Absolutely Zippo

Absolutely Zippo is a punk rock fanzine created by Robert Eggplant to document the happenings of the East Bay Berkeley punk scene during its heyday in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Contributors included Aaron Cometbus of Cometbus fame (writing under the pen name "Skrub"), Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day (who wrote a brief article about how to be a couch potato) and Larry Livermore of Lookout! Records.

Absolutely Zippo was known for scene reports, record and show reviews, band photos (often grainy and low-quality due to cheap photocopying), stories, comics, rants, editorials, artwork and more. The 16th issue, released in 1992, was accompanied by the cassette tape compilation "Later The Same Year", which included songs by bands such as Filth, Gru'ups, Spitboy, Jack Acid, Good Grief and many others. It was later reissued on Lookout! Records in CD format. "Absolutely Zippo" was unique in that Robert Eggplant was a member of the bands Blatz, The Hope Bombs and more recently Harbinger, as well as a volunteer at 924 Gilman Street, and so offered an inside, on the frontlines view of the punk scene.

In 2006, "Absolutely Zippo" was complied and released in paperback form and made from paper rescued by 'dumpster diving'. This volume is entitled "Absolutely Zippo: Anthology of a Fanzine 1989 - 1998".

External links

* [http://artery.soex.org/article_03.html Absolutely Zippo and Fanzines]
* [http://www.akpress.org/2006/items/absolutelyzippo Absolutely Zippo anthology]