The 2nd issue came out November 1, 1990.
COVER
These guys are two members of the band, Chainsaw Kittens. Why? I don’t remember! I think because, like the first issue, I just liked the image because it conjured up the feeling and attitude I was after with my magazine. I didn’t know the band; I just liked the image.
I just read this in Wikipedia about them: “the group gained attention with "thrift-store transvestism," which it abandoned when the look "started to overshadow the music.” That’s funny.
For each issue, I had a short “from the editor” section near the front of the magazine.
In this particular blurb, I mentioned “our beloved GWAR…” Just reading that now makes my skin crawl – ick ick ick!!
I had not seen them live at the time I wrote this blurb. I had been trying to see them for a year. But WHY, those in the know might ask?
My friend, Richard – whose musical opinions I value – had seen them in 1989 and couldn’t stop talking about them! He was blown away by the outlandishness of their show, with their wild costumes, crazy sounds, and far out theatrics. Richard thought they were hilarious. They were, as I wrote here, “the kings of space-age-meet-stone-age, comic book outlandish rock and roll”. Who wouldn’t want to see that??
So, I had been trying to see them since Richard told me about them. In fact, this magazine might not exist if it weren’t for Gwar. They were one of the bands Dave and I kept missing on that whirlwind 3-week tour of Europe the previous spring, the one that inspired me to make this magazine.
I wrote in my blurb that they were facing obscenity charges... Interesting how a rock-and-roll chick like me back then can just kind of ignore that. As a woman, that might’ve been a big fucking red flag, right? I guess I was thinking what a bunch of prudes who just don’t understand us! Little did I know!
I would see them live later that winter and saw what the obscenity charges might’ve been about. More on that experience later (in the RATW 05 section).
On to more fun things!
Nic Close!!
Who??
Exactly!
Nic Close was a roadie and guitar technician – and therefore a perfect candidate to be interviewed in a magazine all about live music. And I remember him being a super nice guy.
I connected with Nic through the Dharma Bums, a band who was good friends with Dave, my then-boyfriend. Nic was the Dharma Bums roadie at one point. He had been a tech for Camper Van Beethoven and at the time of my interview was the guitar guy for Sonic Youth – which was no small thing, since Sonic Youth is all about guitars.
This second interview of mine portrayed the rock-and-roll life from those behind the scenes. How did he put it?
“Doing rock ‘n’ roll is 15 minutes of the most intense bliss you will ever have, followed by 6 days, 23 hours and 45 minutes of just the most intense boredom and discomfort and unpleasantness you will ever go through”
That's pretty funny.
I’m going to insert a story. There’s a famous moment in alternative rock history – I guess it could be called THE moment when “alternative” lost all its meaning – when the band Nirvana exploded from the alternative punk rock underground into the conventional mainstream world – and they took “our” music with them. Their album, “Nevermind”, is one of those seminal, history-making albums because it changed everything.
Dave Grohl – current lead dude of The Foo Fighters, then drummer for Nirvana – describes that moment eloquently in his book, "The Storyteller". To paraphrase: when their album came out September 24, 1991, the band was still relatively unknown. They had just started a North American tour where they were still a scrappy band roughing it from show to show. When the video for the song, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, premiered on MTV a week into their tour, everything changed overnight. Their audiences were no longer, as he put it, “the Sub Pop fans and college radio junkies coming to hear their favorite songs from the band's first record”. They were now more mainstream, including the types of people who used to “kick their ass in high school for being different … Venues were now bursting at the seams and there were multiple near-riots. It had become dangerous”.
One particular show in Dallas was apparently the worst. Dave writes: “Imagine being backed up against a wall by a mob of six hundred alcohol-fueled adrenaline junkies waiting to tear you and the entire place to shreds, multiply that by ten, and you’re getting close to what it felt like to be in Nirvana that night. To make things worse, we were plagued by technical difficulties right out of the gate… our guitar tech Nic Close frantically ran from one side of the stage to the other, doing his best to remedy this potentially hopeless situation…” Dave then goes on to describe how it devolved from there and they literally ran for the lives by the time the show was over.
