Reaction Paper

“It’s Cheap. It’s Easy. Go and Do it.” The Aesthetics of Punk Zines in the 1970s
As the Desperate Bicycles so succinctly put it, the 1970s punk movement was all about doing it yourself. With the advent of Rough Trade Records and bands with little or no music training producing and distributing their own records, punk zines were a natural progression. As a cut and paste version of the mosh pit, zines reproduced the energy and panache of the punk show, the most visceral representation of punk. The in-your-face content combined with ransom style lettering, flippant representations of mainstream culture, and a distinctly lo-fi production proved that anyone with a photocopier and a bone to pick could participate in punk.
In the early 1970s, Geoff Travis, a West Londoner with a penchant for punk, traveled the US stocking his suitcases with the records he couldn’t find in London. When he arrived back in West London, Travis started a record shop called Rough Trade Records with his large new collection and, after a hugely successful run, Rough Trade began distributing albums. Rough Trade grew from a small distribution to a serious contender in the record company world with the signing of Stiff Little Fingers. According to the BBC documentary “Do it Yourself: The Story of Rough Trade Records”, their contract split all profits (after covering production and distribution costs) 50/50 with the artist. Unheard of in the corporate record industry where bands usually saw about 15% of the profit, Rough Trade had subverted the notion that only major record companies could produce profitable musical acts. Stocked next to its records, the fan zines Sniffin’ Glue, Chainsaw and Punk were snatched up by spiky haired, leather clad youngsters. The stage was set for punks to take the world into their own photocopiers.
Punk zines consist of several pages of stapled, photocopied, grammatically incorrect show schedules, rants, band interviews, and record reviews but the actual aesthetics of cut and paste seek to capture the energy behind the movement, previously only found in the ruckus and rancor of the mosh pit. In the 1978 November/December issue of Chainsaw, the author accidentally snaps the “N” key off his typewriter and, after calling attention to this, fills in the necessary letters with a pen. This kind of slapped together production proved the realness of the publication. As Amy Spencer argues, “The sloppy style seemed to be a badge of authenticity. If a zine wasn’t slick in appearance or perfect in terms in presentation, and was not interested in reaching a mass audience, then the content was seen as truthful and therefore something to believe in.” (195). Professionalism and “slick production” were seen as something not be trusted, aesthetics of the establishment, that which punks sought to subvert.
Focusing primarily on the covers of the zines and their combination of collage, handwritten text, typographical errors, photocopied pages and ransom note style lettering, Triggs explores direct resistance not only to traditional notions of publishing but to dominant culture in general. “For fanzine producers, the DIY process critiques mass production through the very handmade quality it embraces, but also in the process of appropriating the images and words of mainstream media and popular culture.” (69) Zine producers critiqued mainstream culture through hand drawn cartoon and collage. The back cover of the 11th issue of Panache features Margaret Thatcher’s head attached to a scantily clad young woman’s body who happens to be using the loo. Such racy, political charged images sought to poke fun at the establishment. Yet, upon closer inspection, the page also contains the lyrics of “The End of Civilization as we know it”. By juxtaposing the image of Margaret Thatcher with lyrics such as “The edifice is crumbling and I’m sitting here with my microphone truthfully reporting,” the author pokes fun while introducing a serious element and discussion onto the page. The apocalypse is coming and look no farther than this zine if you want to hear the truth.
Companies make magazines to make money. Zines offer the producers no money and no recognition as the author protects his anonymity with a punk rock nom de plume. Zines were made because these people had something to say and no way to say it so they made up their own media and set themselves against a society based on consumption and market economics (Duncombe). As Rough Trade Records demonstrated, making money doesn’t have to be the end game. This idea was really appealing to punks, who often sought to live on the fringes of society but were frustrated by the insistent need for money (and therefore employment). Sloppy production, spelling and grammar mistakes, and cut and paste made for a truthful representation of punk, one that was not glamorized or commodified, but made the movement visual through print media. Whether the content was angry, politically charged, funny, or all of the above, there was often room for discussion and feedback unlike traditional publications. Both production and content equalized punk: anyone could photocopy a page and, if you really couldn’t figure it out, directions were printed right on the zines anyway.




Works Cited

A. Spencer, DIY: The Rise of Lo-Fi Culture , Marion Boyers, 2005, p.195-6.

Charlie Chainsaw, ‘Alio Punks’, Chainsaw Issue 5, London, 1978.

Do it Yourself: The Story of Rough Trade Records. Perf. Geoff Travis. BBC Films, 2008

M. Mercer, ‘Ed’, Panache , Issue 20, London,1981, p. 2.

M. Perry, Sniffn’ Glue , No. 1, London, 1976.

S. Duncombe, Notes From the Underground: Zines and the Politics
of Alternative Culture, Verso, 1997 , 11.

T. Triggs. "Scissors and Glue: Punk Fanzines and the Creation of a DIY Aesthetic." Journal of Design History 19.1 (2006): 69-83.