The 6th & last issue came out March 1, 1991.
I can’t remember when I decided to stop publishing RATW. It was probably right after producing this issue. I had to evaluate very quickly if I had enough funds to do another one and I most certainly did not!
Around the time of producing this issue, I got a phone call with Bob Guccione, Jr., the publisher of Spin Magazine. Nice guy! He reached out to me because he was interested in paying me to have a monthly “Rock Around The World” page in his zine. That would’ve been a cool concept! But I said no because I didn’t want just “known” alternative bands to be featured. That’s all that would’ve fit on one page. The whole point of RATW was to feature those up-and-coming bands who weren’t getting much media attention.
He and I went on to have a long conversation about the magazine business. It was a shock to learn from him that the average amount of time it took for a magazine to break even back then was five years. Five years!! I did not have that kind of funding. My original business plan had been to break even at six months and start making a profit at a year. I wasn’t even close to that. It was probably that conversation that finalized the decision for me.
It’s probably a good thing that this was my last issue. My attitude towards my so-called alternative world was becoming grumpy. Not being interested in live music anymore (see Issue 5 for that story) was not the best position to be in as a publisher of a live music zine!
And I honestly would’ve struggled with the changes that were coming up, starting a mere six months after the final issue, where “alternative” would lose its meaning, becoming a part of the mainstream. Who would I include in my listings if no one was“alternative” anymore?
COVER
Zuzu’s Petals, of course! Why? Because I loved their publicity photo so much. That cool-looking, no bullshit attitude they convey without coming across as scary – that’s what it’s all about!
I didn’t put the band that was interviewed on the cover. If I had, it would’ve balanced out all the white people I had used. But I ran out of photos that were sent to me by their record label, using them in the article & live show review instead.
Alternative funk rock band, Maggie’s Dream.
On the day of the interview, I remember that I had the beginnings of a raging fever that was making my brain not work right. When I went down to The Satyricon Club in the afternoon, to interview the band before their show that night, I was having a really hard time concentrating on what the lead singer was saying to me. Re-reading the interview, I think I was a little rude in some my questions, especially the racially-related ones and the major label ones because I was so out of my head with fever!
That said, I already had my reservations about them before the interview began. First of all, they were on a major label (Capital Records)– a suspicious offense back then! And I was put off by their slick marketing materials, especially that one photo of them which I saw everywhere (in other magazines and ads) of the band submerged in water. It looked like they were trying to be passed off as some sort of romantic pretty boy band.
Speaking of pretty boy bands, it was a shock to discover during the interview that the lead singer had been a member of a boy group as a teen, the manufactured Latin pop group, Menudo. How opposite of alternative rock! So unauthentic! Funny that my snobby-ness at the time felt he was tainted, that I couldn’t even give him the benefit of the doubt for trying to make it as a musician on his own terms because of his past.
Maggie’s Dream as a band lasted only a year and I never got into their music, so they went off my radar. However, the person I ended up interviewing that day turned out to become rather accomplished in the Latin music world as he grew older. He now goes by Draco Rosa, but he was Rob Rosa when I met him (Robbie Rosa when he was in Menudo).
In fact, doing a quick interwebs search on him reveals his importance! Not only was he former bandmates in Menudo with Latin pop superstar, Ricky Martin, but (get this!) he wrote and produced several of Ricky’s biggest hits, including (drumroll, please) “Livin’ The Vida Loca”! OMG!! That’s huge!!
Rob/Draco is kind of a big fucking deal in the world of Latin pop. That’s so cool. But to me back then he was just this kid I was interviewing. Crazy, man! I’m glad to see he’s done well.
Click here to read the interview.
The first (and last) in a new series of articles about the music industry. This one was from one of my small label advertisers, all about what it’s like being an American indie band in Europe. Pretty cool. I like it!
Click here to read the article.
The most band listings of any of my issues! Springtime touring amps up combined with more people knowing to send me their stuff.
So many bands. So little interest. Oh, did I just say that?
Click here to view the listings.
Despite my growing lack of interest in this scene, the last issue did have a great live reviews section.
Nine Inch Nails! Concrete Blonde! Charlatans UK! Blake Babies! And a fine one of Maggie’s Dream.
A good note to end my zine on.
Click here to read the live reviews.
LETTERS & POSTCARDS
“Enjoyed the March issue of RATW! (altho I think charging $6.00 for the Record Map is tainted with Capitalistic Oppressiveness!”) – Karl S, Hartford, CT (Thank you, Karl. But I have this to say to you: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! You try running a magazine!)
“Looks good. Here’s 20 bucks. I’m in for 1 year. DON’T go out of print.” – Adrian C, San, Jose, CA [Sorry, Adrian!]
Coolest postcard ever:
“Hi Sharon, My name is Amy Ray [yes, THAT Amy Ray! Of the Indigo Girls! OMG!]. I’ve started a record label – DAEMON RECS. This is the first band on the label. [She had sent a promotional CD] I saw your publication and loved it! So I hope you like the band – it's Rock N’ Roll, ya know…” Amy Ray, Decatur, GA [How cool is that?! Too bad she sent it in March and I had already decided to fold the zine. She would’ve been a perfect advertiser. Good on you, Amy, that your label is still going!]
(What's funny is that it just dawned on me: why didn't I ask record labels for free tickets to shows? I kept getting free CDs – which was great – I loved getting free CDs – but I wasn't reviewing those. I was reviewing shows. Ah, hindsight...)
And finally my favorite postcard ever:
I received this postcard from Zuzu’s Petals, the band I randomly placed on the cover just ‘cause I loved their photo so much.
After re-finding this postcard recently, I was curious to know what happened to them. So I did a little research and discovered that the lead singer, Laurie Lindeen, had written a book about her days in ZuZu’s Petals called "Petal Pusher". How extraordinary is that? So I got the book! And it’s a wild ride. Makes me really really glad I never pursued the dream of being a rock star!! She did a great job at capturing the joys and hell of being in an up-and-coming touring band from that era.
And look! OMG, RATW is mentioned! In a book! Here’s what she wrote:
On our return visit to Columbus, Ohio, for an actual gig, the manager of the club, Stashes, says, “Congratulations, your picture is on the cover of a magazine!” We rushed down the block to a record store and scanned the piles of Free Press resting in a variety of metal magazine racks. Gasping in unison, there we are on the cover of Rock Around The World, a schedule and guide fanzine that tells about every band on tour at the moment. I sent Rock Around The World one of those padded envelopes containing our “promotional package”. Grabbing several copies, we run to the van with our spoils. This type of press will help a lot, since it's an international publication.
From “Petal Pusher: A Rock and Roll Cinderella Story” by Laurie Lindeen
Now that makes me really happy. Excellent book, Laurie!
Sad postscript written five months after I read her book. Laurie died!! She had a brain aneurysm on July 1, 2024. OMG!
I had just written her two and a half months prior, in April of 2024, thanking her for mentioning RATW in her book. She didn’t reply. I was planning on reaching out again, once I finished writing all this up and getting everything online. I was going to send her a link. I had hoped to have a good back and forth exchange with her!
Dagnabbit. I am so bummed. What a loss.
My heart goes out to her family and friends, especially her son and partner.
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