SELECT Magazine, RIP

The weeklies (NME, MM) were too expensive for too little interesting content - to me - so Select was my way of staying connected. Fell for Justine F. (her first cover, 1993, with cigar in her mouth) and blew 25$ for some compilation just cause it had "Stutter" on it. Wondered who was that funny-looking bloke called Jarv, who seemed to be such a Perv. I even ran a personal advert in the July 1994 issue (Brett on cover!), looking for indie english roses/lovely, frail penfriends (the usual). Got, wait, guess.... 57 replies! Had great relationships with a few of these... I even met one, Eva, in september 1995, in NYC. She had made me a tape with "Common People" and "Underwear" live at some festival before it was released. So Select actually changed my life! And if Madeleine reads this, well, get in touch with me, I love you.

The Select magazine I knew and loved from '92-'95 has been gone a long, long time. But during those years it was absolutely vital. It would have *killed* me to miss an issue -- there was so much great writing! What other magazine would feature Julian Cope and 2 Unlimited in the same issue?

In all seriousness, does anyone actually read music magazines anymore? I haven't read a music mag (or weekly, for that matter) in some time - - it seems like the online good writers with anything to say are now found online.

N.

Bill

In the mid-90s Select seemed to grow fat on Britpop and its hideous paraphernalia (kids' telly references, referring back to the 60s every fucking five minutes) though there was still good writing in there if you looked hard enough. But if it found a new band to cover regularly after the Britpop era, I can't think of it. It lost the plot, slipped into irrelevance, and ultimately dug its own grave - those "Wow! MP3! Wonderful! What is it?" features it ran right at the end being the absolute final straw.

Another of the old gatekeepers of British music crumbles. For myself, I can't wait for the rest of them to follow it into oblivion.

Well, not quite, since that's very untypical of me. I bought Hip-Hop Connection for the first time in nine months (having given up because it was so atrociously-written and tearing itself apart over "authenticity", with an unpleasant "get out, you don't belong here" gatekeeper's element, countered simultaneously by such over- commercial gestures as putting Mariah Carey on the cover) mainly on the strength of Outkast's front cover appearance; I was surprised by how good it was, though it's still capable of this:

"The popularity of regional rap outside of its native surroundings has also flourished (yeah? so?) and the original ethos of the old Bronx masters has been lost as the out-of-towners move in (yeah? so?). Mystikal represents everything that's wrong with rap today (no, you do). Complex, intelligent flows replaced by weak, nonsensical barking (well?) and beats that owe more to a synth than a sampler (yeah! Keep Music Live! Join the Musicians' Union!). It's sad to say (no it isn't; music that does not move forward dies) rap today isn't the same bitch many fell in love with in the past."

I'm sorry. That was purely an irritation quote. But it's an example of how, in the old print media, it's so difficult to find the good stuff (and there's still some of it in HHC, despite everything), with all the reactionary nostalgic shite you have to get through.

I also bought Uncut despite largely being bored by its contents, and The Wire largely on the strength of it featuring a users' guide to British folk rock (which is absolutely superbly-written, and indeed the whole magazine seems to me not so much dull, as musically removed from my main interests; Dave Tompkins's description of "Stankonia" is possibly the best I've read, especially condensed into so little space, and the description of Video Vibe is especially good).

So in summary; I still keep an eye on the music press, it's just that it's gradually and slowly become less relevant to me. It's a side interest, not my main source of information, not really now not any more.

Stupid charts of influences and connections (what's cool / who's twatted who / where did nu-wave-of-new-r&bJerkinsDre come from) laid out in absolutely unreadable ways, with little pictures and different coloured lines running all over the page. This is FUN.

A section just for lists of cool records--album tracks, novelty records, US import indie singles: just knowing that there are people who consume records this way is GOOD.

Celebrity columns by utter fuckwits (that dick from Mogwai and chancer in chief John Moore) to reassure you that being in a band is not actually that cool, because you clearly have no time to develop some of the skills I value--rational thought, the ability to string a sentence together coherently, something interesting to say, powers of critical judgement.

And yes, David Quantick is, or has been, God.

Nevertheless actual pop stars' contributions do remind you how stupid most people become after a year or two in the industry, and of how fortunate we are to be outside it. They're good for that much, at least :).

