Jersey Beat #56 (Weehawken NJ)

Issue #56 of Jersey Beat represents the music zine's 14th anniversary...a rare milestone in a zine world where publications fly by the few newsstands that carry them, squeezing out a few issues before disappearing into the ether. One of the keys to the zine's long-running, moderate success is that editor/publisher Jim Testa had a good eye for writing talent and enlisted contributions from entertaining columnists like David Brock, Greg Matherly and Rodney Leighton as well as reviewers like Bill Lutz, Donny the Punk, Tom Brebric and, well, yours truly....

This anniversary issue also said goodbye to a punk rock institution, the Ramones, whose farewell tour is covered by a great Testa editorial and article "Last Dance With The Ramones." As part of this issue's coverage of the notorious NYC punk club, Donny the Punk's guest editorial asks "Is ABC No Rio Worth Saving?" while a lengthy article covers the clubs checkered history. Testa's "How I Spent My Spring Vacation" covers the 1996 SxSW Music Conference and punk rocker Johnny Puke's tour diary documents his band Cletus and their cross-country trip.

Band interviews include Chisel, Hell No, the Melting Hopefuls, Solution A.D. and Birthday Girl. The issue also includes an obituary for Philadelphia scenester Carol Schutzbank, the editor of the city's very cool B Side music zine. Like usual, a lot of review columns and tons of reviews (including my words on albums from Junebug, the Nukes, Slip, Sven Gali and the Time Lodgers) wrap up a bigger-than-ever issue of Jersey Beat.

(Click on cover thumbnail to see larger picture)

VITAL STATISTICS:
• Issue #56
• Spring 1996
• B&W, 88-pages, newsprint (plus slick covers)
• Style: music zine

ARTICLES/INTERVIEWS
Chisel interview
Melting Hopefuls interview
Solution A.D. interview
"ABC No Rio" article
Cletus tour diary
--> also live show reviews, album & zine reviews, review columns and lots of photos