The Official Story Behind My Fanzine, Cops Hate Poetry>Act Two

Putting together a fanzine (Cops Hate Poetry AKA CHP) was a lot like trying to assemble a new toy for a boy or girl on Hanukkah eve. I did have prior experience the previous fall editing a residence hall newsletter called Who? What? When? Bay-Henn! where I had lived while attending Western Illinois University (WIU) in Macomb, Illinois, so I had the basics down pretty much in terms of the art of “cut & paste.”

Perhaps the biggest decision I had to make was what sort of cover I was going to use for the first issue. Between the late spring through the late summer I must have pawed through several prison photography & history books until I came across THE PHOTOGRAPH that would be used for the front cover.

I chose to run a photograph of an empty jail cell decorated with heads or faces of my heroes & influences at the time whom at one time or another might have been censored or shunned by the world and they included such notables as (John) Lennon-(Paul) McCartney, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Emily Dickinson & also the caricature of myself that was drawn especially for me to be used as part of presidential campaign poster when I ran as a write-in candidate for the Student Government Association in spring, 1986 at WIU.

That drawing ended up becoming the logo/trademark for my fanzine and lasted through issue nine. Issue 10 didn’t have the logo on the cover, but then I’m getting ahead of myself. For every issue, I put the logo (me) on the cover, always hiding within the landscape in the scheme of things; like say for example; in issue two the logo could be found in the inner ear (the cover I used was a diagraph of an ear), while say in issue six, the logo could be found on the wall (I used an Egyptian wall drawing), plus the lettering for CHP was always different with each issue.

The first issue featured a basic editorial (Editorial Rambling); a sort of introduction to my fanzine, a page of my poetry, an interview with musician Eugene Chadbourne, a cartoon with me riding a bicycle while passing by a car-wreck with an ambulance and me remarking, “Oh boy! Free clothes!” and then information on the back page stating how to submit poetry for future issues and that was about the size of it.

Issue two, originally was to feature conversations with members of the Chicago Tribune striking union (1987) and local favorite Chicago band Big Black but neither interview never materialized, so instead I featured interviews with beat poet Allen Ginsberg and Benjy’s reggae band, True Democracy, plus four pages of poetry, Editorial Rambling & one new feature, Swami Harold, who was introduced as trying to predict events for 1987.

As I produced each issue, most of them were laid out on the kitchen table of my parents’ home and then further touched up in the wee hours of the morning at Kinko’s in Skokie. As each issue was came out, the circulation increased from 99 copies to a total of 250 copies, where it stayed for the rest of the publishing run.

Selling-wise, the sales were so-so, until issue three was featured in the Dead Milkmen’s fan newsletter and lo & behold, the issue sold out! It was this issue also where I picked up two stringers, Robin Boney (Mal Adjusted) and Charlene Hill, who wrote music reviews & their own column for me. Music reviews were added on, while in later issue, videotape reviews were added as well.

I usually had three interviews per issue; I tried to get a headliner, whether it was punk, rock or otherwise, plus two local bands and I always succeeded quite nicely in that department. I conducted all of the interviews myself, with the exception of the Carl Perkins interview I published in issue five, with was co-interviewed by a radio personality from a Nashville, Tennessee radio station during the Chicago Bluesfest in 1987 at the Petrillo Band Shell.

I would then transcribe each tape and then edit copy from there, which is why interviews I published would focus around either one basic issue or run rampantly like a skin rash. Most interviews I conducted would either be at a venue, a band’s apartment, touring vehicle or rehearsal space.

I’d have to say the strangest interview I ever conducted was in a men’s bathroom at the old Cubby Bear Lounge in Chicago during a show featuring The Exploited, Sharon Tate’s Baby & Generation Waste, those of whom I interviewed inside there, because there was virtually no room in the club itself to interview them! And then there were interviews that I never published for one reason or another, like New Orleans-based band Skin-Sect in 1988, Mickey Hart, GG Allin & Hank Ballard in 1989, among others.

The interviews I conducted were pretty straight-forward, although some of then a bit straight-laced, with the exception of a few interviews I conducted with, among others The Exploited and GG Allin. I still believe the interviews I conducted and the question-style format I used back then was fresh and original and most notably copied by other newspapers & journals in the area.

The poetry I published however was the main feature in my mind and I received boatloads of mail from all over the world (predating the Internet by at least a decade) and although I liked most of what I saw, I preferred shorter poems over longer ones, but if I really liked a poet’s work, I would publish an entire page.

Reviews were most helpful after sending off review copies to various other fanzines within the United States, while other times I traded copies of my fanzine for other fanzines.

Having my fanzine reviewed also helped with sales, which was a definite plus, when it came to selling out issues. Eventually sales did pick up and issue six, which also included a free plastic magnifying glass, finally made a profit for me. It felt extremely nice.

Although CHP at the time was very exhilarating and fun, I grew tired of it and wanted to do other stuff; so I took a break and moved onto other projects, mainly freelancing (writing) for other newspapers, performing poetry and writing. I eventually went back to college to finish up my journalism degree and graduated from Columbia College Chicago in June, 1990. I published my final CHP issue 10 in January, 1991.

CHP had run its course. This afternoon, when dropping off a press kit for the art show that opens tomorrow night, I was shown how my fanzine (CHP) was displayed and to tell you the truth, tears crested around my eyes; it was like being home once more!

But let me reiterate once more, if you’re into seeing a really cool art show with rubber stamps, works by Mexican American artist Enrique Chagoya and Chicago-based zines that you can sit down and read, including a couple of my own, plus an eye-popping press kit, then go down to the Book & Paper Arts Center of Columbia College in Chicago on Friday, November 4 for the From Art To Zine opening reception, from 5:30-7:30pm, at 1104 South Wabash in the west loop (Chicago). The show itself runs until Saturday, December 17 & be sure to tell ‘em the MishegasMaster sent you!