Quantick lost his God status forever with his unbelievably cliched euology to "Revolver" in Q's wretched English issue. I do often wonder exactly what he did in the various Chris Morris programmes, though ...

-- "There was anarchy in the streets of Budleigh Salterton that night."

What does 'home counties' mean in this phrase?

That Cole line you quote sounds like a Pinefox idea, it really does. Not surprising considering who wrote it :).

The first issue I bought was from Nov 94. The cover is missing but it's quite possibly the finest single issue of a music magazine evah! (I'm gonna get the most evah!s into a post evah!)
REM main feature (not as worthy as you'd think - Neil Cooper gets them to drop their pants), Portishead on soundtracks, Kylie, Flavor Flav and his troubles, Sven Vath, Laibach! Then at the back there's a home beautiful piece with Poison Ivy and Lux Interior showing off their amazing house. It's possibly the greatest double spread in British pop mag history, evah!

I think the first issue I ever bought had an article called "The Compleat Blur" which was a two part series chronicling every single Blur track ever released up until after Parklife - absolute brilliant writing all the way through. There was a very well informed dance/clubbing section too, something a lot of indie zines will shun these days; music reviews were diverse and interesting.

On the subject of FT, the 94 issue has a column by Graham Linehan! On Beards! It just gets better and better.

They weren't great, but they were better than Sleeper. And she was hott.

http://www.re-played.com/images/tn_Salad_-_Granite_statue.jpg

The cornflake packet issue was pop art genius. Keith Drummond was the art director then. We salute you sir!

Btw Mark, if you want the first part of the Blur thing I can scan it and gmail it to you. Just send me a good mp3 in return. :)

Oh, offtopic, remember when Loaded did about 50 alternate covers, one month? Yeah, it was the 'jump the shark' moment, but boy did they jump that dang shark there!

I loved Salad's version of Dream A Little Dream Of Me on the Warchild Help compilation. Salad. I mean, really - who calls their band Salad?

Cool, I'll scan it all later on.

Not a huge Blur fan really. Any other goodies?

wow, this is true!

like?

fact: their first ever mention of B&S was making fun of the cover of Tigermilk (when it first came out I suppose).

Select albums of the year 1990 - 2000
http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/select.html

I'll take 1990-era Select which did seem to be genuinely all over the map than post-95, obviously Britpop completely narrowed then killed this magazine's focus. Asking some zeitgeist-y indie twats 'have you ever had a heavy metal phase', ugh.

The magazine ran a New Order interview from August or September 1993 that's one of the best long pieces ever on the band.

I read the magazine fairly regularly -- would even splurge on the import charges -- until about '95.

I have time for lots of the stuff listed from 90-94. How did Regret not get best single in 1993?

did you see Best Select Albums Of The Year List

The Birth of Britpop:
http://selectmagazinescans.netii.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/britpop1.jpg

select get tae fuck for inventing britpop you horrible xenephobic 'ironic' shit mag

none of this is really surprising me except 'King Of The Black Market'. seriously wtf. that was from it's first weird year before all the good writers joined. was it even run by a different publisher that first year or..something?

first issue i got was the Depeche 1990 one. anyone else? that's not really Prince on the first issue either if you look closely.

and yeah Rich is right that 93 New Order dominated issue was bloody fantastic.

I remember that 'What... No Bluetones?' thing from 1996 - I never liked the Bluetones but thought it was a bit rich/odd to sneer at them when the actual list includes Space, Shed Seven and Ocean Colour Scene...

First issue I got was the one with the Compleat Blur article, which was pretty much brilliant.

"Seminal music genre...featured Menswear and Thurman...Ooh, don't get me started...Changed your life, didn't it? Cast at the Dublin Castle, tracksuit tops, Paul Weller back on top. Best days of my f**king life...All of which fails to explain why you mongs forgot to vote for me in the readers' poll. Can't-f**king-read-ers poll, more like. Wankers."

The sudden hatred of The Bluetones was weird

They were very "default"

I'll step in and defend Bluetones. Their first album was full of great songwriting but they always got lumped in with the other Britpop also rans.

This is what Select did to the fortnightly rock/metal mag RAW

http://www.thestoneroses.co.uk/images/Raw1995_1.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511xWeDfyJL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
FROM THE MAKERS OF SELECT it proclaims on the cover. Raw was a great mag before this.

