Chris Phinney's Malice Fanzine - Part 1: issues 1-5

4/18/2019

Malice
was a fanzine published by Chris Phinney from December 1982 to January 1985 and was the root from which the Harsh Reality Music cassette label grew.
In the beginning the emphasis in Malice was on coverage of Hardcore Punk.
Over time Phinney and his cohorts included more and more reportage of homemade music cassettes of experimental music. By the time of the ninth issue, in January 1985, Malice had almost completely transitioned to cassette culture.

I have scanned and uploaded all nine issues of Malice to the HalTapes website.
In this first part of my introduction to Malice Fanzine
you will get a sneak peek at the first five issues.
Click on the zine covers below to go to pages
where you can view the complete zine issues.
Below each zine cover I have pasted clippings of my favorite parts.
I hope that this will serve as a good introduction to Malice,
and I urge you to check out the full zine issues themselves
because there are lots of historic news and info items, and lots more interviews and reviews than I found it desirable to mention here.
This is just my taste in things, not necessarily yours.
You might, for example, enjoy all of the top-notch comix and coverage of Hardcore Punk!

This introduction to Malice is part of the ongoing effort
by Chris Phinney, Jerry Kranitz and I
to document Phinney's essential 1980s cassette label, Harsh Reality Music.

Visit the Harsh Reality Music Home Page
Visit the Malice Fanzine Home Page

Malice Fanzine #1 December 1982

In the first issue of Malice you will find:
— a report on Alex Douglass's C.L.E.M. (Contact List of Electronic Music)
— Record Reviews of Bill Nelson, Crass, Virgin Prunes, Faith & Void, Factrix-Cazazza, Meat Puppets, Fad Gadget, and lots of Hardcore records
— Live Reviews of Bad Brains, The Method Actors, and Mission of Burma
— Classic early 1980s COMIX

24 pages including the cover

Malice #1: record reviews by Phinney under the name Skank Man

Malice #1: Reviews of Fad Gadget and Virgin Prunes records plus Rough Trade ad

Malice #1: Thermidor Records and Subterranean Records labels advertisements

Malice #1: information on Alex Douglass's CLEM (Contact List of Electronic Music) and Furry Couch's Constant Cause distro

Malice Fanzine #2 early 1983

In the second issue of Malice you will find a 4-page post-mortem report on Throbbing Gristle; PiL, U.K. Subs, Iggy Pop, and Residents live reviews; reviews of records by The Damned, Angry Samoans, more; articles on Virgin Prunes and SPK, plus classic ads and Comix; plus scene reports & news.

28 pages, including cover

Malice #2: Industrial Death issue, first page of 4-page article

Malice #2: Industrial Death issue, second page of 4-page article

Malice #2: Industrial Death issue, third page of 4-page article

Malice #2: Industrial Death issue, fourth page of 4-page article

Malice #2: live review of Iggy Pop & Nash The Slash

Malice #2: Virgin Prunes — "If I Die, I Die" article

Malice #2: Public Image Ltd live review by Phinney

Malice #2: SPK article

Malice #2: Residents live review

Malice Fanzine #3 1983

Malice Fanzine #3 included articles on Crass, Chrome, and Cabaret Voltaire; record reviews of James White & The Blacks, Christian Death, Minutemen, Dead Kennedys, Jah Wobble; tons of classic Comix, and News & Info.

24 pages, including cover

advertisement for Viktimized Karcass, a band led by Phinney that did not yet exist!

Malice #3, first page of a feature article on Crass

Malice #3: second page of a feature article on Crass

Malice #3: article on Chrome

Malice #3: first page of a feature article on Cabaret Voltaire

Malice #3: second page of a feature article on Cabaret Voltaire

Malice Fanzine #4 1983

Malice Fanzine #4 was 24 pages, including the cover. Loaded with record and live reviews of The Misfits, Birthday Party, T.G., The Vibrators, The Stranglers, Maurizio Bianchi, Duet Emmo, Bauhaus, Cab Vol, Southern Death Cult, Psychedelic Furs, New Order; plus high-contrast ads and more classic 80s comix.

Malice #4: review of "The You'll Hate This Record Record" produced by Mykel Board, which included two tracks by the Leslie Singer version of Psychodrama

Malice #4: review of Assume Power Focus record by Throbbing Gristle

Malice #4: review of Maurizio Bianchi's Neuro Habitat LP

Malice #4: reviews of records by Duet Emmo, Maurizio Bianchi, Bauhaus, and Cab Vol

Malice Fanzine #5 1984

Malice Fanzine #5 was 24 pages, including cover, and is loaded with live and record reviews of New Order, Wall Of Voodoo, Circle Jerks, Pylon, Panther Burns, Toxic Reasons; an interview with G.G. Allin; article on Italian industrial cassette band LXSS. Malice #5 is notable for its reviews of indie DIY underground cassettes and records. From here on out we will see more and more coverage of the cassette scene, such as Rising From The Red Sand and L.A. Mantra.

