The Steel Press

Even though it's been a while and I've been working on multiple other ongoing projects, I am still continuing work on the Ghosts of DFW music history blog series. There are several upcoming installments that have been in development for some time, delayed in large part by my efforts to secure interviews and gather relevant historical materials and memorabilia. Much of said memorabilia is tied to venues which have not heretofore been covered in depth, and this has meant having to dig deep to get my hands on period collectibles and ephemera. And in the case of Dallas's early punk years, those collectibles have included old fanzines.

The Steel Press dates to the early 1980s. First published in April 1982, the premiere issue featured a cover story of Bad Brains playing the Hot Klub, as well as interviews with The Assassins and The Judys and various local concert listings. The two issues I've been able to obtain date to August 6th of that year and to an unspecified date after that (apparently around October 1982). Studio D, the Hot Klub, and VVV Records (all subjects of upcoming Ghosts installments) feature prominently, as do advertisements from Metamorphosis Records and listings of top-selling punk and new wave releases. The earlier issue features a cover photo of the Dead Kennedys, reproduced in a very-much-of-its-time Xerox machine style. The later issue originally appeared in two variants, the first of which included a cover story about the newly-opened Ground Zero, "Dallas's first nuclear bar." That variant is the one I have in my collection.

Given the rarity of these items, and my belief that local history should be accessible to the general public rather than locked away in historical archives (even when said archives are my own), I've uploaded both of them in full to the Internet Archive here. Per a statement from the editors in the Dead Kennedys issue, "all or part of this publication may be reproduced or edited for the advancement of music and for the benefit of those who create music." Presumably (hopefully) this applies to the Ground Zero issue as well.