"The unmasking of Burt Macho" - City Fun fanzine exhibition

Dave Haslam sends:

Manchester District Music Archive's brand new online exhibition: "City Fun - The Hidden History of Manchester's Post-Punk Fanzines" went live over the weekend.

Included in the pages of 'City Fun' is an article credited to Burt Macho which has been established as the work of Morrissey.

The 'City Fun' fanzine was published between 1978 and 1984 and is a remarkable eye-witness account of one of the most fertile periods in Manchester's music history; in its pages you get the unfolding insider story of the rise of Joy Division, the death of Ian Curtis, the beginnings of the Smiths, and the launch of the Hacienda plus a unique insight into the city's independent labels, long-lost venues and half-forgotten bands.

'City Fun' was one of many fanzines of the era; home-made, and cheaply but passionately produced magazines aimed at lovers of non-mainstream music, and sold by hand at gigs and in record shops.

Many contributors have since found fame, among them the artist Linder Sterling. Researchers working on this 'City Fun' online archive have also established that an article in an issue from September 1983 about Sandie Shaw by "Burt Macho" was a contribution by none other than Morrissey.

Morrissey was a reader and a fan of 'City Fun' but he chose to write in the fanzine under the pseudonym "Burt Macho". It was just as the Smiths were taking off; the same issue carries an advert for the first Smiths single. John Peel said it was most important fanzine of
its time, and certainly nothing will give you greater insight into the ideas and history of post-punk Manchester. It’s all in 'City Fun'.

The 'City Fun' online exhibition is part of Manchester Histories Festival's ongoing celebration and investigation of Manchester's fanzines. Festival Director Claire Turner; "This online exhibition creates a permanent record of an era of alternative music in
Manchester that's now become internationally famous. The archive is a source of information to historians and a source of inspiration for subsequent generations."

The online exhibition of the 'City Fun' archive can be found here:

http://www.mdmarchive.co.uk/cityfun/

Dave Haslam, December 2012

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Re: Article: "The unmasking of Burt Macho" - City Fun fanzine exhibition in Mancheste

Nice to see even as the Smiths were erupting , Moz was still enjoying his fanzine contributions.

And yet this fanzine ( or website) earns ire ... ?
 
Re: Article: "The unmasking of Burt Macho" - City Fun fanzine exhibition in Mancheste

Nice to see even as the Smiths were erupting , Moz was still enjoying his fanzine contributions.

And yet this fanzine ( or website) earns ire ... ?

Not *because* it's a fanzine/website but because of the negative content that's posted.
 
Re: Article: "The unmasking of Burt Macho" - City Fun fanzine exhibition in Mancheste

Not *because* it's a fanzine/website but because of the negative content that's posted.


Yes , I gather ... I suppose I should have put it more clearly that a fanzine/website largely based on reader content and governed lightly will always feature " negative content". Morrissey's animosity just seems absurd.

I wonder what he would thought about being kicked out of their concerts and prohibited from lolling about Joey (?) Ramone's grave after rubbishing the Ramones in a review ?
 

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