Sniffin' Glue is the name of a famous and pioneering monthly punk zine started by Mark Perry in July 1976 and released for about a year. The name is derived from a Ramones song "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue."^[1] Others that wrote for the magazine that later became well known journalists include Danny Baker.

Although initial issues only sold 50 copies, circulation soon increased to 15,000. The innovative appeal of Sniffin' Glue was its immediacy.

Sniffin' Glue was not so much badly written as barely written; grammar was non-existent, layout was haphazard, headlines were usually just written in felt tip, swearwords were often used in lieu of a reasoned argument. . .all of which gave Sniffin' Glue its urgency and relevance.^[2]

The early days of the punk movement largely failed to attract the entrance of television or the mainstream press, and Sniffin' Glue remains a key source of photographs of, and information about, contributors to the scene.^[2]

NME acclaimed "Sniffin' Glue" as "the nastiest, healthiest and funniest piece of press in the history of rock'n'roll habits" and it really became the true chronicle of the early days of British punk rock as well as pioneering the DIY punk ethic.^[1] Later, some called it the Bible of the punk movement. The final issue was accompanied with a flexi disc record - the first release from Mark Perry's band Alternative TV.^[1]

Fearing absorption into the mainstream music press, Perry ceased publication in 1977. In the last issues he encouraged his readers to follow him with their own punk fanzines.

Often credited with the illustration featuring drawings of three chord shapes, captioned, "this is a chord, this is another, this is a third. Now form a band", this drawing actually originally appeared in another fanzine 'Sideburns' and was later reproduced in the Stranglers fanzine 'Strangled'^[3]

In 2000, Mark Perry published Sniffin' Glue: The Essential Punk Accessory, which is a compilation of all the issues of the fanzine with some new material written by him.^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Sniffin' Glue history