Zendik Farm Arts Commune was a roaming commune / cult determined to live off the land and reject mainstream society, or the Death Culture as they saw it. Starting in the late 60s and ending in 2013 after the death of their original founders Wulf and Arol Zendik. They made magazines and cassettes (later CDs and even vinyl), T-shirts and stickers to earn money to help with living costs and below are some examples you can find on eBay. You can find out more here and here.
Various covers from the end run of promotional RCA (Radio Corporation of America) magazine that existed from 1941 to 1971. You can view a selection of them here.
Hawkfrendz covers from the Hawkwind fanzine plus one for the Crazy World of Arthur Brown by Trevor Hughes.
To round out the post here’s some Op-Art that’s been collecting in a folder – first up, an Olivetti ad by Juan Carlos Distéfano, Ruben Fontana and Juan Andralis for Insituto di Tella.
Next, the front and back cover of a French library music remix compilation, ‘Tele Music Reinterpretations’ from 2017.
Lastly, a page from a fashion book that highlights the resurgence of sixties fashions in London in 1979.
Various psychedelic covers for Time magazine from the 60s. Above, The Beatles by Gerald Scarfe and below, the intro to the same issue detailing his process.
Above, the ubiquitous Peter Max tackles UK royalty and below a photo composite by Robert S. Crandall.
Milton Glaser above, Geoffrey Dickinson‘s famous Swinging London cover below.
The Flower Scene and the Love Generation Issue No. 1, October 1967. Super rare, four issues are known to exist, cashing in on the 60s pop counter culture. Printed and published by R. Milward & Sons in Nottingham and edited by Martin Graham. Here is an early ‘The Pink Floyd’ article and a very odd cover of Ringo and baby. Elsewhere in the mag; The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, The Mothers of Invention, Scott McKenzie, John Peel, Pink Floyd, Janis Ian, The Move, and Hippie Of The Month: Eric Burdon.
This weekend (25/26th Oct) I’ll be at the Bound Art Book Fair at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester with a table selling my latest collage comic, the All Colour High Fidelity Radio Cartoon. This was started in lockdown in 2020 and worked on intermittently for five years until recently when I exhibited some pieces in Folkestone and decided I had enough to assemble a comic/zine/whatever at last.
That had always been the goal but there was no deadline so I just continued to work on pieces for years, slowly building each page to a point where they were ‘finished’. With the Bound Art Book Fair invitation for Saturday, I decided that would make a suitable deadline to compile a first version of these works.
Unless I’ve got a deadline I can tinker with things forever (hence no new DJ Food music in years) and this has been on the Infinite Illecktrik release list since 2020 (ii03 – to be accompanied by an album of the same name but that will come later now). Talking of which, I am also readying some new releases for the label which will take physical form soon…
But I digress, the comic – I’m calling it a comic because a large proportion of it is taken from comics and you can ‘read’ some pages, but really I have no idea what it is – is 32 pages, full colour and includes a free pair of 3D specs to view the centre spread. The first 50 come with a random sticker applied inside and I will have a random selection of badges free for buyers at the fair this weekend.
I’ll also have the new Mindfood zine (issue 5) and very limited original copies of #1,3 & 4 for sale as well as copies of the Float III mixtape and a handful of the Telepathic Fish LPs. Also there will be copies of my Wheels of Light book, the comic book version of my Search Engine album and whatever else I can find.
In addition to that I’ll be giving a talk at 1pm on the Mezzanine about the Telepathic Fish parties and the zines we made at some point on Saturday and in the evening I’ll be playing at YES alongside my good friend Moz. That’s quite an itinerary for Saturday. The comic will go on sale online next week via Bandcamp for those who can’t make the fair.
The LPs are here at last, over a year in the making, gatefold double album with silk smooth finish, spot varnish details and 20 page full colour booklet. Also Mindfood #5 fanzine, 1 hour mystery mix ‘Float III’ cassette and enamel pin badge.
These all form the deluxe bundle that sold out very quickly on the FF Bandcamp pre-order page. The LP is very much still available but if you missed out on the bundle then we will have a limited number for sale at the launch party next Sunday, August 31st in Brixton at Arch555 – ticket link here.