Malice #5: review of Horde by Mnemonists

review of Biota by Mnemonists in Malice Fanzine #5

Malice #5: review of the historic Rising From The Red Sand cassette compilations

Malice #5: page 15 — reviews of L.A. Mantra, Z'ev, Masse Mensch compilation LP

34 Comments

Electronic Cottage
Editor
Hal McGee

I have been making my own homemade experimental music since 1981.

I was an active participant in the 1980s Cassette Culture scene, and I operated the Cause And Effect Cassette Distribution Service and label, and recorded solo as Dog As Master, and in a duo as Viscera.

I published six issues of the original Electronic Cottage print magazine, 1989-91.

In the last 44 years I have recorded, produced and released more than 300 solo audio works, collaborations and compilations.

email
website

Leslie Singer

4/19/2019 12:43:57

Hal, thanks so much for this great posting. You picked all of my favorite parts! I especially got a chuckle out of seeing the Arthur Harrison/Rupert Chapelle LP listed in the Thermidor ad. Those were the days my friends, we thought that they were never end....
Chris-- What a great zine! I wish I had known about it back in the day but luckily I get to read all about it now. Really fun!

Chris Phinney

4/20/2019 11:23:53

Leslie, yes thanks to Hal for this posting & Jerry for getting us into this discussion. Yes I agree we thought these days would never end. Thank you Leslie glad you like the zine, everyone couldn't know about everything in those days, We both have stories, as do we all here.Least now you can get to check them out!!

Rafael Gonzále

4/19/2019 13:21:22

Wonderful material! Thank you very much guys for your good work. I am going to review them well to take some good ideas for my current career as a journalist

4/20/2019 11:29:34

Rafael,
So glad you enjoy the material & I most sertainly hope this helps you in your current carrer!

Rafael González

4/21/2019 16:41:41

Chris, I do not doubt this! I continue enjoying!

Lord Litter link

4/19/2019 15:16:16

Groovey!!

... brilliant to get to know stuff I missed then!

Thanks!!

4/20/2019 11:38:27

Lord Litter,

I hope you enjoy & get some useful information from this article of Hals!

penny

4/20/2019 01:16:47

wow!!! so much art! i am going to take some time over thus next week and enjoy them.. just what i saw,, chris..man u are good. great cut and paste.. so freakin inspiring..wow yeah!! got to charge my tablet..get some milos sweet tea and just chill one.. naw, it will take more than one night. i really like it. ( man i sound like a high school girl on these comments..lol)

4/20/2019 11:49:26

Penny,

Glad your going to take some time & that you like the art! Thank you for your comment & very glad its inspiring :) Glad you really like it & definitely more than one sweet tea & night :) These zines have been buried in my archives.Hopefully they show the beginnings & how the label Harsh Reality Music got started as well during the Malice days,

4/20/2019 11:16:59

So Hal highlighted most of the important articles, reviews, that I was going to drop a line about. I will touch on a few plus, we got into this as when Jerry interviewed me 2 plus hrs, interview is on thruout the first 8 tapes, in particular last few Skoptzies here we got of tangent & into the zine. A brief history we started off as a 4 piece collaborative zine. Bob X, Xno, slugbait Mike Hunnicutt, skankman yours truly. Issue # 4 got a bad print job, cut job on the pages, Bob X quit after this issue, we got cheaper rate but it showed. Its what everybody wanted.so issue # 5 just Xno, slugbait, skankman plus we had outside contributors as well. After 7th issue Xno quit, afer 8th issue slugbait moved on. Nno hard feelings on any of this, tis the nature of the game.

Jerry Kranitz I believe is going to right about some things that peaked his interest I believe.

I will add a few things #1 featured interview with Dementia Precox, #2 had Nash the Slash, all had top notch comix, #3 had Sex Gang Children, also Viktimized Karcass ad, before the band recruiting or trying to members, a few months later Viktimized Karcass was formed, while still doing Skoptzies. #4 had stuff on Factual & Dande Society, #5 had features on Pylon, Love Tractor etc.

Tons of reading & art not mentioned as Hal said if you click on the issues Hal posted separately. I hope you enjoy & the content doesn't overwhelm anyone.

