Trouser Press

Last updated
Trouser Press
TrouserPress.jpg
Cover of the April 1983 issue of Trouser Press magazine (#84), featuring The Clash.
CategoriesMusic magazine
FrequencyMonthly
FounderIra Robbins, Dave Schulps and Karen Rose
First issueMarch 1974;49 years ago (1974-03)
Final issue
Number		April 1984;39 years ago (1984-04)
96
CompanyTrans-oceanic Trouser Press
CountryUnited States
Based in New York City
LanguageEnglish
Website trouserpress.com
ISSN 0164-1883

Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and an acronymic play on the British TV show Top of the Pops). Publication of the magazine ceased in 1984. The unexpired portion of mail subscriptions was completed by Rolling Stone sister publication Record, which itself folded in 1985. Trouser Press has continued to exist in various formats.

Contents

History

The magazine's original scope was British bands and artists (early issues featured the slogan "America's Only British Rock Magazine"). Initial issues contained occasional interviews with major artists like Brian Eno and Robert Fripp and extensive record reviews. After 14 issues, the title was shortened to simply Trouser Press, and it gradually transformed into a professional magazine with color covers and advertising.

A Trouser Press badge (button), c. 1982. Trouser Press badge.jpg
A Trouser Press badge (button), c. 1982.

As the 1970s music scene transformed, so did the magazine's editorial focus. From 1976 on, Trouser Press frequently centered on the growing punk movements in London, New Jersey, and New York. The magazine provided in-depth articles on bands such as the Sex Pistols, The Boomtown Rats, The Clash, The Damned, the Ramones, Television, The Misfits, and many other similar groups, long before other U.S. music publications did. In 1980, the magazine introduced "America Underground", a recurring column devoted to local music scenes from different areas of the country. [1]

By the early 1980s, the magazine's focus was almost exclusively on new wave, alternative rock, and underground rock from both sides of the Atlantic. Starting in 1982, flexi-discs were included with subscription copies, eventually totaling 27 releases. [2] Although the magazine seemed to be thriving, with an ever-growing circulation, editor Robbins ceased publication after the April 1984 issue (#96), citing a lack of interest in the continuing but stagnating new wave scene that left his writers with very little to say. Subscribers to Trouser Press received Record, Straight Arrow Publishers' monthly spinoff of Rolling Stone, to fulfill the remainder of their terms.

Aftermath

As a concept, Trouser Press continued to evolve after the publication of the magazine ceased. In 1983, The Trouser Press Guide to New Wave Records, edited by Robbins, was published by Charles Scribner's Sons. [3] The book was sufficiently popular for four more substantially updated editions, with varying titles and publishers, to be issued over the years, culminating in 1997's The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock. [4] This final edition featured all-new entries on over 2,000 bands and reviews of approximately 8,500 records and CDs.

The contents of all five volumes are currently available on the Trouser Press website, which is updated with entries on new bands, as well as revisions/expansions of old articles, by Robbins and other writers. TrouserPress.com went online in 1997, and was relaunched in June 2020 with full scans of each issue of the magazine's ten-year run. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arto Lindsay</span> American guitarist, singer, and composer

Arthur Morgan "Arto" Lindsay is an American guitarist, singer, record producer and experimental composer. He was a member of the pioneering 1970s no wave group DNA, which featured on the 1978 compilation No New York. In the 1980s, he formed the group Ambitious Lovers. He also performed with The Golden Palominos and The Lounge Lizards.

<i>Wild Planet</i> 1980 studio album by the B-52s

Wild Planet is the second studio album by American new wave band the B-52's, released in 1980 by Warner Bros. Records.

<i>Pink Flag</i> 1977 studio album by Wire

Pink Flag is the debut studio album by English rock band Wire. It was released in November 1977 by Harvest Records. The album gained Wire a cult following within independent and post-punk music upon its initial release, later growing to be highly influential on many other musicians.

<i>Only a Lad</i> 1981 studio album by Oingo Boingo

Only a Lad is the debut studio album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1981, following their self-titled EP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flexi disc</span> Gramophone record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet

The flexi disc is a phonograph record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntable.

<i>Songs About Fucking</i> 1987 album by Big Black

Songs About Fucking is the second and final full-length studio album by the punk rock band Big Black, released in 1987 by Touch and Go records, and reissued in 2018. The album includes a rendition of Kraftwerk's "The Model" in a remixed version from that which appeared on Big Black's then-recent single. The compact disc of Songs About Fucking added the other side of that single, a cover of Cheap Trick's "He's a Whore".

Doubting Thomas was an industrial band formed by two members of Skinny Puppy: cEvin Key and the late Dwayne Goettel. Although considered a Skinny Puppy side project, nearly all the group's music is instrumental. The band shares its name with an American roots band, to whom they have no relation.

