank Zine.

Zine: Swank Zine
Issue: unknown
Created by: Tod Swank
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Solana Beach, CA
When: 1987?

Swank Zine is legendary in the medium of stapled and xeroxed paper. I don't own any from back in the day, but picked up this one on eBay because they were selling an original Swank Zine sticker I wanted, and the zine happened to come with it. The inside cover says Swank Skate Zine 1, but I'm betting this is some sort of bootleg reprint. The condition is too good to be 30-plus years old and I got the zine and sticker for five bucks. Who knows? If you can shed any light on the matter, let me hear about it in the comments.

Notes: The Neil Blender art and squirrel comics are fantastic. 

Gus #2

Gus #2.

Zine: Gus
Issue: 2
Created by: Duncan Scott Davidson
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Fremont, CA
When: 1989

When Gus showed up in my mailbox, it blew my mind. Any preconceived notion about what a zine was supposed to be, or how it was supposed to look, or how THICK it could be, was blown away. With a heavy pink cover? Damn. Davidson must have had some dough to put this thing out. Letters in this issue from Jenkins and Swank confirm, the Swami's stapled and xeroxed paper was on fire. Plenty of subversive content, a good amount of art and prose, a lot of skateboarding and freestyle. Be patient with the PDF on this one. Clocking in at 66 pages, It's going to take a few moments to load.

Notes: Yes, Swami, we were all in love with Krys Dauchy too. 

Dan and Jay's Zeen #1

Dan and Jay's Zeen #1.

Zine: Dan and Jay's Zeen 
Issue: 1
Created by: Dan Ferrell, Jason Stecher
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Emporia, KS
When: 1988

Friends Dan and Jay put out this zine about the same time that Eric Heins and I were making Monkey Meets the Blowtorch, so there was a bit of friendly rivalry. Imagine it, two zines coming out of little, inconsequential, no-skate-scene Emporia, Kansas. EMPORIA, KANSAS! Come on! This issue has a couple of great interviews with Joe Jack Talcum of The Dead Milkmen and legendary influencer/provoker Steve Rocco. Two photos of Scott Sorenson who left Emporia for SoCal and made us all proud by getting sponsored and returning occasionally to get us stoked on new tricks and gear. Extensive/exclusive use of a dot-matrix printer and handwriting for text. Art-wise, there's a very cool Mike Vallely pointillist drawing by Tony Love and Arnie Anderson's "The Last Adventures of Gruesome Freddy Fox" comic is brilliant. Dan and Jay's Zeen was far more subversive than anything Eric and I did in MMTB, and I love it for that. 

Notes: Jason Stecher and Joe Jack Talcum had a lengthy correspondence through the late 80s. The 1993 Dead Milkmen song "Jason's Head" is loosely-based on some of that correspondence, or so the story goes. Stecher is responsible for our taking Joe Jack Talcum to pizza before a show in Lawrence, Kansas, which was certainly a highlight of our young lives. In the story about Allyn the hippie vampire, Corvette and Rodney are originally referenced in MMTB issue 1, and Dan and Jay's follow-up story about the homely pair is hilarious. The cover of this zine is also the mailer, so the "to" and "from" addresses are actually the front cover. The cover image above is technically from the back of the zine, but it's more visually interesting than the front.

Trend Bike Source Christmas card

Trend Bike Source Christmas card, 1989.

What: Trend Bike Source Christmas card
Created by: Greg Neal, Gregg Hansen
Where: Austin, TX
When: 1989

This one is not a zine at all, but still an important part of my collection of ephemera. I have a few letters from Greg Neal when Eric and I did MMTB zine, and Trend was pretty much the Rockville BMX of the midwest. It was cool to get a Christmas card in the mail from, in my estimation, one of the best bike shops in the world. 

Notes: Trend Bike Source became Empire BMX, and I rock an Empire sticker on both of my old-school freestyle bikes. I wish I still had my Trend Bike Source t-shirt. 

