Julia Gorton & Rick Brown.
BEAT IT! ZINE ANTHOLOGY.
New Jersey: Julia Gorton, 2024.
Softcover.
152 pages.
Second printing.
"Julia Gorton and RIck Brown poured their music obsessions into this short-lived but beautifully designed and pithy zine that puts you right in the moment. Thrill! To the first Pere Ubu records. Remember! When punk was transforming at lightning speed into post-punk and other mutant variations! Immerse yourself! In a time when genre distinctions mattered less than the weird sounds emanating from a beat-up turntable. 150 + pages can, and will, be yours. Soon enough!" - ANDREA FELDMAN
This compilation (45+ years in the making) includes additional archival graphics, and essays by Julia and Rick about the genesis and the production of Beat It!
Great for anyone interested in New York music in the late seventies, no wave band interviews and reviews, band photography and portraiture, collage layouts, old school production information, DIY aesthetics and zine histories.
JULIA GORTON STARTED HER CAREER AS THE PHOTOGRAPHER, CREATIVE DIRECTOR + PUBLISHER OF THE NO WAVE FANZINE BEAT IT!, WHICH OFFERED AN INSIDERS VIEW OF THE DOWNTOWN NEW YORK MUSIC SCENE, 1976-1980.
HER HIGH CONTRAST PHOTOS COMBINED WITH GRAPHIC PATTERNS, DIY LETTERING AND RANDOM COLLAGED ELEMENTS CAPTURED A FLEETING TIME WITH UNIQUE STYLE WHICH SHE CONTINUES TO EXPLORE THROUGH HER PHOTO COLLAGES, T-SHIRTS AND ZINES. GORTON'S PHOTOS OF MUSICIANS HAVE BEEN SEEN IN NY ROCKER, NO MAGAZINE, THE NEW YORK TIMES, VICE/GARAGE, DAZED, I-D AND ON RECORD JACKETS FOR INDEPENDENT LABELS INCLUDING ORK RECORDS, LUST/UNLUST AND ZE RECORDS.
HER PHOTOGRAPHY WAS PROMINENTLY FEATURED IN NO WAVE: POST-PUNK. UNDERGROUND. NEW YORK. 1976-1980 BY THURSTON MOORE AND BYRON COLEY, UNTYPICAL GIRLS BY SAM KNEE AND WHO SHOT ROCK AND ROLL: A PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY, 1955-PRESENT BY GAIL BUCKLAND. NOWHERE NEW YORK IS HER FIRST PHOTOBOOK.
HER WORK HAS BEEN SEEN AT KATA GALLERY IN TOKYO, DOOMED GALLERY IN LONDON, THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY, THE MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM, MOMA, MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN + THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART IN NEW YORK CITY.
Rick Brown co-edited Beat It with Julia Gorton and has been playing in bands since the late 1970s. From No-Wave times to Avant 80s, Indie Rock 90s to present day 75 Dollar Bill.
