A zine a day for a week.
Day 7: Contort #2

Contort was pretty much the king of East coast zines. Everyone who traded zines or went to Boston knew about Contort and Dan Estabrook. He and Contort were constantly being mentioned in Thrasher or Transworld. This is issue #2, when Dan was still doing it with a partner. It’s a pretty straight forward zine with just of hint of the more artsy Swank Zine-like approach it would later morph into. I got this as a “back issue” after meeting Dan when he came to visit his parents, who had moved from Boston to Champaign-Urbana Illinois so his father could take a position at the University of Illinois. Blah blah blah. Dan was rad, we had a lot of fun when he’d visit. Later I would go to Boston to check out his scene. Talk about plate of shrimp coincidences, there are a couple of pictures of our own Mark Conahan in this issue. I wouldn’t meet Mark until after the year 2000. Cue Disney theme song.. It’s a small world after all…

Contort #2

I guess a lot of people (myself included) used to pronounce Contort wrong, with the emphasis on the first syllable instead of the second. The photocopier used for this issue must have been running out of toner. It’s got coverage to the edge of the paper, which was rare, but it is one of the faintest zines in my collection. Quite a contrast to a later issue that would be put out in 3D via a color copier, stereoscopic camera, and red and blue 3D lenses. Dan later went on to get a MFA in photography and even received an N.E.A. grant in the 90’s.

View the zine: Contort #2

Here are the stats:

Zine: Contort
Issue: #2
Date: September 1985
From: Boston Massachusetts
By: Dan Estabrook, Larry Rich
Photos: Buddy Nix, Dae Rogers, Luke Waden, Justin Headland.

Featuring: ohn Cardash, Ozzie Taylor, Dan Brown, Chuck Treece, Jeff (Girafferey) Lameroo, Gregg, Sluggo, Flairball, Sketch, Jake, Matt, Jimbo, Gil, Steve, Steve Godoy, Kevin D., Russ, Will Heespelink, Mark Conahan, Joe, Twister, Davey Rogers, Dan Estabrook, The Wrecker, Max, Buddy Nix,

Spots: NI.I.C.L.S contest in Braintree, and Vermont, Boston Hospital banks, Metals, Turtles, Newton Center ramp

Highlights:

Local Slang: Everything is harsh. squid, Suttahead

Previous Zine a day posts:

Day 6: Skate Cool #1
Day 5: Skate & Mate (Pokezine) #13
Day 4: Concrete Crusaders #2
Day 3: Chi-Town Shred #5
Day 2: Freezine #11
Day 1: Harsh Vibes #2

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