The first history of the fanzines that emerged from Washington, DC's highly influential punk community
DIY culture has always been at the heart of DC's thriving punk community. As Washington, DC's punk scene emerged in the mid-1970s, so did the periodicals—"fanzines"—that celebrated it. Before the rise of the internet, fanzines were a potent way for fans to communicate and to revel in the joy of fandom. These zines were more than just publications; they were a distillation of punk's allure, connecting the city to the broader punk community. Fanzines remain a meaningful, tactile, creative medium for punk fans to connect with like-minded people outside the corporate-controlled world.
In Keep Your Ear to the Ground, the archivist and musician John R. Davis unveils the development of punk fanzines and their role in supporting DC's hardcore and punk scene from the 1970s into the twenty-first century. He sheds new light on DC's scene and highlights some of its key personalities, including many who are often left out of punk history, with high-quality images of rare zines and insights from numerous interviews with zine creators and musicians. This book vividly weaves together the origin of zines and their importance in underground communities.
For punk enthusiasts, zine creators, American studies scholars, and anyone who has ever felt like an outsider, Keep Your Ear to the Ground traces how the unique environment of Washington, DC, helped zines thrive.
Reviews
"Keep Your Ear to the Ground is the exhaustive history of DC punk zine and music culture I didn't know I needed so badly. This book proves to be an invaluable resource to set the record straight. Highly recommended for all DIY punk fans"—James Spooner, James Spooner, graphic novelist (The High Desert and Black Punk Now) and filmmaker (Afro-Punk)
"John R. Davis knows his stuff. This book will make you want to write a fanzine and maybe move to DC and never leave. It will also show you that DC punk's self-narrative tendencies predate Dischord and were inspiring from the off. A rare combination: scholarly feel and an exciting read."—Pete Dale, musician, scholar, and author of Anyone Can Do It: Tradition, Empowerment and the Punk Underground and Popular Music and the Politics of Novelty
"An accessible, engaging, and authentic account of DC punk through a history of its material cultures. Whether you're a die-hard fan or a curious onlooker, there is no gatekeeping here. This book welcomes any reader interested in the histories of punk, zine production, and the DC area's legacy of supporting underground scenes."—Kate Eichhorn, Kate Eichhorn, author of The Archival Turn in Feminism: Outrage in Order, dean of the School of the Arts and professor of visual and media arts, Emerson College
"A mesmerizing and multilayered journey through the documentation process of punk rock in the nation's capital. John R. Davis skillfully presents a scholarly and exhaustively researched history of Washington, DC, punk rock music zines, authoritatively revealing the artistic, historical, and social insights the publications of the movement provided."—Mark Opsasnick, Mark Opsasnick, historian and author, Capitol Rock and Rock the Potomac
"Keep Your Ear to the Ground overflows with the same excitement and passion as its subject matter. By focusing on the fascinating world of fanzines and their creators, this book shines new light on the shifting attitudes, priorities, and aesthetics of the DC punk scene. An invaluable contribution!"—Evan Rapport, author of Damaged: Musicality and Race in Early American Punk, professor of ethnomusicology, The New School
"A smart, clever, and deeply footnoted history, Keep Your Ear to the Ground is equal parts street-level fun and academic scholarship. Such a treat for those who lived it and for those wondering what this golden period of DC punk fanzines was all about."—Jeff Krulik, Jeff Krulik, filmmaker, codirector of Heavy Metal Parking Lot and Razz
"John Davis understands that revolutions start at home. His reverent analysis of DC punk zine history, Keep Your Ears to the Ground, is a sobering call of support for local, DIY culture. John's book is definitive, well researched, and highly recommended."—Bruce Pavitt, author of Sub Pop USA, cofounder of Sub Pop Records
"A compelling, deeply researched stage dive into the little-known world of Washington, DC, fanzines. With the voice of a fan and the keen eye of a cultural critic, Davis unearths rare zine artifacts, linking them to the situationist prehistory of zines and beyond, exploring in granular detail the fine, ever-shifting boundaries between radical art selling out. Keep Your Ear to the Ground makes a commanding case for the fact that zines—rather than being mere appendages to punk music—in fact constituted its very DIY essence."—Nicholas Rombes, author, Ramones (33 1/3 series)
"John R. Davis takes us into subterranean Washington, DC, tracing punk history through fanzines made to be ephemeral but destined to become crucial documents of cultural innovation. This is a welcome book, a history from below that recovers punk's grassroots."—Matthew Worely, professor of modern history, University of Reading
