San Diego's music scene was vibrant in the 1980s and 1990s, as seen by the depth and variety of underground music zines published locally.  Most of these zines went to the recycle pile, but a few survived as collectibles.  Sometimes they pop up on eBay.  Here's a sample from my own collection, with some background information:

Dead On Arrival

Issue #1 was dated July 1995 and published from San Diego, California.  My copy is numbered 3074 of 5000.  The size is 8" x 10 3/4" printed on paperstock.  There are 40 pages total.  Here's some of the contents:

• feature on punk record label Kill Rock Stars from Olympia, Washington
• poems including "Warning of Death", "Aurumna", "Like A Candle Dripping", "Scritch Scritch", "I Watch Holocaust", "When I flipped the switch no lights turned on"
• reviews of books by Ayn Rand, Neil Gaiman and Bob Dylan
• feature on "A Struggling Writer Named Gerald Oscar Davis" by Scott Ogilvie
• "The eclectic medium of comic books" feature

Plus there are album reviews on:

• Boilermaker
• Chokehold
• Dead Buy
• Bob Dylan
• Overwhelming Colorfast
• Primus
• Punk Sucks
• Skinbus
• Slant
• Spazz/CFDL
• Swing Kids

Fist and Flesh

Calling itself "The voice of liberty in the night", this undated zine was from the early 1980s, 18 pages total.  The size is 8 1/2" x 11"; the zine is paperstock.  No address is listed inside.  There's some interesting art and opinions here, and a critique of the San Diego punk scene.  Here's some of the contents:

• Germs poster
• John Lyndon of P.I.L. and some lyrics reportedly stolen from him
• Mass murderers John Wayne Gacy, William Heirens and Albert Fish
• Tattoos
• Editorial on the swastika and the use of "Symbols & Armbands"
• The Masonic Password

The Leading Edge

Issue #4 was a 48-page zine with a $1.00 cover price.  No date is listed, but it probably early 1980s.  This zine is packed with information, such as interviews, album reviews and concert reports for:

• Abrasive Wheels
• Art Thieves
• Black Flag
• Chaotic Noise
• Claude Coma and the IV's
• D.O.A.
• Editorial against Goldenvoice Prod.
• Editorial citing police harassment following a concert by JFA, Ministry of Truth and Ill Repute.
• Final Warning
• How to start a zine
• Interview with Tim Y. of Maximum Rock 'N' Roll magazine
• Italian hardcore scene report
• Love Canal
• Neighborhood Watch
• No Mercy
• N.O.T.A.
• Offenders
• Rattus
• RUN-D.M.C. concert review at the Rodeo in San Diego
• Septic Death
• 7-Seconds
• S.N.F.U.
• Stalag 13
• Sub Humans
• Tim Maze concert posters
• The Unforgiven
• Uniform Choice
• Youth Brigade

Loud and Clear

Calling itself "San Diego's only rock 'n' roll magazine", this zine was 8 1/4" x 10 1/2" on newsprint.  It was published from Garber Avenue in San Diego.  Back issues were $1 each.  Here's some of the contents of the first issues:

• Issue #1 was published in April 1985 with a red cover; 48 pages, with a look back at 1984 with Dio, Dokken Raven, Fastway, Kick Axe, and the 1984 reader/staff polls
• Issue #2 was published in May with a yellow cover, with features on Loudness, Metallica and Zebra
• Issue #3 was published in July with a blue cover, with features on Stryper, Slayer, Assassin and Noize Boys
• Issue #4 was published August with a purple cover, with features on Queensryche, Keel, Bible Black, Noize Boys, Loudness, Heavy Metal and Kitty
• Issue #5 (above) was published September with a green cover and a big feature on Iron Maiden

Punk Research

The first issue was dated May, 1984, and listed as Vol. 1 #1.  The size is 8 1/2" x 11"; 5 pages total.  The zine is paperstock.  It was published from San Diego, California.  Here's the contents:

• "Origins of the word 'Punk'"
• "Media Inconsistencies About The Origins of Punk"
• "What is the definition of 'Punk'?" (an empty word, rebellion, individuality)
• "Searching for a definition"
• "Books about punk"
• "Is punk dead?"

Some of the zines and their people contributing definitions include

• Apocalypse Now (Urs Vollmin)
• Attack! (Smitty)
• Blam! (Peter Hall)
• The Bob (Marsha Gordon)
• Daily Obituary (Carl Caldwell)
• D.C. Riot (John Molin)
• Fight Back (Andy Bennett)
• Hamsterama (Elissa Rashkin)
• Harmony In My Head (Joan McNulty)
• Hungry Years (Roz)
• Ink Disease (Thomas Siegel)
• Issue (Laura Miller & Rachel Levy)
• The Last Thing (Karin Kieser)
• ND (Daniel Philant)
• Paranoid (Jone J.)
• Punk Lust (Wilum Pugmyr)
• Raveup (Anthony)

The second issue was dated March 1985, and it was titled Vol. 2 #1.  There were 11 pages total, with a long bibliography on hardcore punk bands titled "The most publicized hardcore/punk bands in America".  There are bibliographies on bands like

• Black Flag
• Dead Kennedy's
• Articles of Faith
• Circle Jerks
• Battalion of Saints
• Effigies
• FUs
• M.D.C.
• Husker Du
• J.F.A.
• D.O.A.
• Die Kruezen
• Minor Threat
• Minutemen
• T.S.O.L.

There is a directory of underground music zines, and a feature article on "Punk: The Power of a Word" by Donny the Punk.

Social Suicide

Issue #3 was published around 1982 from San Diego, California.  The size is 8 1/2" x 8 1/2" folded diagonally into a triangle.  This issue is black and white, with some felt pen color additions by the publisher.  The photo below features the issue folded in half, showing both front and back covers.  There is also the original price sticker, from when I bought this at Off The Record in San Diego back in the 1980s.  There are lots of rants and band interviews here, including a great feature on Mad Marc Rude.  Here's some of the other features:

• Black Tango
• Personal Conflict
• Kings Road
• Social Spit

Not the End

Do you know of any other music zines in San Diego during the 1980s?  Let me know and I'll update this Guide.  For example, I'm currently searching for samples of Toxic Overload (San Diego) and Anti-System (El Cajon).  I'm sure there's more.

EBay person tobygibson65 knows of two other zines from that era: Be My Friend by Terry Marine of North Park area in San Diego, Swank Zine by Todd Swank of North San Diego County, and Testicle Head Comics by Lee Ellingson of San Diego.

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