<i>Mystical Shit</i> 1990 studio album by King Missile

Mystical Shit is the third studio album by experimental music band King Missile, released in 1990 by Shimmy Disc. It is the first of their albums to be recorded after guitarist Dave Rick and bassist Chris Xefos had joined and composer Stephen Tunney had departed the group to form Dogbowl. The album was first issued on vinyl record in 1990 and was later included on the compilation album Mystical Shit & Fluting on the Hump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Get Smart! (band)</span> American post-punk band

Get Smart! is a three-piece post-punk band formed in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1980 consisting of Marcus Koch, Lisa Wertman Crowe and Frank Loose. The band released 2 studio albums along with some singles and EPs over a 10-year career. The band re-united in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Embarrassment</span>

The Embarrassment was an American quartet formed in 1979 in Wichita, Kansas, that was initially active from 1979 to 1983 and has reunited several times since then. The band consisted of guitarist Bill Goffrier, lead singer and organist John Nichols, bassist Ron Klaus, and drummer Brent Giessmann. After the band broke up, Giessmann played for The Del Fuegos and Goffrier formed Big Dipper. The band was considered a prominent part of the Lawrence music scene of the early 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Rushent</span> English record producer

Martin Charles Rushent was an English record producer, best known for his work with the Human League, the Stranglers and Buzzcocks.

TC Matic was a Belgian rock band founded in 1980 in Brussels. Centered on singer Arno Hintjens and guitarist Jean-Marie Aerts, the band played a kind of music sometimes referred to as "eurorock", containing various styles including new wave, blues, funk, hard rock, avant-garde and French chanson. The band released four studio albums and attained a measure of commercial and popular success, and disbanded in 1986.

<i>Dark Continent</i> (album) 1981 studio album by Wall of Voodoo

Dark Continent is the debut studio album by American rock band Wall of Voodoo, released in 1981 by I.R.S. Records. Early live versions of four songs are featured on the compilation The Index Masters.

<i>The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!</i> 1975 studio album by The Dictators

The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! is the debut album by American punk rock band The Dictators. It was released in March 1975 and is considered one of the first examples of punk rock.

The Nervous Eaters, one of Boston's first punk rock / rock and roll bands with Steve Cataldo on vocals and guitar, Robb Skeen on bass, and Jeff Wilkinson on drums. Forming in 1973 they had used the name some years earlier, but had not performed live under it. As the Rhythm Assholes, they had backed local rock legend Willie Alexander on his single "Kerouac" and in concert. After a name change, they made their debut at the hub of the city's alternative music scene, the Rathskeller—known as the Rat—in March 1976. Their first single, "Loretta", appeared later that year on the club's Rat label.

<i>Loud</i> (Half Japanese album) 1981 album by Half Japanese

Loud is an album by the rock group Half Japanese. It was released on the Armageddon label in 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auf Wiedersehen (song)</span> 1978 single by Cheap Trick

"Auf Wiedersehen" is a song co-written by Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen and bassist Tom Petersson and first released on the band's 1978 album Heaven Tonight. It was also released as a single as the B-side of "Surrender". Since its original release, it has also been released by Cheap Trick on several live and compilation albums, including Budokan II; Sex, America, Cheap Trick; The Essential Cheap Trick, and the 30th Anniversary Edition of Cheap Trick at Budokan, which also includes a DVD with a video performance of the song. Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the song as one of the peaks of Heaven Tonight and as one of Cheap Trick's "stone-cold classics." It has often been used by the band to close their concerts. Since its original release, it has been covered by Anthrax, Cell, John Easdale, and Steel Pole Bath Tub.

Greg Adams is an American writer, who ran the independent reissue record label Beehive Rebellion Records, before writing for the AllMusic, penning liner notes for numerous reissue record labels and compiling greatest hits anthologies as an A&R coordinator. Beehive Rebellion issued two releases in the 1990s: a reissue of the New Zealand band Electric Blood's previously cassette-only album Electric Easter and a reissue of Sex Clark Five's Strum & Drum! that contained the band's complete self-released Records to Russia recordings. The latter was ranked by Goldmine magazine as one of the 50 best U.S. power pop albums of all time. An intended third release, a reissue of the Electric Blood cassettes Acoustic Splendour and Actual Stuff, to be titled The Man Who Tasted Shapes, never materialized. The label was reactivated in 2013 to release the album An Instructive Amusement by his band Cozy Catastrophes, which currently records for Jigsaw Records.

<i>Magnetic Flip</i> 1984 studio album by Birdsongs of the Mesozoic

Magnetic Flip is the debut studio album of the American avant-rock band Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, released in 1984 by Ace of Hearts Records.

<i>Where Are All the Nice Girls?</i> 1980 studio album by Any Trouble

Where Are All the Nice Girls? is the debut studio album by English band Any Trouble, released in 1980 by Stiff Records.

References

  1. ↑ "The Recordchanger: TROUSER PRESS FLEXI-DISCS: THE COMPLETE LIST". Archived from the original on 2015-04-19. Retrieved 2015-04-09.
  2. ↑ "The Recordchanger: TROUSER PRESS FLEXI-DISCS: THE COMPLETE LIST". Archived from the original on 2015-04-19. Retrieved 2015-04-09.
  3. ↑ Robbins, Ira A. (1983). The Trouser Press Guide to New Wave Records . Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN   978-0684179438.
  4. ↑ Robbins, Ira A. (7 March 1997). The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock . Simon & Schuster. ISBN   978-0684814377 . Retrieved 15 December 2011. The Trouser Press Guide To 90's Rock.
  5. ↑ "TrouserPress.com". Trouser Press. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.