SUBBACULTURE - ISSUE SIX - OUT NOW

The new issue of Subbaculture hit the doormats of discerning readers this morning with a welcome thwack and, as I probably say each time, it’s the best one yet, packed with sounds and styles from the street.

As ever, the writing and design is a class above your average ‘zine and there’s plenty of substance in the articles too as they drift to encompass various strands of thought and subject matter.

What continues to amaze is how each issue has so many “that’s me!” moments. Editor Mark Hynds and contributors including Peter Jachimiak with uncanny regularity blow dust off teenage memories and tie-in references which concur with my own tastes. Mark recalls playground transactions involving the Quadrophenia albums, I sold the soundtrack one at school to fund my new found interest in Northern Soul; Mark also, in a piece about punk in Norwich, says his favourite Jamie Reid artwork is the Nowhere buses image, a print of which hangs in my hall; and on the same page, Peter revisits the Manic Street Preachers’ early New Art Riot EP and their first venture into London wearing “mod-style jackets with prison arrows sewn on”, a period which made as lasting an impression on me in my early 20s as discovering The Jam did as a kid.

On that theme, there’s a moving account of the relationship between Paul and John Weller with reference to their working class roots; Kevin Pearce tells a wonderful tale about the healing power of soul music; Tony Beesley discusses his books covering mod and punk scenes, with a focus on experiences outside London; Jason Disley provides a poem; the “gorgeous, oblique shuffle” of Trojan records are reflected upon, and where else are you gonna find a five-page spread charting the history of the Harrington jacket?

Copies are limited to 250 so, in keeping with Subbaculture’s ethos, look sharp…

Order Subbaculture 6 here.

SUBBACULTURE - ISSUE FIVE

It’s been a while coming but the latest issue of Mark Hynds’s Subbaculture has been worth the wait. As always, it’s intelligently written, thought-provoking, inspiring and imaginatively designed. Although Subbaculture’s remit is a multitude of street styles it’s the enduring Mod one which takes centre-stage.

There’s a two-part Routes Out Of The Mod Revival feature: one taking the paisley path, the other heading down the strict purist road as captured through the lens of Paul Hallam; author Jason Brummell gives an interesting insight into the world of independent publishing; Peter Jachimiak takes a look at the British art scene of the 50s and 60 with one eye on their sartorial get-up; and the film version of Absolute Beginners is given a reappraisal (so much so I’m going to have to watch it again as my opinion may have changed since I, as a know-all teenager wrapped up in the Colin MacInnes novel, dismissed it as inauthentic 80s rubbish when I saw it for the only time in 1986).

The case for 1980 being music crowning glory is food for thought; there’s an extract from Mr. Brummell’s forthcoming novel; and, although it feels a little tacked-on, Jeff Hately from the band Wolfesbane offers his thoughts from a metal/punk point of view.

Best mag out there. They won't be around long so look sharp, get yours here. 

SUBBACULTURE - ISSUE 4

The latest issue of Subbaculture doesn’t need much of a pitch from me as unless your little fingers move fast all 200 numbered copies will already have homes, and rightly so.

Intelligently written articles on various facets of “street style” housed in a smartly designed A5 ‘zine with Jesse Hector’s feathercut and Hammersmith Gorilla sideburns adorning the front cover. Subbaculture is the hippest zine around and this its best issue so far.

Details, heaps of fascinating photos and more can be found at the Subbaculture site. Look sharp. Always. 

SUBBA CULTURE - ISSUE THREE

Born from the website of the same name, the latest issue of Subba Culture has hit the streets and it's the best one yet.

Whilst the internet version focuses predominately on pictorial evidence of the evolution of youth subcultures, Mark Hynds's fanzine contains well written and thoughtful articles on the same. There's an emphasis this time on how those movements spread from away from the main cities into other areas and the impact they had. The opening piece perceptively links the artwork of Jamie Reid (specifically his "two coaches" graphic) to the Medway music scene featured in the recent The Kids Are All Square book; John South discusses skinhead and suedehead styles after moving from London to Norfolk in 1972; Edward Ian Armchair describes the late-70s punk scene seen from the eyes of a resident of Tamworth in the West Midlands; and Peter Jachimiak provides a fascinating look at "Minets" - considered the early 60s French version of Mods. Not to exclude London, Rob Lee - the cover star of the (in)famous Mods Mayday '79 album - gives his recollections of that era. There's more besides, from desert boots to borstals.

Limited to 200 copies which are already flying out so get on this quick-smart. Click on Subbaculture for full details.   

SUBBACULTURE - ISSUE 2

“In my final years at school in the early eighties it seemed everyone was a – something. A Mod, a rocker, a teddy boy, a rockabilly, a rudeboy, a break dancer, a punk, a participant in any one of a number of street revivals”. The further we get from that period the most fascinating it becomes and it’s what informs one of my favourite websites, the nicely nostalgic yet inspiring Subbaculture, and its spin-off fanzine.

Neatly designed and intelligently written, issue two includes – amongst other things - the birth of Acid Jazz; the film Faces In The Crowd centred on the Glasgow Mod Weekender; Skins and the Melbourne Sharpie scene (who knew what Sharpies were?); early 80’s indie; and a smart appraisal of the first years of the Style Council and Paul Weller's "pure Mod thinking" which contains this memorable passage: “The word pretentious began to be bandied around to describe the Style Council. In response Weller simply shrugged his shoulders, draped a sorbet coloured piece of fine knitwear around them and began singing in French”.

Subbaculture Issue 2, 36 x A5 pages, limited to 200 copies. £3 including P&P from Subbaculture.

SUBBACULTURE ZINE - ISSUE 1

Subbaculture is a website I check daily for their celebration of street styles, sounds and fashions of subcultures from the late twentieth century - from the modernist, suedehead & skinhead axis to the teds, rockers and cafe racers through to punk and the NYC gangs that pre-dated hip hop.

They've now produced a limited edition fanzine to compliment the site taking some of their best articles plus a few new ones. Professionally printed and smartly designed it features well written pieces across 32 A5 pages on Mod guru Peter Meaden; writer of the Suedehead books Richard Allen; the graphics of 2-Tone; Ken Russell’s photographs of 1950s East End Teddy Girls and much more.

Numbers are strictly limited to 100 copies so get in quick. More details at Subbaculture.   

WE ARE THE MODS, WE ARE THE MODS, WE ARE, WE ARE, WE ARE THE (FACEBOOK) MODS

There are a couple of Facebook pages I’ve been trawling through recently which feature hundreds of fascinating photographs. They have self-explanatory titles, the first being Mod Photographs which covers all eras but the 60s pics are the most interesting. The above shows lads and lasses from Earlsfield, South London circa ‘64/’65 including Roy Clarke (on the centre Vespa) and Roy Baldock (to the left of the Deerstalker).

The other is The Great Mod Revival Bands 1978-1987 which isn’t quite my bag but the photo section again throws up loads of period pictures and acts as a good memory jogger for anyone who sported a parka and skinny tie during those years. Thanks to Subbaculture (one of my favourite sites, go look them up too) for putting me on to this one.

Altogether now...