One of the things we had always wondered, not having been part of the original punk scene in this city, was whether there had been any 'zines pre-VOX. We didn't really expect to find the answer in the Local History room of the Calgary Public Library, but then, we didn't really expect an answer.
The CPL had three issues of Iconocast neatly tucked away in its pamphlet file (which, if you press the point, contains very few actual pamphlets). This crudely- but also lovingly-assembled 'zine is a great document of the early days of the scene. We can't tell who exactly was behind this great endeavour, but they did a phenomenal job. Here are a few highlights.
Cartoons by Warren Kinsella!
A pun-filled interview with the Lips!
Local record reviews!
The Remains and a very early reference to the Golden Calgarians standard "Chicken on the Way"!
Scathing criticism of the Unusuals!
Heartthrob-worthy photos of the Verdix!
And Warren Kinsella writes about... uh, Warren Kinsella.
On a side note, our trip to the library showed how significantly the CCPS has poisoned this whole local music history thing: tucked into the folder for Punk Music was a clipping from a Calgary Herald article about the CCPS, featuring Gene Poole. We go looking for answers, and end up looking in the mirror. We're not sure what that means.
Our apologies for relying on Issuu to house these glorious pdfs. It seems like the only solution out there that fits right now...
1 comment:
Iconocast was put together by Cindy known as Cyndroid for her fondness for Lysergic Acid. She was a wild red haired woman from Medicine Hat. I had two friends who saw her hanging in New York with Iggy Pop, and last I heard (mid-eighties ish) she had gone to live on a Kibbutz. It would be great to find out what became of her...
Matt Hutton
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