Crud (fanzine)

Crud was a punk rock fanzine edited by Neil Crud from Colwyn Bay, North Wales. It ran up to issue No.8 from 1986 to 1990.

A prototype Crud #0 was published in November 1986 with only about 20 copies produced and put together by Neil, Edi Filmstar and Wayne The Bastard. It was more of a reactionary hand written cartoon comic than a punk fanzine.

The first 'proper' issue of Crud emerged in January 1987, again written by the same 3 people and with a slightly more 'fanzine' feel to it and lots of artwork. 200 copies were sold across North Wales and Manchester.

Crud #2 (May 1987) was written by Neil, Wayne and Glossop punk Jill The Ripper who added her artistic talents to the 'zine and featured an interview with Chumbawamba and articles on Welsh punk band Anhrefn and Datblygu. 1000 copies were sold across North Wales, Manchester and Leeds.

Crud #3 was never released.

Crud #4 (January 1988) was solely written by Neil Crud, as were subsequent issues and the zine began to develop its own style and format. Featured an interview with UK Subs and had a print run of 2000 copies.

Crud #5 (June 1988) featured a mock advert by Sainsburys supermarket stating 'Good food costs nothing at Sainsburys' and encouraging the reader to shoplift from the store. The fanzine became front page news in the North Wales newspapers on account of this advert with the headline 'Crud Guide Shocker' and was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions but no charges were made. Again 2000 copies were printed and was also being sold through record shop outlets in Liverpool and Neil was sending copies to fans in the UK to illegally place on the shelves of newsagent stores in a bid to raise more publicity.

Crud #6 (December 1988) again hit the headlines, again with a mock advert stating, 'Be warm, be wise, be an arsonist - buy a box of matches and keep yourself and the fire brigade warm for the evening.' The newspapers in North Wales ran the headline 'Fire Bomb Shocker in Teens Mag' and the Greater Manchester Fire Chief appeared on Jimmy Young's BBC Radio 2 programme condemning the fanzine. The story also ran in the Daily Mirror.^[1] An initial 2000 copies were issued, with an extra 1000 printed due to demand. With Neil's band 4Q taking up a lot of his time the next issue took nearly a year to produce.

Crud #7 (November 1989) once again made front page news when Colwyn councillers slammed the fanzine for running a '999 Fun Phone-in' advert where it was suggesting you could have 'hours of fun' and 'calls are free - just dial 999 from any call box and leave the phone off the hook.' This issue also ran a mock article about the North Wales Police Chief stating he had produced an acoustic demo-tape. He threatened to sue the fanzine as did BBC journalist Arfon Roberts who was falsely attributed to writing an obscene poem, he stated 'I have been libelled by these horrible people and their horrible magazine.' Neil Crud also received a threat of legal action from Express Newspapers for printing a cartoon of Rupert Bear growing cannabis.^[2] The zine, although still selling at 25p a copy, now had a print run of 5000 and had added record shops in North Devon as further outlets.

Crud #8 (April 1990) ran a page called Crud's Crude Corner inviting readers to send in the 'Crudest phrase you can think of and we'll print it cos we don't give a toss.' Record shops selling the fanzine in North Wales were raided and the owners were charged under the Obscene Publications Act. Neil Crud was also arrested and charged on three counts under the same Act^[3] and around 500 copies were seized. A concerned parent in Somerset had sent a copy to her MP Geoffrey Dickens who in turn forwarded it to the then British Home Secretary Douglas Hurd, who immediately ordered a Home Office investigation into the fanzine. Neil Crud enlisted the help of a lawyer who offered his services for free on account of being a fan of freedom of speech and offered Neil advice on maximising publicity for the fanzine and the case. The arrests and raids were featured on TV and radio news bulletins and the local newspapers ran articles supporting the fanzine. However, the pressure of the case took its toll on Neil and although all charges were subsequently dropped and the officers involved were demoted over their handling of the investigation, the 'zine folded.

Crud #9 was written but never printed.

References

1. ^ http://www.link2wales.co.uk/history/jan.htm
2. ^ http://homepage.ntlworld.com/elizabeth.ercocklly/guideto.htm
3. ^ http://www.knowhere.co.uk/Colwyn-Bay/Conwy/Wales/info/celebs

External links

• Link2wales