July 1976: Number 9 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of indie music
Sniffin' Glue wasn't the first fanzine ? Punk (which famously coined the genre's moniker) started self-publishing in New York six months earlier ? but its primitive Xerox'n'Sellotape aesthetic was the perfect medium to capture British punk's early energy, and to inspire a generation of copyists.
Founded by bank clerk Mark Perry, aided by friends Danny Baker and Steve Micalef, its first cover boasted (in felt-tip scrawl) stories on the Ramones and Blue �yster Cult. Soon, however, Sniffin' Glue was offering grass-roots reportage on British punk's first flowering, while also lambasting the Clash for signing to the major label CBS. Sniffin' Glue was primitive but opinionated, offering a crucial alternative voice to the mainstream music papers (most of which were late to cover punk's rise) at a time when none was available.
Though Sniffin' Glue never actually printed the legendary instructions often ascribed to it ? "This is a chord. This is another. This is a third. Now form a band" ? (that was Sideburns, another punk zine from 1977), its example spawned a slew of followers ? including Jamming!, Burnt Offering and Chainsaw (which featured ribald cartoons from a young Andrew Marr) ? and established a culture of DIY underground rock criticism that thrives to this day, both in print and online. Perry, meanwhile, ended Sniffin' Glue in 1977 after 12 issues, concentrating on his own punk group, Alternative TV.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jun/14/mark-perry-fanzine-culture
Marisa Coughlan Shanna Moakler Portia de Rossi Jolene Blalock Nichole Robinson
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