When I was a nipper I used to buy Soul Underground magazine.
But "magazine" is a bit of a grand title for what was, really, a glorified fanzine. OK, it wasn't photocopied. It was printed properly. But as you can see, it wasn't going to win any awards for editorial design. (Though the covers did have a certain something).
But in the days before blogs it was one of the few places you could find out what was going on if your were into soul and its related genres (actually the only place, apart from hanging out in Reckless Records and listening to the likes of LWR).
Eee, it's not like it used to be.
And I just love its lofi-ness.
Oddly enough i came across my old copies of soul underground just the other day - and remembered how i'd given all my old hot buttered soul and the other soul fanzines away.
keep the faith ;)
Posted by: simon | December 08, 2006 at 09:36
It's nice to be remembered... I edited Soul Underground and hold my hands up to being responsible for its resolutely lo-fi design approach. If you look closely, there are some cracking typos too, including a howler that can still keep me awake at nights. As you say, though, it was the only place to tell you what was happening on the numerous (and, even then, fragmenting) scenes of the time.
Posted by: David Lubich | May 07, 2008 at 23:16
As a writer for the magazine it gave me a chance to write about the music I loved without having to brown nose posey editors. In fact some of the articles can be found here as I discovered this morning.
http://www.independentmovement.co.uk/about.htm
Posted by: Paul Ablett | June 08, 2009 at 00:15
Let me just say, hats f*cking off to you guys from Soul Underground. My roomate unearthed a couple of these from an antique mall near the house. I think the layout and design of this magazine is killer, perfectly simple, exactly where my head is at these days. Love all the covers and the multitude of different sections. The vinyl junkie column is amazing. The independent soul feature was great (forget what issue it was). As a collector of late 80's rare soul I was stunned to hear the writers of this mag actually reviewing these puppies as they came out! Including the rare talent show records from the Budweiser label. But just the other day I was left quite speechless when I stumbled across the MILWAUKEE RAP article gracing the last page of Issue 20. Out of control with how much info is in that article. I'd never dreamed anyone was keeping up with Milwaukee's scene that closely. The writer talks a lot about a certain MC PEECHY of A-Tak who just 3 years later became world famous as Speech from Arrested Development. Nice call on his part!
Are any of these cataloged online? Or can someone sort me out with back issues? I need more of these in my life. This magazine is perfect for 2010.
Posted by: tom noble | October 01, 2009 at 19:56
30+ copy collection of class Soul Undergrounds from issue 4 up for (reluctant) sale on eBay now...
Hope you don't mind that I borrowed your pic to illustrate! Will change it if required, of course.
See http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260507097304&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:GB:1123
Posted by: jlewremote | November 15, 2009 at 12:58