SALINE, MI (Top40 Charts) NA Publishing is thrilled to bring the legendary CREEM magazine to its
Music Magazine Archive: Rock (MMA: Rock) digital collection. A collaborative project with Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Library & Archives, and Bowling Green
State University (BGSU), MMA: Rock is the first in a series of late 20th century genre-based collections of music magazines from NA Publishing.
Like the best of the rock music it reported on, CREEM is gritty, edgy, scrappy, and contrary. That its roots are in
Detroit (hometown to the best of the gritty, edgy, scrappy, and contrary) is completely fitting.
Beginning in 1969, CREEM published monthly for 20 years, enjoying a brief revival in the 1990s. At its peak, CREEM was second in circulation only to Rolling Stone, earning its reputation as the irreverent alternative rock journal. CREEM featured writers like the late Lester Bangs, Robert Christgau, Susan Whitall, Jaan Uhelszki, Patti Smith, Cameron Crowe, Richard Meltzer, Dave Marsh (coining the term "punk rock" in 1971), and many others.
CREEM is back in the spotlight with J.J. Kramer, son of founder Barry Kramer, launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund a documentary on the story of CREEM. Having lost his father at age 4, Kramer's journey both documents the story of an iconic magazine that harnessed the culture of dissent in the late 20th century and reveals to its author the story of his own father, CREEM's founder and publisher.
"In many ways, CREEM was lightning in a bottle," noted Kramer, "the right people, the right place, the right time. Its passion, irreverence, and brutal honesty left an unforgettable mark on music journalism. The
Music Magazine Archive: Rock digital collection is a fantastic way to preserve CREEM's storied legacy for generations to come."
Music Magazine Archive: Rock launched in June 2016. In its ongoing efforts to support and preserve alternative press, NA Publishing will contribute a portion of MMA: Rock proceeds to fund a related open access project to digitize music zines.
