The Best of Jamming!

by Tony Fletcher

One of Britain's best-loved and most successful fanzines, Jamming! documented the musical landscape as it evolved between 1977 and 1986. Fully illustrated throughout, The Best of Jamming! includes numerous stand-out pieces from the zine's impressive 36 issue-run, from early features on The Jam, The Smiths, Run-D.M.C, Cocteau Twins and The Beat, to surprise exclusive interviews with Paul McCartney, U2 and Pete Townshend. Personal letters from Mark E. Smith, Paul Weller and others appear alongside arts, sports and politics features, poetry and a Foreword by Billy Bragg. Having guided Jamming! from a 6-page school publication to a nationally distributed monthly, editor Tony Fletcher provides behind-the-scenes insights, while musicians and former contributors reflect on their interviews and Jamming!'s long-lasting influence. An immensely evocative read, The Best of Jamming! perfectly encapsulates the excitement and unprecedented potential of the DIY era.

256 pages, Paperback

Published December 2, 2021

About the author

Tony Fletcher is the author of seven non-fiction books and one novel.  His biography of drummer Keith Moon  has been named in many a Best Music Book list, and his biography of R.E.M., updated in 2013 as Perfect Circle,  has been published in over half a dozen countries.   A Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga of The Smiths was published in the UK by William Heinemann in September 2012, and by Crown Archetype in the USA in December 2012, with paperback editions following in the corresponding months of 2013. A memoir of his South London schooldays,  Boy About Town , was published in the UK by William Heinemann in July 2013, and is now available as a paperback in both the USA and UK through Windmill Books/Cornerstone Press.

Fletcher gained his entry into music journalism by founding a fanzine at his London school in 1977; by the time Jamming! ceased publication in 1986, it was selling 30,000 copies a month. Along the way he interviewed the likes of Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney, Paul Weller and U2, as well as dozens of up-and-coming, predominantly independent post-punk acts.

A contributor over the years to a multitude of magazines, newspapers, radio and television shows, primarily in the UK and USA, Fletcher now lives with his family on a mountaintop near the village of Woodstock in New York State. There he runs, skis, maintains his web site www.ijamming.net, serves on his local school board, and plays Hammond B-3 and Rickenbacker in the Catskill 45s, a group that only performs songs from 45 calendar years ago.

Reviews

[Stan Barker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Commentary bangs on about how illegible the original zine was, then produces a book that is so poorly designed it triggers migraines. Actually had to obtain a magnifying glass to read the parts not printed in black type on dark blue backgrounds (like whyyyyy?!). Punk rawk, eh.