Jun 132020
A quick piece of major news: Trouser Press, the greatest music magazine of my lifetime, has updated it’s website, making all of its issues available online. At first glance, it looks like each issue has been scanned in. That’s fine by me, because the layout of that magazine was part of it’s fun. Here’s the link to the updated site. Enjoy! Report back on what you find.
I’ve been reading those old TP issues for a week or two now. I’m up to January 1979. It’s interesting to see how TP evolved from a zine to a full fledged magazine & how it first covered acts like the Who & obscure British bands like Gentle Giant in the early days. It had an article on Nick Drake in 1978 with a thank you letter from his father published in a later issue.
Thanks. I’m never going to get anything done now, probably forever. I found this right away:
“It’s a noise we make, that’s all. You could be kind and call it music.”
Mick Jagger
Newsweek
November 29, 1965
Down the rabbit hole……..I think I know which issue you looked for first!
I still have the print copy of that one, andyr!
As I slowly make my way through these back issues, I’m reminded of how strong a role Trouser Press played in my development as a rock nerd. There’s a way they work through band histories and track listing while never missing the chance to weave in a personal opinion. It feels like the root of how so many of us conduct discussions here. Maybe I’d get the same vibe through revisiting ancient Rolling Stone and Cream issues. Maybe this is because rock ‘n roll was not yet codified, the way it would be by the mid-’80s. TP was always first on my reading list.