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Tales From The Ghost Town: Following Alan Rider's Adventures in Reality book collecting each edition of his own fanzine and its spinoffs, comes this new compendium of his devoted to Coventry fanzines. Lovingly put together and comprising original page reprints, interviews with the main fanzine editors, and other bonus material, Tales from the Ghost Town focusses on the vibrant 'zine scene that exploded in Coventry as punk and its cousins in electronic and industrial music continued to inspire. Although Coventry was central to the Two Tone scene as well (itself likewise a by-product of punk), being the birthplace of The Specials, that's only a part of the whole story.
This book vividly describes a time when there was an incredible local music circuit, a choice of hangouts for the punks and misfits to converge, and a surplus of venues for touring bands to stop by at. There were also so many fanzines and groups that youthful rivalry played a significant role. It's a time now long lost and never to be repeated, hence Adventures in Reality and Fourth Dimension coming together for this limited edition publication, essential for those with an interest in this incredible period in modern culture.
Adventures in Reality - the Complete Collection: Near 500 page A4 softback edition with full colour reproductions of every issue and more. The definitive complete collection of legendary Coventry fanzine Adventures in Reality put together by Alan Rider in the early 1980s that both fitted snugly inside the post-punk landscape of the time and did its utmost to avoid many of the tropes most fanzines were given to. Like most of them, however, each edition was produced with a youthful energy and passion itself manacled to an attitude only really emboldened by this cultural shift.
In between diatribes and a salubrious dash of humour, Adventures in Reality proved itself to be amongst the vanguard, running countless reviews, putdowns of the apathy dominating the city, and interviews with all from Attrition and Human Cabbages to Bauhaus and SPK, cartoons, spin off 'zines, the Adventures in Reality record label, and suchlike. Everything adds up to an intoxicating mix absolutely perfect for the time that spawned it.
Over the course of its 13 issues, plus related titles originally published anonymously, Adventures in Reality proved itself to stand above its immediate competition and made a formidable impression not only nationally, but also internationally.
This compendium gathers all 13 issues in their entirety, as well as the other titles and additional ephemera, alongside insightful introductions to each issue, an in depth interview with Alan Rider, a foreword by Matthew Worley, blurb by Nicholas Bullen of Napalm Death (himself inspired by Adventures in Reality to start his own ‘zine), and several other bonuses.
Presented in a substantial A4 book, this offers an intimate insight into what it was really like to create and edit a fanzine in the early 1980s post Punk period, and makes for a perfect return trip to a uniquely creative time long gone, but still of keen interest to those wishing to unlock, or revisit, that special period in musical history.