The Fanzine Podcast Ep. 28: Mick Mercer's Panache
Talking zines, punk, goth, comics, gigs and cats, with one of the champions of DIY culture
The first issue of Mick Mercer’s fanzine Panache came out in January 1977, with Iggy Pop on the cover, perfectly poised for the punk/new wave/DIY revolution that was exploding across the UK. Mick kept the zine in print for a further 50+ issues, all the way to 1995, which makes it one of the longest-running, and arguably the most consistently prolific of all the original UK punk-inspired zines. In the decades since, Mick has carried on demonstrating his passion for indie music, comics, and cats, via blogging, radio shows, a Substack column, and his Cat Olympics. Oh, and he’s also written a few books over the years, for which he is rightly considered one of the gurus of Goth.
(The Fanzine Podcast home page is here. You can listen to the new episode from the file up top, which is a higher quality MP3 than on the streaming platforms. You can also listen on Spotify (above), Apple, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or via the platform of your choice from here.)
On this 28th episode of The Fanzine Podcast, Mick talks about how he avoided college by being born in the wrong month, started a fanzine while working at a dole office instead, why Linda Ronstadt was included in the first issue of Panache, how he became its photographer by virtue of being least worst to audition in a field of three, why he forgives Adam Ant for never giving him an interview despite championing the Ants for years, why the Adverts were his other fave punk band and why we should all revisit them, why
of Better Badges was part of the “holy trinity” of punk/DIY, how goth was born out of Gloria Mundi and how he came to write the genre’s unofficial Bible, why the Marquee was such a special club, where he got the material from for all his collages, why his front covers sometimes looked like interior pages, why he kept Panache in print even when he was editing Zigzag and writing for Melody Maker, why some of the later issue numbers appear to be in the wrong order, why he ultimately stopped the print edition, why he has no plans for a compendium, why nobody ever makes money out of underground music, and why he nonetheless plans to go back to a print zine in his 70s once he has got his next five books out of the way - which is also why he concludes that he will be doing Panache until he is in his grave. And then there is his radio show and the Cat Olympics.Clearly an inveterate enthusiast, Mick gives one of the clearest and most positive interviews I’ve enjoyed hosting on this show. It feels like a 50-year history lesson of the underground scene and I was loathe to cut any of it but my own worst waffling plus a tangent into Adam Ant’s later solo career. In the fanzine spirit of Mick’s own Substack column, which posted 18 times in one week recently, here are a few random jpgs from peak Panache as kindly shared with me by the man himself. I describe the zine in the interview as “a glorious mess,” intended as a compliment, and I think you can see why, on both fronts. I’ve positioned the Toyah cover in the centre/center as it feels central to the zine’s growth and is a cover I remember well from back in the day.
Once you have listened to the podcast, please do visit/subscribe to his Substack page for the various short reviews/news, ‘Something for the Weekend’ Roundups, ‘On This Day In…’ photos, and so much more.
Mick’s radio show is available on Mixcloud here. His wonderful tribute to Geordie of Killing Joke is available from this page below:
And of course, especially if you need a break from watching human athletes in Paris right now, and developing an inferiority complex in the process, you can follow the Cat Olympics. I assure you you’ll end up feline more upbeat about your own (in)active lifestyle.
Various editions of Mick’s books are listed here. They include multiple variations and iterations of books on Goth and a number of special ‘On This Day In…’ photo books.
Also referenced in this episode: past episodes of The Fanzine Podcast with Joly MacFie and Tony D. of Ripped & Torn. In fact, if you’re new to Wordsmith and/ormy Fanzine Podcast, the entire series is spot on, even if I do say so myself. Past guests, all of whom have edited fanzines at some point in their lives, include Alan McGee, James Brown, Miki Berenyi, Ira Robbins, Mark Perry, Bobby Bluebell, Jack Rabid, and Mark Hodkinson. Other musical guests, who crossed paths with my own zine Jamming! back in the day, include Mark Bedford, Guy Pratt, and J.G. Thirlwell. I’ve also hosted the editors of zines with such wonderful titles as Toxic Graffity, Cool Notes, Blaze, Revolutionary Suicide, Adventures in Reality, New Crimes, Kvatch, Alternatives to Valium (Substack of same name via
), Awesome Things, Proof I Exist, When Saturday Comes, The Offense, Superdope and of course, Confessions of an ex-Zine Editor.And with that, let me sign off because, as Mick makes clear, when you reach a certain age, you realize you only have a set number of years left, and some of us want to pack them in with as much fun and creativity as possible, and I too have more to write, record and rehearse today. Please do like, subscribe, share the podcast if your platform allows you to do so – that’s what encourages the streaming platforms to recommend a show to other listeners – and if you are new to my Substack, please subscribe here as well. I can’t promise you too many goth cats, but I can assure you I do my best to match Mick’s new optimism for the Senior Years. Long live the 10% discount at my local health store and free travel passes in the UK.