S.A.D. 'Zine (Skaters Against Disco)

S.A.D. 'Zine (Skaters Against Disco).

Zine: S.A.D. 'Zine (Skaters Against Disco)
Issue: unknown
Created by: Bruce
Format: 8 1/2" x 11" 
Where: San Jose, CA
When: 1990

This issue of Skaters Against Disco is mostly ramp skating, with Ray Barbee going ollie to tail at Mark's ramp in San Jose on the cover. There's a cool July 4 Buena Vista backyard pool contest that sounded like one helluva time, and a NorCal warehouse/ skatepark filled with ramps run by guys named Corey and Kendall... maybe Corey O'Brien and Jeff Kendall? The timeline and internet searches seem to confirm.

Notes: The contents page has text at the bottom that indicates Bruce is leaving soon. I still don't know who Bruce is. Someone help me out.

S.A.D. 'Zine (Skaters Against Disco)

Skaters Against Disco. 

Zine: Skaters Against Disco
Issue: unknown
Created by: Bruce
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: San Jose, CA
When: 1990

I really don't know much about this zine. It was done by a guy named Bruce, but there's no hint of his last name. He mentions John Kopke (Grocery Meat), Chris Johanson (Karmaboarder), Nancy (Nancy's Magazine), Ron Corral (Corn Beef is Lord), Louis (The Harsh Realm), Matt A. (No Way Jose), Bill Keaggy (ACC), Rick Schlueter (TNR Zine), Rob (Robzine), Luke Strahota (JOD) and Dave D'Andrea (Stuntwood) in this issue. If you know Bruce, hit the comments and fill in some details.

This issue has quite a bit of ditch skating, which I dig. The centerfold is a couple of chunky, contrasty skate photos but it's the accompanying text that I really enjoyed. It asks why people give skate spots such stupid and obvious names, and I had to laugh at all of the spots in Emporia that, in retrospect, were painfully obvious in their monikers. Dolly Madison ditch, Rec Center banks, the mall curbs. The only ones that might be a bit more inconspicuous were Shit Ditch (because the sides were six feet tall and at a 60-degree angle, and it was pretty shitty to skate it) and Chellsea Track (originally a ditch called Hell Track because one side was super steep like the drop-in to the bmx track in the movie Rad... someone spray painted Hell Track on the slope but it was grafitti'd with additional letters to spell out "Chellsea" for some reason). It didn't really matter. We weren't trying to hide anything because there were less than a dozen kids that skated in Emporia anyway. There was no "Locals Only" attitude because there were hardly any locals to begin with.

Notes: Commonwealth LA had a 1980s zine retrospective called "No Shitty Ads" last year, and Skaters Against Disco was one of the zines that popped up in the L.A. Taco coverage of the event. 

Cold Turkey #2

Cold Turkey #2.

Zine: Cold Turkey
Issue: 2
Created by: Dave D'Andrea
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Bristol, CT
When: 1990

The second issue of Cold Turkey from Dave D'Andrea is more of an art piece than the previous installment. No skateboarding, no bmx, no music reviews. Issue two is straight-up prose and art under the pseudonym "blue." Reading between the lines, I imagine this was a breakup issue. Hey, we've all been there, and sometimes that lost love manifests itself as copier toner, all over the paper.

Notes: The cover of this issue is one of my favorites. Simple, graphic, great copy machine texture, great photograph.

Cold Turkey #1

Cold Turkey #1.

Zine: Cold Turkey
Issue: 1
Created by: Dave D'Andrea
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Bristol, CT
When: 1990

Zine from a cool cat in Connecticut, Dave D'Andrea. He did a number of zines (Cold Turkey, Stuntwood, Sudden Impact), but maybe it was all just the same zine with different names. They did change up quite a bit, but the Dave style was always the same D'Andrea.

