Creem magazine attempting a comeback after more than 30 years

[TheLoony]

Wow, a blast from the past. I grew up with Creem and Hit Parade, or was it Hit Parader? Whatever.

I still have a handful of mags from those days of yore. I don't know if this will succeed but good luck to them for trying. RNR ain't what it used to be and that saddens me so much. I don't get rap, house, whatever you want to call that fake music that moves me not at all.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/8/...-than-30-years

Creem, which billed itself as “America’s only rock ‘n’ roll magazine” during two decades of existence that ended in 1989, is being revived next month.

The return is a remarkable story of persistence by J.J. Kramer, who was bequeathed the magazine at age 4 upon the death of his father, founder Barry Kramer. It will reappear during far different times, with a marketing plan that the late writer Lester Bangs or makers of the fake “Boy Howdy” beer could hardly conceive of.

The first new issue, a glossy quarterly, is due out in September and only available to people who spend $79 for a subscription.

Founded in Detroit, Creem was the impish, slightly rude younger brother of Rolling Stone. The name was an intentional misspelling of the rock band Cream, one of the first editor’s favorites.

Though known best for Motown soul, Detroit was also a rock ‘n’ roll hotbed with artists like MC5, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Mitch Ryder and Bob Seger. Hard rocking bands, and then the onslaught of punk, provided the magazine’s backbone in its 1970s heyday.

[moecurlythanu]

This is enough a thing of my youth that I may give it a shot.

[Trane]

Wish I'd kept a few Creem (not that I bought it that often)

Unless they're going into nostalgia mode (which I doubt), not going to be for me - especially for that type of price.

Didn't know it was from Detroit, though.

[GuitarGeek]

I loved the old Creem photo captions. A couple I remember were from an article on NRBQ. One was a photo of the band onstage, all four of them with their eyes closed, and the caption read "Simultaneously falling asleep onstage does not further your career". And the other was a photo of them wearing these really ugly shirts, caption reads: "NRBQ would be as big as the Rolling Stones, if it weren't for their shirts!". I also remember a photo of Robert Palmer, with this drunk looking smile on his face, caption reads: "Guess who isn't wearing any pants".

One more: a photo of Joe Ely, looking annoyed, and the caption reads "No, I've never met Laura Nyro, and Eli's Coming isn't about me!"

[spacefreak]

Unless they're going into nostalgia mode (which I doubt), not going to be for me - especially for that type of price.

Going into nostalgia mode is the only viable solution (see Mojo, Uncut etc).

Going into "modern" mode won't do them any good. No one buys printed material except boomers.

[Digital_Man]

That sounds about right. I remember them disappearing sometime in the mid to late 80s. I wonder if they ever did a special on prog. The 80s probably would have been the wrong time to do that though. Lol.

[bigbassdrum]

I have a bunch of old Circus magazines stored away ...


Circus was a monthly American magazine devoted to rock music genre. It was published from 1966 to 2006.

[SteveSly]

With the success of UK based magazines like Classic Rock, Prog, Metal Hammer, and others it would seem that there could be a niche for Cream to fill here in the U.S. I might be interested in checking this out.

[dropforge]

I wouldn't mind a Creem shirt.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

I loved Creem, but it was of its time. Even if the resucitated version proves to be of this time, I can't imagine spending eighty clams on a four-issue subscription. Ain't no magazine I'll pay $20 for nohow.

My favorite Creem memory: a fake review of Chicago X: The Revolution, which supposedly came packaged with diverse weaponry and suchlike. (Based on the claim on the inside of Chicago III that "With this album, we dedicate our music and our lives to the Revolution." (I'm quoting that from memory, so it might be slightly off.)

[dropforge]

I loved Creem, but it was of its time. Even if the resucitated version proves to be of this time, I can't imagine spending eighty clams on a four-issue subscription. Ain't no magazine I'll pay $20 for nohow.

Gee whiz. $20 a pop? Maybe if it was the same page-length as a double-issue of OMNI.

[Mister Triscuits]

I wonder if they ever did a special on prog. The 80s probably would have been the wrong time to do that though. Lol.

Apart from Jethro Tull, they rarely covered prog, even in the '70s. They put ELP on the cover once, but the article made fun of them. There was one particularly proggy issue in '74 with a cover story on Zappa, a feature on Genesis, and a bunch of mentions of Eno, who was just starting his solo career. Fripp got in a time or two later on. Yes was completely ignored as far as I can remember. The one place you would find prog was in the review sections, where they even deigned to cover the likes of Magma, Gong, and Triumvirat. Cover them with what, I won't say.

[GuitarGeek]

Apart from Jethro Tull, they rarely covered prog, even in the '70s. They put ELP on the cover once, but the article made fun of them. There was one particularly proggy issue in '74 with a cover story on Zappa, a feature on Genesis, and a bunch of mentions of Eno, who was just starting his solo career. Fripp got in a time or two later on. Yes was completely ignored as far as I can remember. The one place you would find prog was in the review sections, where they even deigned to cover the likes of Magma, Gong, and Triumvirat. Cover them with what, I won't say.