The current issue of Electronic Sound has a six page feature on Telepathic Fish by Ben Willmott, someone who was around when we did these parties and certainly came to several. Aside from interviewing the three of us, he’s pulled in quotes from Matt Black, Robin Rimbaud and Daniel Pemberton – all people in our orbit back in the day who have first hand experience of the Fish too. I’ve not included the text of course, you’ll have to buy the mag but later in the issue is a review of the forthcoming compilation by Ben Murphy and nestling next to it is none other than the guvnor, Brian Eno.
If you can’t get the mag or don’t do physical then you can read the feature online if you become a premium member.
It’s just two weeks away from the launch party in Brixton on August 31st and there’s still much to do, the LPs are in the UK, the cassettes are made although we now have to assemble 150 acetate inlays, the badges and fanzines are delivered and a very special liquid wheel has been custom made by Bubblevision for the night. There’s more press to come and several guest mixes which I’ll post about in the coming weeks, lots in the pipeline still and new things bubbling to the surface daily it seems… Launch party tickets: https://ra.co/events/2218194
I visited Mick Jones‘ RRPL exhibition at the Farsight Gallery on Friday courtesy of Stephen Coates (seen above at the magazine kiosk inside the venue). For anyone who doesn’t know, Mick is a collector, an understatement when you realise that the amount of ephemera, memorabilia and esoteria on display is possibly only 5% of his archive. Although I can’t claim to be a huge Clash or B.A.D. fan there’s no denying that the collection on display is impressive and wide-ranging. From toys, games, comics, magazines, records, tapes, clothes to art, posters, projection equipment, videos, music gear and pop culture artifacts, it seems there is very little that Mick doesn’t collect.
Primarily of interest to me were his pieces of hip hop ephemera including several by Futura from the early 80s when he and Mick wrote ‘The Escapes of Futura 2000’ with The Clash as backing band. Inside one of the glass cabinets I noticed Futura’s handwritten lyrics to the song, beautifully enscribed in his recognisable style. In another was a customised boombox with drawings by Dondi and Zephyr, a Rammellzee flyer and Beastie Boys tour pass – what a time to be in New York!
Of course there is loads of Clash-related memorabilia too, from equipment to tapes, toys to merchandise, press coverage to what appears to be a Futura-sprayed canvas.
Fanzines were a huge part of the punk movement and there are plenty here although most have been photocopied and pasted up as wallpaper at various points to aid ease of display.
There are also a number of huge colour-themed collages of all manner of ephemera, an ingenious way to display many of the items that were found without an obvious home.
And it goes on and on… there’s even the first in a projected series of magazines devoted to highlights from the collection on sale inside. I highly recommend you try and visit if you’re in the centre of London with an hour or two to spare. It’s free, open daily from midday – 7pm and the gallery is at the end of Denmark St. tucked round the corner by St. Giles church, nearest tube, Tottenham Court Road. Be quick though as it’s only on until March 16th – more info here www.rocknrollpl.com and on Instagram @rocknrollpl
A rare poster for a festival in Amsterdam at the Olympic stadium in 1972. Note Sgt. Pepper’s Band – was there a Beatles tribute band that early on?
Even though there was no actual circus involved in the above concert there’s a link between that festival and Chipperfield’s Circus that took place in the UK around Christmas that year. Joe’s Lights – a legendary light show crew that evolved out of the Joshua Light Show – performed at both the Dutch gig and an actual circus at the Rainbow Theatre in London. Thanks to the ever-diligent Neil Rice for the poster image on this one.
Circus imagery was popular in the sixties, most obivously from the inspiration John Lennon took from Pablo Fanque’s Circus Royal poster for the lyrics to ‘Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite’.
The Rolling Stones also got on the bandwagon with their ill-fated Rock n Roll Circus which was recorded for a TV special but remained unofficially released until the mid 90s. Above and below; the front and back cover of Razz Revue magazine featuring Jagger in ringmaster garb from 1972. The Revue originated from Phoenix, Arizona, ran for 16 issues and took a satirical look at pop and rock culture, via interviews and comics. The cover image is probably by Bob Boze Bell, the mag’s resident cartoonist, and the redneck character attacking Jagger is the Roper-Doper, his regular strip in the mag.
