Record Collector

American indie pioneer

Greg Shaw was a charismatic Brian Jones/Keith Relf lookalike who became a legend of American indie rock. He helped launch San Francisco fanzine Mojo Navigator in 1966, mainly because he knew how to operate a mimeograph – the forerunner of the photocopier. But his musical tastes were less hippie, more garage-rock, as he proved with his next fanzine, Who Put The Bomp!. Launched in 1970, it attracted writers such as Lester Bangs and Greil Marcus, and was an early champion of the New York Dolls, Stooges, Blondie and English punk. Bomp! spawned an LA record shop and a label of the same name, home to Stiv Bators, Iggy Pop, Devo and Plimsouls. As a label, Bomp! became a much-revered stalwart of the US indie scene, even though Shaw’s penchant for power-pop meant that some of the records were more written about than bought.

Along the way the energetic Shaw also edited Phonograph magazine, wrote prolifically, and was an executive with Sire, where he discovered and managed The Flaming Groovies. He died in 2004 and his story is told with self-deprecating good humour by his long-suffering partner Suzy Shaw and Mick Farren, who helps to put it all into context. But what gives the book its piquant flavour are the many facsimile pages from Mojo Navigator and Bomp!, plus great photos. A true time-capsule of the American indie scene in the 60s and 70s, which can be found at www.ammobooks.com.

ISBN 0978607686, 304 pages

Reviewed by Alan Lewis

Record Collector