'Fanzines' break out of mimeograph mold
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
| News Media Commentary | |
|---|---|
| Title: | 'Fanzines' break out of mimeograph mold |
| Commentator: | Paul McGrath |
| Date(s): | February 28, 1981 |
| Venue: | |
| Fandom: | Various music fandoms, Barbra Streisand |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
'Fanzines' break out of mimeograph mold was an article in The Globe and Mail. It was about fanzines and how they were getting more polished. The article starts out focused on the zine Barbra, which was about Barbra Streisand, and then discusses several other zines dedicated to other musical artists/groups.
Excerpts
It is fitting then, that Miss Streisand should be the focus of an evo- lutionary step in fan magazine journalism, Barbra Magazine, which has grown from its first printing of 80 more than a year ago to 7,000 for its fourth and current issue. Class begets class, and Barbra Magazine, far from the sloppy, mimeograph-and-staple periodical devoted to lighter weights, is glossy, almost tasteful-ly designed and is not entirely sycophantic. According to the masthead it presents "an accurate and supportive record of Barbra Streisand's career activities," which sounds like crossed purposes but means only that the Los Angeles editors, Karen Swenson and John Nickens, don't mind taking the odd small pin to Streisand's ego.
In the murkier depths below ulti-mate fame, there are a number of rock groups, for instance, with no corresponding affect on the society as a whole equal either to Presley's or The Beatles', who have nonetheless spawned a following large and devoted enough to sup- port periodicals. The Beach Boys are dissected in Add Some Music, published in Elmwood, Conn. keep in mind that's pretty far from the Pacific surf. According to Gary Sperazza, a Buffalo writer a collector of magazines, it is written "by fans quite aware of the group's shortcomings, unique for a ‘group- zine.'"