Jerry Kranitz

4/21/2019 08:57:40

Yup, Jerry is indeed working on a personal essay about Malice :-)

4/21/2019 12:48:39

Hal McGee

4/20/2019 11:51:16

It was so much fun putting this article together! I will post Part 2 in about a week. EC might be a small community, but I want it to feel like an online family, where we can all share our art and music, and then discuss our insights and exchange inspirations and ideas. This intro to Malice opens a door onto a part of cultural history that until now has remained hidden from view for decades. Enjoy and continue to dig deep, amigos!

4/21/2019 12:51:57

Hal yay on fun, those zines had to be glad to see the light, as being hidden in a box for decades, lol thanks Hal!

4/21/2019 16:44:33

Thanks for so much inspiration, amigos!

Lumen K

4/20/2019 15:43:37

Thank you, Hal, for documenting the history of DIY music artists and zine makers. I feel like I am on a journey of exploration with you that is expanding my mind and helping me find my own voice. Keep up the excellent work!

4/21/2019 14:19:03

Hal is the man :)

Charles III

4/21/2019 00:13:00

Scissors, typewriters, pens n' inks, gluesticks, photocopiers... these were once the essences of communication - especially when applied with artful hands and minds. Bravo to Chris for giving birth to these volumes and to all the artists who provided the fruits that fill these cornucopias. And thanks too to Mr. McGee for bringing on this timely resurrection.

4/21/2019 12:47:30

Plus good old rubber cement, a must for me. Thanks Charles glad you enjoy!

4/21/2019 15:32:27

Let's keep our priorities and perspectives straight here. Chris and his partners created this zine and Chris ALMOST singlehandedly created the industrial and experimental music scene in Memphis. Malice Fanzine was the prelude to Phinney's Harsh Reality Music label, which was an essential cultural hub of the 1980s. All I've done is carried out a public service project to enrich and educate and to pay due homage to Harsh Reality Music.

Phillip Klampe

4/22/2019 15:23:21

Thanks for making these available to view! I had no idea they existed. Back in that time period I grabbed as many zines and magazines as I could find in the shops. Who knows how many existed throughout the world. Great work Chris! I'm going to enjoy exploring these issues of Malice.

4/23/2019 06:41:26

Thanks Phil,

We had some distribution by mail order & local shops, but yes who knows I had a bunch of zines from all over, trades of Malice etc, or bought mags as well. I do hope you enjoy!

Adam J Naworal

4/23/2019 14:25:01

This is the kinda thing I would've been all over back in the day! Excellent work, and glad it's now online so I can live vicariously through your younger days :D

4/24/2019 06:35:53

Thanks Adam,

Glad you like them. Yes please do live vicariously :D

4/24/2019 06:39:54

Part 2 of my intro coming before the end of the week!

Jeff Central

4/29/2019 10:37:21

I didn't even know these magazines existed!!! Thanks to all involved for documenting and sharing this stuff!!

4/29/2019 22:22:02

Jeff,

Hope you enjoy them. Good to see you around EC, rarely do..Maybe we see more, Your contributions in any form comment or It would be nice to see you post some stuff as always a great read or listen. Old hometapers never die they just smell that way. :)

4/29/2019 14:11:44

This all looks really familiar though I am not sure I knew this zine. In any case it's all quite interesting. Good work.

4/29/2019 22:24:42

Dk,

Very glad you find them interesting! Thanks!

Michael Ridge

5/9/2019 15:11:48

HUGE thank you for sharing this fanzine (I wasn't aware of it until now). fascinating articles and I love the stark B&W DIY art work!!

5/10/2019 09:31:29

Michael,
Glad to make you aware of something new & that you enjoy!

Monte Cazazza link

5/2/2020 01:04:16

Chris: great zine. Thanks so much for all the coverage you gave too so many. Scissors rubber cement and and a copy machine. Eyemagination in your mind. Great cut up work. The real desktop publishing. Shoplifting bottles of rubber cement and xeroxing stuff at work that would get you fired. Too bad never played memphis. You take care. M.C.

5/2/2020 09:20:21

Monte,
Good to hear from you. Thanks for your comments, yes all the good things that went along with doing a zine. Like Malice. Yes it is way to bad you never played Memphis. Would have been one hell of a show. Monte you take care & I hope you are doing well in these strange days. Take care & great to hear from you, Chris

Neal Retke

5/2/2020 08:15:50

Well done & Informative article. Like many other commenters, I was unaware at the time. There was just such an embarrassment of riches at this point in history, it was dizzying. I think I'll never be aware of more than like 10 -20 % of what was out there during this epoch, Zine wise. Look forward to exploring these at leisure