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Episode IV
made debut at Mephiskapheles' Water St. Music Hall show June 5, 1997. This saw bits of chaotic development as 2/3 editors defected – and increasingly looked as if HP was cursed to be some old trilogy; Lucasfilm was revising its special editions at the time. Still, we'd been stockpiling 6 months worth of interviews from larger name "3rd wave" groups like Scofflaws, Hepcat, Meph, The Skalars, King Changó, and Pietasters – it would have been a real waste to give up there. Not to mention it took 10 interviews all conducted elsewhere before the first hometown interview. We got so diehard good at traveling by this point, ska shows in Rochester come few and far between. Coming soon... Blimpie! |
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With more texts and info available, page count nearly doubled and showcased more publishing-style layouts (returning to Quark & Pagemaker fx with watermark logos ghosted behind text thinking it'd look better easier: nope), + more thought out reviews than last time. Dug deeper into older music and particular albums, then hoped to share it with new audiences. Add tagline "ska for the man in the street" a nod to our Greek name and Don Drummond's Sixties classic. A hand-drawn crossword of historic trivia (all clues / answers appear within context of the issue). An uncannily accurate editorial about all the petty scenester politics, the Evolution of the Sub-Cultural Elite from the recurring Yuzo Watanabe. May 4 was the local Professionals with FL's Magadog at Penny Arcade. May 9 they and another (5head) open for Bim Skala Bim at Water St. Prior to proliferation of cars and cheap cellphones, a stranded Johnny was forced to walk the 6 miles in so missed both openers. Barcode on cover fooled a lot of people but recognizes ska growing commercial maybe, and inside was a coupon issued by management of Fantastic Records who had a great ska selection at the time. June 12: "Ska is Mighty Hot" page 32 of Rolling Stone #762. June 18: Bosstones perform the hitsong Impression on the David Letterman show. June 21: Teenagers Jason Pollack and Melissa Klotz are tragically struck and killed by freight train on Conrail bridge over Erie Canal in Pittsford, so legislation begins to forbid all pedestrian access and install camera surveillance – the Miggedy Combat Rock demo tape photo will never be imitated. June 28: Carson Daly hosts MTV's Skaturday on the tube. July 4: Skadependence Day when the Professionals join the Scofflaws, Slackers, Regatta 69 and Radiation Kings on a bill at the Wetlands NYC; ask anyone who played, it was just awful. Lifetime supply of Vans shoes |
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Alt Press #109 cover is Bosstones. HP! gets crucial feedback from wider audience too, because this issue was sent away and read in 42 states. Took some copies to New England Skafest in Medford, MA and met other zine + ska people that August; round about the great UPS strike of '97. It is tough to argue this issue did not influence Cosmic Haystack #4, Lenexa Kansas because some content is quite the same. Next, Sarah Rice went to Europe on a school trip so we asked if she could import the new German-only Sony Music Busters disc Stompede. And at 32DM she even did too! Another rainy night up in St. Catherines, Ontario and police accused us of attempting to buy some Canadian crack. Silly van, borrowed plates.
Around when WRUR djs Jeff & Liz had inspiration for a very short lived and steep $5 weekly vegetable club night "Ska Beets" at Freakazoid [similar in spirit to Doc Awk & Jah Crunchy's SKA Wednesdays at the Abyss 11/2/94] owner and ex-Scorgies doorman Richard Kasa got ahold of our 'zine and phone number, found it a great effort and excitedly called up raving about all the possible publicity. Danielle took a message but that was just about the extent of it. 1968-1997: Defactos NYC lead Alex Montalvo is killed in a marine accident off Long Island July 19. A benefit at Wetlands is held 9/28. He will be missed. BRAND RECOGNITION: Orange Street drummer Bob Timm mentions our own Hoi Polloi! by name in a print vs. internet article [Rude Boy Web] in Stubborn Records' Black and White Fall 97 issue. He maintains The Mining Co. website and will very soon admin the big ska.about.com, which itself arrives 2-10-98 After Christmastime, and after Pietasters Water Street 2-12-98, can't wait another day: Hepcat performs on NBC's Late Night w/ Conan O'Brien February 20. Right on time – or better late than never? |
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– Hepcat (1990) |
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THANK YOU AGAIN! – :: smo ::, 9/05 |
NUMBER CRUNCH 11 leaves = 44 pages. Price increase to the $2 rate is about when we invested in a long-arm booklet stapler, in retrospect the best $25 ever spent. That mimeograph* effect: After trolling a phone book calling around for the cheapest printer, we found this sketchy place called RPI on the 16th floor of a Franklin Street office building 6/2/97. What's a phone book? It wasn't a "proper" printer, but a mailorder lingerie distributor! Go figure. The Eastview Ave lady working the night shift did our job under the table (during Seinfeld reruns), so that's why her quotes were so dirt cheap. After our job of 200 booklets was "done", both printing machines had broke and they ran out of both black toner and white paper! HP wreaks havoc on quickprinters? Turns out most copies were so unusable and illegible, couldn't sell them and required reimbursement. The next day, Doug the Boss was huffy and pissed off at us because his 2 machines were broken. We got back like 50 bucks and kept the imperfects (easily $30 worth of the CASE of cream-color paper and blue ink). That box sat at the base of the stairs for ten months until the proper quality 100 b&w copies from 6/3 Minuteman Press Midtown + 100 more Staples East Ridge had been sold away. This is why the cream variants don't have any [fireball red paper] Mephiskapheles pg. 16 nor the ultra sweet custom die-cut record store coupon in them. Should this seem like meaningless babble, read on... Doomsday?! This event alone will change things bigtime next chapter... |
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Scan the naturally evil 666 UPC symbol here and it comes up a harmless 20 oz. box of Cheerios. Local bands innit: Skalepeños / f.k.a Skacho Cheese The Professionals (ex-GKW) The Verge (ex-Willard Scott Fanclub) 5Head (ex-Dog's Life) Big Roots (ex-Majestics) Good Samaritones (ex-Miggedys) |
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| * mimeograph machine (for younger readers, that's a hand-cranked drum full of ink that you cover with a stencil, basically a sheet of wax that must first be cut on a manual typewriter, to print up your own writings. Very messy. In the dark days before Xerox, this is how fanzines were made right up to sometime in the early seventies.) | ||||||
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