You can buy that Jarvis one if you want to
http://www.amazon.com/Select-Jarvis-Cocker-Bluetones-Oasis/dp/B0034ZKZHQ/ref=sr_1_29?ie=UTF8&qid=1299252839&sr=8-29

or
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=select+magazine&_sacat=See-All-Categories

who wants a Select in a cereal box? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Select-Magazine-Dec-1995-Stone-Roses-X-Files-Blur-/290537173629?pt=UK_Magazines&hash=item43a55d727d

hehe, i knew a metal kid in my class who was incensed at the raw indie re-format. it was weird, why not just start an unrelated magazine and fold the old one? how many pantera fans were gonna start digging on menswe@r?

It seems particularly silly as it was basically Select magazine anyway but fortnightly.

RAW was better than Kerrang tbh , it was a bit more open-minded. But turning into select fortnightly was toooooo much.

Imagine MUZIK had decided to continue but as NME Lite, that is how daft the raw relaunch was. Not only were metal fans gonna buy it but the select readers didn't either. Publishers do not help themselves sometimes.

Did nobody think of those with subscriptions?

seeing that "yanks go home" issue is a pleasant suprise actually... i like all the bands and it doesn't really have anything to do with the post-oasis wannabe-yob culture that had set into mersh indie by '96, quite the opposite in fact. seems more like a celebration of the things that do actually make british pop music unique like eccentricity and being the nerdy underdog. luke haines, lawrence, jarvis and st ettienne peeps all bros. suede were ok i guess.

hah, oh god, I dunno how those people must have reacted.

xp

poor bastards

that font for the "raw" logo was everywhere in the mid 90s, kinda like if you'd made the letters out of ice and then let them melt.

corny drop-shadow a nice touch, too

I think that period stone roses could have been covered by RAW anyway. Sebadoh and dinosaur jr and sonic youth,afghan whigs and other more indie acts etc all did. Metal Hammer covered Oasis (or at least they got in their albums of year list) and i knew a lot of metal fans who dug the 1st oasis album. so why they just changed completely is beyond me.

LOL look at the difference between the other years & 1995
http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/raw.htm

btw the late 80s/early 90s ones aren't there and would have provided even more of a contrast

I appreciate you tirelessly defending the honour of a magazine so on it they gave album of the year to The Wildhearts but I think that, 16 years on, you should maybe let it go.

haha

the wildhearts had some hooks! catchy as fuck.

what was the "photoshop pull out" in raw?

give $10 to jjjusten and he can go to this shop to find out http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0034ZKZHQ/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&qid=1299252839&sr=8-29&condition=used

You can buy issue 1 of Vox magazine from 1990
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VOX-MAGAZINE-HAPPY-MONDAYS-Issue-1-Oct-1990-/320604238867?pt=UK_Magazines&hash=item4aa5807413

issue 2 is there as well

Comes with the Original Box - the Box is in fairly good condition and will be flattened out for posting. Alas, the stuff in the box was eaten 16 years ago.

One of the only things I remember about Select is they once gave away a Michael Eavis mask and it scared the shit out of my sister when I jumped out at her with it on.

ha ha ha

you should have tried wearing it upside down

too good and funny to die this thread.

unlike the magazine!

Well this is fun: http://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/

Really want to know how many copies that Gay Dad issue sold.

Well it was at least one. Possibly not much more though.

Plonked into one at random, ended up with a "Stars in their eyes" special (People doing Jarvis, NHannon, NPersson, GStefani, etc)

Aw, I was hoping for full scans. Though yeah, I wouldn't want to scan 100 issues either. Hats off to that guy for what he has scanned.

Surprised by how few I had as I spent a large chunk of my teens reading them, but I'd buy one issue and re-read it obsessively for months, I guess, plus they were competing with Vox, NME, MM and later the dance mags for my attention.

Clicked on July 1994 cz I had that one, clicked on the page with a blurb on Pressure of Speech bcz long-forgotten name, whatever happened etc, read

"I really fucking hate D:Ream - I think 'Things Can Only Get Better' will be the next Tory Conference rally song."

I wonder...

I think the first one I got was the one with Morrissey on the cover from July 1991.

http://i.imgur.com/UAu1XQP.jpg