Jersey Beat #41 (Weehawken NJ)

A few more years pass by and I dig up another issue of Jersey Beat, either from Tower Records or maybe even by sending editor/publisher Jim Testa a couple of bucks in the mail. Either way, by this time Jim had moved over to a more cost-efficient newsprint format (instead of photocopied) that allowed him to expand the zine's coverage without going broke.

As a result, issue #41 has a bunch of cool stuff, including an interview with Jersey's own Yo La Tengo, an interview with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and interviews with indie bands like Soulside, Crawlpappy and Chikara. This issue also includes "The Lost 1990 Tour Diary," an insightful accounting of the summer '90 regional tour by Erie PA rockers the Lost. Of course, there are a bunch of record reviews here, of both local NJ/NY bands and artists like Richard Barone (of the Bongos), Crawlpappy and Adrenalin O.D. as well as a diverse collection of national bands like Gwar, Datura Seeds, Jane's Addiction, Love/Hate and Pavement.

There are two full pages of 7"/45rpm singles reviews, another couple pages of demo reviews, and an interesting plea for readers stories about crappy bookings at CBGBs. I've heard this complaint about the legendary club before, that during the late-80s/early-90s owner Hilly Kristal would load bills with as many bands as possible to try and maximize income for the night. Testa uses a show featuring Ween, Alice Donut and False Prophets as an example – two new local bands were added to the existing advertised bill of six bands, so Ween was forced to perform early (in front of few people) and at 2:15 AM, neither Alice Donut or False Prophets had hit the stage yet.

Testa argues that the strategy doesn't work, that the bands used to "pad" the line-up are often awful and don't draw and because people know that the headliners won't go on until way late, they just don't go to the show in the first place. I don't know how Testa's fight with CGGBs went, but unfortunately clubs still use this tactic of overbooking shows, resulting in fewer patrons and lost opportunities.

(Click on cover thumbnail to see larger picture)

VITAL STATISTICS:
• Issue #41
• Fall/Winter 1990?
• B&W, 64-pages, newsprint (including covers)
• Style: music zine

ARTICLES/INTERVIEWS
Yo La Tengo interview
Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails interview
Crawlpappy interview
Chikara interview
Soulside interview
"The Lost 1990 Tour Diary"
"Baboon Dooley" cartoons by John Crawford
--> also live show reviews, album & zine reviews, lots of photos