Skate Muties from the 5th Dimension #4

Zine: Skate Muties from 5th Dimension

Zine: Skate Muties from the 5th Dimension #4
From the collection of Josh Baker

Date: 1987
From: Kingsdown, Bristol – UK
Format: A4, folded in half, stapled.
Type: Offset print
Pages: 24

Publisher: Skate Muties from the 5th Dimension
Editorial: Beano, Sean Smelter, Chaos Elemental Man Finger, Tracy Teuton, Hackenbush
Art: Jason & Spide, others
Photos: None!
Contributors: Eight Legs Stephen, Jason Nail, Budge Rotoring, Deaf Cunny (ha ha), Conan Porthead, Cockney Spiv, Willis Wainright, J.C.B. Jo, Ellie Minate, Jan Yonson, Pete Litch

Featuring: The Stupids, Tommy Stupid and Ed Shred from Coolest Retards all over this. Gig reviews Beastie Boys and Run DMC and Suicidal Tendencies, The Seers, The Ripchords, the Stupids, Bad Brains and Bambi Slam, Loads of record reviews. Bristol’s first street contest. Sean Curtis, Leeds scene report, “Great Weirdo bands of Our Time” article on Devo, A cretin’s Guide to Surfing, McGrunter The Slightly Cuckoo Skater’s Mate cartoon, Barfing Material, Interview with Hersey, Bloody Kids cartoon, Top Tips for Crap Skaters, Skate Worm comic and more…

Spots: South Bank, Bedminster Skate Park, Slam City Skates

Honorable Mentions: Mention of adult S&M mag called Whitehouse featuring women in skateboard gear, Naked Raygun All Rise album, The Flatmates,

S&A Review: This one is like a lot of UK zines that I’ve seen, jam packed with typed text and tiny reproductions of amusing pictures and headlines from newspapers or magazines, tiny cartoons with captions, and absolutely no skate pictures. Almost all of the content is about skateboarding though, and there’s a lot of it. This is issue #4, and already they are claiming a distribution of 2,500 copies, which could be true, or it could be like a lot of other content in the zine that is obviously made up for the comedy value. Some issues of this zine were allegedly packaged within an LP from the Spermbirds (See: Spermbirds). I don’t know how they paid for 2,500 copies of this thing, there are no real ads to speak of. Maybe there was some sort of insider’s connection at a print shop. The record and gig reviews are brutally honest, and the content is fairly amusing, no doubt some of it lost in the transfer from across the pond and 30 years… There was no actual publication date on this, but through careful investigation of record and gig reviews, I’m fairly certain it’s 1987, although I thought it was 1985 at first due to mention of upcoming Pee Wee’s Big Adventure release in the U.K.. Crazy that it was released two years later than in the U.S..