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FLIPSIDE FANZINE
The Official Memorial Website
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"The place got trashed and of course there were those nice, rational people who will say "a few spoiled it for everybody." That's bullshit, that one night was worth all the other nights of just sitting, watching, not participating, we didn't spoil it for anybody we saved people alot of money and wasted time.... we all know...its a worthless boring place, not fit for punkrockers.... This night was real interesting because it was one of these rare times when you felt a part of some 'scene' all the kids were moving towards one goal, trash this place! This happened before, like when it was so right to trash the Cuckoo's Nest or the Troubador, or even that last Whisky night, the feeling of unity, even though it was for 'mindless destruction.' That's the missing element here in LA, no real direction. The music is good enough but it has no end to seek. In the UK there's the RAF and the angry brigade groups of people who violently attack the system, the whole system, that they don't like. But what can we attack? A few clubs every now and then, and only when we feel the need...." |
Flipside Fanzine (which long outlived Slash Magazine) and some could argue "punk rock"
(in terms of its original intent), was long the vanguard of the punk fanzines and would
eventually go on to obtain worldwide status and recognition as such. The fanzine, begun
by a group of mostly Whittier (California) High School graduates, chronicled the early
Los Angeles punk rock music scene, beginning with the first issue back in August of 1977
up until approx. 2000, a period of over 20 years. This was a period within which time
punk went from a notorious underground music phenomenon to an established genre of rock music.
Over that time period, the Fanzine evolved from a disorganized stapled-together
1/4 page Xerox fanzine, to a major glossy-covered "magazine" with many issues over 150
pages in size and one of the main voices of the punk music scene. (And it never had a
table of contents!) In those later years, it attempted (and many would say rightly
succeeded) to cover a scene that had grown to worldwide proportions, and in fact,
the world looked to Flipside as its voice. The letters section (a
favorite of mine) was a sounding board for the common punk on the street and usually
took up three or four pages in an issue. Its popularity was a testament to the fact
that so many people felt they could have a voice through its pages.
Over the years, many writers came and went (and this website will not attempt to chronicle "the careers" of any of its writers, although I may feature articles or opinion pieces from some of them from time to time), but the one man who made it all happen for so many years, Mr. Al (Kowalewski) Flipside, the publisher and editor, kept it going through all the personnel changes. There's been a lot of talk as to what exactly led to the demise of the fanzine, with many differing opinions. This website is not focused on providing those answers. Rather, the focus here is to celebrate the zine, which only a few years ago disappeared into obscurity, without a trace of it, even on the internet. Today, about the only trace one can find of Flipside Fanzine on the internet is an occasional Ebay auction for one of the much sought after early issues of Flipside Fanzine. When these issues do rarely surface, they usually fetch a high price.
Besides the spotlight here on Flipside Fanzine and the early years of the zine, there is a live gig database that I've been compiling. It promises to be the most extensive database of live Los Angeles area gigs on the internet (if I can ever find the time to complete it!) I developed the idea after becoming frustrated trying to date gig flyers. It is a work in progress. Also on this website is an extensive collection of gig flyers dating from the late 1970s to mid-1980s. Any submissions of information that are added to the website are greatly appreciated and will be credited to the donor. FLIPSIDE FANZINE VIDEOS: If you are interested in the old videos, they should have a "Best of Flipside" DVD and will be issuing two new Flipside releases, a Government Issue DVD and a Samhain DVD. I unfortunately do not have further details on which videos are available now, or which are being released. I will update my website as new info becomes available to me. The videos can be purchased through: Music Video Distributors, (MVD POB 280, Oaks PA 19456). You can try their website address: musicvideodistributors.com, or try phone: 1-800-888-0486. Ask them for their catalog. They have lots of other punk stuff too.
Please Note:
These are handmade webpages
using old-fashioned HTML and therefore likely contain a fair amount of mistakes. If you see a broken link, please shoot me an email. I hope you enjoy
the website and thanks for visiting.
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This website
attempts to chronicle the early years of Flipside Fanzine and the golden age of
the Los Angeles punk music scene it so avidly covered, from 1977 through the end
of 1984 (the "Golden Years" as defined by me). Issues #6 through #38
and their content came from the collections of Elizabeth "Sissy" Barela,
a long-time friend who I met at a party one night at The Church in Hermosa
Beach, and Mike Alessi
(my husband) formerly of the Los Angeles-based bands V.O.A.
and
Skull Control.
Long-time Glendale area scenesters, Jay and Mary Thurston,
generously contributed Issues 39 through 44 for this website. Early L.A.
scenester and one-time west-end'er Buddha James
generously contributed the content lists for Issues #2, #3, #4, #5 and a cover
scan for Issue #33. Many early photographs and ticket stubs, as well as the
contents for Issue #17 have been provided by Steve Crusinberry.
Thanks to you all, I have completed my goal of having the content up for all
the issues between 1977 and 1984.