Oh geez, I can only imagine what a review of Magma or Gong would be like in a magazine like that.

One review I remember in one of issue of Creem, was a Jefferson Airplane review, I think Modern Times was the album being reviewed. And the entire piece read like the minutes from sort of corporate board meeting. That's remember first reading about Kantner's stroke, not realizing that Kantner really did have a stroke around that time. I figured it was just something the reviewer stuck in, because it was one of those things you expect o happen the Senior VP or whatever of some corporation.

[pb2015]

I remember in the mid/late 80's they had articles on ELPowell and Zappa (an interview from before his '88 tour) so I guess they were more prog friendly by then.

[pb2015]

My favorite Creem memory: a fake review of Chicago X: The Revolution, which supposedly came packaged with diverse weaponry and suchlike. (Based on the claim on the inside of Chicago III that "With this album, we dedicate our music and our lives to the Revolution." (I'm quoting that from memory, so it might be slightly off.)

Lester Bangs's review of Chicago at Carnegie Hall ended by suggesting that for Chicago VII they could do a seven album box set with each LP having an individual band member playing by himself and make everyone synch up seven record players to listen to it.

[SteveSly]

Agree that Creem was never very kind to prog, but coming out of Detroit they covered a lot of Michigan rock n roll which I always liked about the mag. Actually, they were pretty irreverent about many of the acts that they covered, so prog was not the only genre they picked on.

[nosebone]

I loved Creem, but it was of its time. Even if the resucitated version proves to be of this time, I can't imagine spending eighty clams on a four-issue subscription. Ain't no magazine I'll pay $20 for nohow.

Agreed, it was a 70s mag through and through.

Loved the candid raunchy pics and Lester Bangs reviews

[Trane]

Agree that Creem was never very kind to prog, but coming out of Detroit they covered a lot of Michigan rock n roll which I always liked about the mag. Actually, they were pretty irreverent about many of the acts that they covered, so prog was not the only genre they picked on.

What was their position about Amboy Dukes and The Nuge (the former being hippie and the latter being a guitar hero)?



BTW, I hadn't understood that the 79.00 was for a yearly subscription and not for the first mag. If it is 20.00 a pop, that sounds more normal, but I can imagine across the pond, it would come to 30 or 35.00 an issue.

[dropforge]

https://www.creem.com/fresh-creem/du...gn=fresh_creem

Editor’s note: As a rule, we here at CREEM do not run album announcements. To even consider going down that path is to tempt madness. Nor do we, as a rule, do legwork for Big Sword and Sorcery. Both those things said, while the cool kids on staff were out of town last week, smoking cigarettes and applying pomade to their hair and whatnot, the Dungeons & Dragons contingent within the editorial team conspired to let this through. So, to avoid an onslaught of emails, here’s the NEW RULE: CREEM will run ZERO album announcements ever, UNLESS it’s a space goblin-themed double album, curated by a member of a beloved hyperliterate indie band, with a ten minute song by Shabazz Palaces at the end.

[SteveSly]

What was their position about Amboy Dukes and The Nuge (the former being hippie and the latter being a guitar hero)?



.

I could be totally wrong about this as it was a long time ago, but I think Creem was the first to break the story on how Nugent avoided being drafted into the Vietnam war. It has become a pretty well known story over the years, but I remember Creem as being the first one to publish the tale.

That being said I remember the publication to be generally supportive of Nugent both during his Amboy Dukes years and later solo.

[GuitarGeek]

I could be totally wrong about this as it was a long time ago, but I think Creem was the first to break the story on how Nugent avoided being drafted into the Vietnam war. It has become a pretty well known story over the years, but I remember Creem as being the first one to publish the tale.

I believe it was High Times. Decades later, when the story resurfaced, Nuge claimed it was student deferments (wait a minute, when the frell was he a college student?) that got out of going to Vietnam, and that the story about him shitting on himself for a week without cleaning himself was just a tall tale he told to impress "the dope smoking hippie" who was interviewing him.

And that's where I'm going to stop on this subject.

[moecurlythanu]

^ Nothing good can come from talking about Ted Nugent.

[SteveSly]

I believe it was High Times. Decades later, when the story resurfaced, Nuge claimed it was student deferments (wait a minute, when the frell was he a college student?) that got out of going to Vietnam, and that the story about him shitting on himself for a week without cleaning himself was just a tall tale he told to impress "the dope smoking hippie" who was interviewing him.

And that's where I'm going to stop on this subject.

You may be right. I remember reading about it in Creem, but High Times may have broke it first.

[SteveSly]

^ Nothing good can come from talking about Ted Nugent.

Growing up in Michigan in the 70's Nugent was 2nd only to Bob Seger in popularity. I saw him several times over the years, but do not endorse his views. Still, I think "Double Live Gonzo" is a great live album.

[Steve F.]

^ Nothing good can come from talking about Ted Nugent.

QFT