I discovered the other day that there is a full run of Dave Godin's (nearly) first "fanzine" - Hitsville USA - at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.

Click here

Is that:

Good? Barring nuclear wars or new ice ages they will live on in a climatically controlled environment for the next thousand years.

Bad? This is an underground scene - we can look after our own heritage - and we want no truck with "the establishment".

Odd? How on earth did they end up there. By law the Bodleian has to keep a copy of every new book that is published - but I don't think that law ever extended to fanzines. I wonder if DG lodged them there himself?

MB

I go for --

Good? Barring nuclear wars or new ice ages they will live on in a climatically controlled environment for the next thousand years.

as for --

Bad? This is an underground scene - we can look after our own heritage - and we want no truck with "the establishment".

What underground scene? Could hardly call it underground nowadays. So many web sites, Youtube, CDs, Ebay records touted as Northern Soul (although nothing of the sort)

Hmmm, both good and bad. Good for me in that I now know how to readily locate copies of Sniffin' Glue, the legendary punk fanzine set up by Mark Perry at al. Bad in that the Bodleian is probaby the ultimate bastion of that much hackneyed term 'the establishment'... and all that that publication stood against.

Arkwright is undoubtedly right. The term underground is almost certainly a redundant term... with the advent of so much ready made/accessible media outlets can anything be truly underground and beloved of a chosen few? There was once a certain amount of kudos/tawdry glory in recognising that you were one of the 'initiated'. Once the sheen wears off, and that which we held so dear becomes popularised and everyday it loses its glory, inevitably. Thing is, do we really want bespectacled, studious types analysing the origins of northern soul; and what is ultimately a heartfelt, impassioned and obsessive pastime? I dunno.

I think Mr Godin would've gleened a quiet sense of satisfaction knowing his words were being pored over in such lofty environs. He used to run an arthouse cinema in Sheffield called the 'Anvil'. I wonder if the archivists have had the wisdom to stock a few copies of its monthly programmes? His review of 'Dr Mabuse' was legendary amongst the chattering classes of 1980's Steel City.