But look at that! Nic Close was their guitar tech! Small freaking world. I love the timing of this story. I interviewed Nic Close almost exactly one year before he found himself freaking out on that stage in Dallas with Nirvana on the verge of being ripped to shreds! How cool is that!
I wonder what Nic Close is up to now?
Click here to read the interview.
112 listings, quite a bit more compared to the first issue. A lot more bands that I liked were touring during this time. Fun to see them!
- Bad Manners
- Blue Aeroplanes
- Johnny Clegg & Saluka
- Cocteau Twins
- Dead Can Dance
- Einstürzende Neubauten
- Jane’s Addiction
- Mazzy Star
- The Movie Stars
- Iggy Pop
- Screaming Trees
- Sonic Youth
- The Untouchables
An even more fleshed-out representation of my musical tastes compared to issue 1.
Which also means I still didn’t know most of the bands that were touring. I had heard of most of them, just didn’t know their music.
Click here to see the listings.
ADVERTISING
I slowly began to connect with some of the well-known underground record labels from the time, such as K in Olympia and Twin Tone in Minneapolis. This is very good momentum.
On page 18 is an ad for The Movie Stars, a band whose music cannot found online anywhere! Not on Apple Music. Not on Spotify. Not on YouTube. What gives? Their “Heckola” album is delightful, especially the song, “Brad’s Lament”. Dave and I even kinda became friends with them when they came thru Portland a couple times. They slept on the floor of our living room with our big smelly untrained dog, Nelly. They were the nicest people! [EDIT: my partner found this little gem of them performing live. They DO exist on the inter webs!]
I love the Crazy 8s ad on the back cover. They were an awesome ska funk party band from Oregon whom I saw a few times. Fun fun!
LIVE REVIEWS
I love my little photo collage on the Live Reviews page. From left going clockwise: some unknown 60s band, Beat Happening, Screaming Trees, Fugazi, some grunge person.
The actual reviews were of little interest to me except for my friend Tina’s review of the all-women band, Scrawl, and my friend Richard’s review of Urban Dance Squad.
Click here to see the live reviews.
LETTERS & POSTCARDS
“Your magazine looks great, maybe too professional to me.” – from potential advertiser Reiner in Hannover, Germany. I love that. RATW was a little too slick for many of the more hardcore and punk bands. And it wasn’t slick enough for larger and other types of bands (or, rather, their labels).
“Hello RATW. I picked up a recent issue of your mag and I was impressed. The last issue I got at Newbury Comics in Boston and the November issue at In Your Ear records in Providence, RI. The extensive concert listings is great. I can find out what’s coming and when even before it’s printed in local papers. I’m heavily into underground music and have been for years. My favorite bands right now are Sonic Youth, American Music Club, Wedding Present, Fugazi, Thatcher on Acid, Pale Saints, and more…” – Steve M, Providence, RI
“Rock Around the World is a great publication. Thank you for the fantastic job you do. It’s great fun to have such a guide. Essential reading!” – Alfred H, Spring Valley, CA
A MEMORY
Not long after the second issue came out, I have a memory of my friend, Brendan, telling me a story about our mutual friend, Zuckerman – who had been my boyfriend for a while in college, but with whom I no longer had contact. Apparently, Zuckerman picked up a copy of RATW from one of the record stores in Boulder, CO (where he had moved) and thought it was awesome.
But then he starts to get suspicious. First, he sees the mini description of our favorite band, the Screaming Trees, by someone named “Brendan Peterson”. Then he sees the live show review of Urban Dance Squad by Richard White (a known pseudonym for our friend Richard) and Zuck was like, “Wait a minute!!” So he flips to the front to see who was publishing his friends and sees my name as editor! I love envisioning him putting the pieces together and being surprised that his friends were a part of this international zine!
Previous: RATW Issue 01
Next: RATW Issue 03