Notes: This had to be from fall 1990 to possibly early spring 1991. The "thanks to" on page 4 references "my main man from Kansas and college man #2 Ryan." I was at University of Kansas at the time. Not 100% sure this is the same Dave, but internets searches seem to confirm the backstory somewhat. Please let me know if otherwise.

Amputees and such...

Amputees and such...

Zine: Amputees and such...
Issue: unknown
Created by: Duncan Scott Davidson
Format: 5 1/2" x 4 1/4"
Where: Fremont, CA
When: 1989

Amputees is a quick art blast from Nor-Cal Swami Duncan Scott Davidson. Diminutive in size, but packed with prose (Mung the Merciless) and art/photos (Mel Bend), it's a nice follow-up to The Swami's other pint-size zine one-off Zipper Full of Scrotum. 

Notes: Quite a few zine makers used alternate monikers for print – Mung the Merciless and Mel Bend are such examples. 

Loft #4

Loft #4.

Zine: Loft
Issue: 4
Created by: Club Homeboy
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Torrance, CA
When: 1988

Another great issue of Loft from Jenkins, Jonze and Lewman. This one boasted a full-color supply section centerfold. I have two copies of this issue, though one is missing the centerfold, so I can only assume that I must have ordered something. 

Notes: Loft #4 showed up recently as a "reissue" printed on yellow paper on Amazon for $20 plus $9 shipping. Curious...

Loft #2

Loft #2.

Zine: Loft
Issue: 2
Created by: Club Homeboy
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Torrance, CA
When: 1988

Loft was the official zine of Club Homeboy, what would now be called a "lifestyle brand" but back then was just another way to see what coolness the Freestylin' magazine master cluster of Andy Jenkins, Mark Lewman and Spike Jonze were up to. You paid your membership dues and you got a t-shirt, wrist wrap, stickers and a laminated membership card/security badge. For those who care (or don't), my member number was 342. You also got a copy of Loft in the mail every once in a while. 

Notes: "Loft" was the name of the zine from issue two forward. I don't remember what issue one was called, because I don't have it. I learned a new word from this issue – habiliments. What I'd give now for a "Factory" t-shirt for 8 bucks. Also, Jive Handles grips were available for $8.75, which was a steal.

2-HIP promo catalog

2-HIP promotional catalog/zine

Zine: 2-HIP
Issue: Promotional catalog
Created by: 2-HIP Promotions
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Leucadia, CA
When: 1988

When zines started becoming a little less underground, skateboard and BMX companies began using the format as a way to get information to consumers/customers faster and cheaper than monthly magazine adverts could. Many of these zines were just thinly-veiled, long-form ads with little to no content at all. 

Ron Wilkerson's 2-HIP Promotions put together some of the best BMX vert and street contests coming out of the 80s, when the AFA was on its last legs. If you joined the 2-HIP Society, you got a limited-edition shirt, hat, stickers and a one year subscription to the quarterly 2-HIP zine, which was probably a lot cooler than this slapdash catalog. Still, it was a way to get information out there, and we didn't get a lot of information about anything in Emporia, Kansas. Ron was always generous and very cool about writing back to fans.

Notes: I wasn't a 2-HIP Society member, so I never did see any official 2-HIP zines. I did find a letter and autographed Haro sticker that Ron sent me, probably with this promo catalog. 

Letter from Ron Wilkerson.

Autographed Haro Air Wear sticker, 3 1/2" x 2 3/4".

Karma Nausea

Karma Nausea.

Zine: Karma Nausea
Issue: Mutiny Issue
Created by: unknown
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: New Ross, IN
When: 1987

Karma Nausea was the second zine I received in the mail. Ever. It is crudely photographed, crudely written, crudely laid out and crudely photocopied. It is perfect. I'm sure my parents did not approve. I'm sure the United States Postal Service did not approve. 

Notes: Calendar centerfold. Instructions for chemical fire bottle, most likely from The Anarchist Cookbook. I wrote for this zine after seeing it mentioned in Audible Blast #5.