Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Streetbeat Magazine - Australian music and gig guide - 1982

Way back in the very early '80s, a weird little booklet started appearing on the tables of pubs and in record and music stores. Streetbeat was first and foremost a free gig guide, band listings and then later record and movie reviews with an indie twist. The brainchild of the late Steve Rondo, something of a renegade rock promoter who fled Sydney for the quiet streets of Adelaide, Streetbeat was styled on the defunct TAGG - the alternative gig guide once edited by Stuart Coupe.

It grew from a rough backroom cut-and-paste project (when cut and paste meant scissors and Clag glue) to a half respectable publication designed by a young and obviously talented illustrator, Rocco Fazzari. Fledgling journalist and would-be rock band manager, Rod Eime, took up most of the editing and writing duties while Rondo hustled the advertising. Before Streetbeat's demise in late 1982, there were both Adelaide and Sydney fortnightly issues.

If nothing else, Streetbeat served as a record of active Sydney and Adelaide bands and stunned the public with Fazzari's outlandish cover designs. Fazzari went on to Fairfax and became one of the country's most celebrated cartoonists and illustrators, while Eime writes occasional travel for the Sunday papers and glossy magazines.

Below are some random pages:

Sydney No.8 17-30 September 1982








Adelaide band booking list. December 1981.


2 comments:

  1. Are there copies still in existence and if so where could you find them. Ta

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These are from my personal collection. State library were sent every issue. What they did with them is anybody's guess.

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