While we’re talking about the Stones here’s two adverts I found on my travels round the web too. The first advertising their ‘3D’ (actually lenticular) Their Satanic Majesties Request album and the second plugging a 1990 Steel Wheels concert broadcast in actual 3D.
Newly discovered ads featuring Zappa and The Mothers of Invention from the LA Free Press. Some, if not all of these, were designed by Zappa in his spindly lettered, collage style. I’ve featured some of these before but they are generally better quality and some crazy person has gone through all the magazines at the link above, scanning the Zappa/Mothers appearances.
I’ve just finished Matthew Worley‘s excellent Zerox Machine book about UK fanzines from punk into the late 80’s. It’s opened up a hidden world and had me going down several rabbit holes online.
Above – Irish fanzine Blast #4 with a Savage Pencil cover, below the three covers of Juniper Beri Beri, a Scottish fanzine by Annabel, Peter McArthur, Jill Bryson and Stephen from The Pastels.
Hand-painted cover of Jungleland #9 – produced by Mike Scott of the Waterboys
A collage page from Adventures In Reality – issue G by Alan Rider
An Ian Wright illustration for 80s magazine The Catalogue
It’s been a vinyl kind of weekend, starting on Friday with a visit to Deptford where the hardcore diggers descended on new shop Perfect Lives for their opening. Run by Danny and Bruno, it’s a countercultural wonderland of books, magazines, fanzines and records, the likes of you which rarely see or have never seen before. It’s a small spot at 6a Florence Road, London, SE14 6TW and they’re open Wednesday to Sunday, not cheap but you don’t see some of this stuff every day unless it’s in a museum or a book.
Deptford’s really becoming a spot now with Upside Down Records on the high street and new vinyl listening bar, Jazu down the other end. In the arches on Resolution Way across from the train station you have The Shop which sells music gear and records and further up, the Villages bar where we went to hear Huw from Mr Bongos play a Halloween-themed set.
Saturday was the Groovy Record Fayre at the Mildmay Club on Newington Green for as much of a social catch up with a million friends as a dig for the black crack. Despite finding a few bits and pieces I actually managed to leave a clutch of 45s behind at the end because I was nattering.
Sunday was a day of rest but Rich Headland‘s Record Shop Stories has just published the jaunt to the Book & Record Bar in West Norwood that we took a few weeks back. Read it here, give Rich’s substack a follow and pay the shop a visit if this piece piques your interest.
It’s not all records around here though, next week is all about light shows and painting one of my son’s bedroom, then the print fair in Leicester at the Print Workshop next weekend.
Beautiful poster by Victor Hubinon from Spirou magazine in 1968
A Bryan Talbot cover for Zig Zag in 1976
Ian Wright does the Damned for Zig Zag in 1981
Unknown artist for another Zig Zag cover of the Stones from 1977
One of Andy DOG Johnson’s first commissions – think I’ve shown this before but this is possibly better quality – Kraftwerk for Record Mirror in 1978
Savage Pencil covering Sun Dial, this poster was from 1995 I believe
Robert Crumb illustrates the Whole Earth Catalog’s Last Supplement – see what he did there?
Wheeling around the internet (as I do) you pick up all sorts of interesting things, here are some that have been cluttering up the desktop with nowhere to go this month. Above is a promo badge – or button as they call them in the States – for the opening of The Kaleidoscope club in 1967, apparently the Grateful Dead played – taken from a RockPosters.com post.
The cover of the Sexedelic LP, most of which became one half of the Vampyros Lesbos Psychedelic Dance Party compilation on Crippled Dick Hot Wax. Despite owning said comp since the 90s I’d never seen this cover.
International Times newsagents poster, sent to me by Drew Mulholland
Robert Williams illustrated header card for a bag of weed! Not sure the year but looks 70s.
Gorgeous box design for a Philips projector lens.
Original art for an Alex Nino spread from Star Reach magazine no.6 from Heritage Auctions
Beautiful Odyssey computer box design plus computer inside, look at those huge chips! Seen on Facebook Marketplace.
New Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan LP cover – possibly by Nick Taylor? Out next week…
Gorgeous designs by Louise Mason for the State 51 Singularity series of lathe cuts, made in conjunction with The Quietus website. Patrons on the highest tier of The Quietus’ subscription service get regular digital releases from various bands championed by the website and these are starting to be made available as limited lathe cut singles via State 51. Each edition (of 50) comes in an embossed box with hand-finished details and features a 20 minute disc of exclusive music from each artist.
Talking of The Quietus, they desperately need more subscribers to survive so if you want to support good, independent journalism you can sign up to three different options with the site, each of which unlocks more content. Subscribe here.
I spoke to Tom Ellen at ES Magazine a few weeks back about attending the Def Jam tour with Public Enemy, Eric B & Rakim and LL Cool J back in 1987. The piece is primarily with Chuck D in reference to the new documentary Fight The Power: How Hip Hop Changed The World on BBC 3 which started last week and is on iPlayer now. I was being asked for my take on the first appearance on a London stage by PE back in 1987 and how the gig was a seismic event in the history of hip hop in the UK. Tom was led to me by the photos I posted on my blog a few years back, some of which were used in the article and are apparently in the documentary at some point. The article is online here to read too.
The new edition of Moonbuilding, the quarterly magazine by ex-Electronic Sound writer Neil Mason, published by Castles In Space, is out today. It features a 2 page interview with me about my new book, Wheels of Light, and the mag also comes with a free CD of CiS artists appearing at the label’s Levitation festival next month.
You can order it here and there is also an option to get issue 1 or a bundle of both issues.
The first issue of Moonbuilding is here! Put together by Neil Mason (ex of Electronic Sound magazine) and published quarterly by Castles In Space, it features guest design work from Nick Taylor, a column by Alex Paterson of The Orb and the return of Steven Appleby’s Captain Star comic strip. Also comes with a 13 track CD
Order via the Castles In Space Bandcamp page
I’m mildly fascinated by these rock illustrations from Record Mirror magazines circa 1978-1981 when artists were asked to interpret pop idols of the day for covers and the odd poster. This was back when Record Mirror was a newspaper of the same size as NME, Melody Maker and Sounds before downsizing to magazine format.
They LOVED Blondie, she was constantly on the cover, probably because a beautiful woman sold copies. Not sure what to make of the suggestive poster at the top!
Ivor Sexton, Alan Alder, David Street, Bob Zammarchi, Bush Hollyhead, Peter Watson, Mark (Zodiac Mindwarp) Manning, Conny Jude, Chris Chaisty, Chris Preistley and Graham Stevens are just some of the names I can see credited, some are familiar, some not.
There was a trend for this kind of caricature around this time with a whole raft of posters released in similar styles (one of which – the Siouxsie centre spread – is featured here). I’ve posted about them before and there’s more to come…
I was alerted to the Punch cover above by the excellent Instagram account ephemeramablog and it sent me down a rabbit hole to find more. Geoffrey Dickinson did a fair bit of work for Punch over the years as far as I can ascertain as well as numerous other magazines. From the blog:
“Geoffrey Dickinson (1933-1988) created these two cover illustrations for Punch magazine. Born in Liverpool, Dickinson studied at the Royal Academy Schools with the intention of becoming a landscape painter. He became a teacher while also freelancing, producing graphics and animations for BBC TV. Dickinson began contributing to Punch in 1963 and produced numerous covers. He took the position of Deputy Art Editor at Punch while continuing to freelance, working for Reader’s Digest, Which?, Esquire, Highlife, Hallmark Cards and more. In 1966, he also created the notable “Swinging Sixties” cover for Time Magazine. In 1984, Dickinson left Punch and joined the Financial Times, producing a daily pocket cartoon and illustrations for the weekend supplement.“
I’ve compiled some of my favourite Command sleeves for a 4th volume of Forgotten Graphics – 24 pgs, buy here
Or I will have copies with me at Jonny Trunk‘s Groovy Record Fair this Saturday