OP Magazine, based in Olympia, Washington

Olympia, Washington

Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...

, was a music fanzine

Fanzine

A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...

 published by John Foster and the Lost Music Network (leading to the title, which extends the abbreviation LMN to LMNOP) from 1979 to 1984. It was known for its diverse scope and the role it played in providing publicity to DIY

DIY ethic

The DIY ethic refers to the ethic of self-sufficiency through completing tasks oneself as opposed to having others who are more experienced or able complete them for one's behalf. It promotes the idea that an ordinary person can learn to do more than he or she thought was possible...

 musicians in the midst of the cassette culture

Cassette culture

Cassette culture, or the cassette underground , refers to the practices surrounding amateur production and distribution of recorded music that emerged in the late 1970s via home-made audio cassettes...

. The magazine was co-founded by Foster, Toni Holm, Dana Squires, and David Rauh. An emphasis of the magazine was "articles about music written by musicians", and regular contributors included Victoria Glavin (Victoria Barreca), Peter Garland

Peter Garland

Peter Garland is a composer best known for publishing Soundings Press, one of the few sources of new music scores and articles while in print...

, Eugene Chadbourne

Eugene Chadbourne

Eugene Chadbourne is an American improvisor, guitarist and banjoist. Highly eclectic and unconventional, Chadbourne's most formative influence is free jazz. He has also been a reviewer for Allmusic and a contributor to Maximum RocknRoll.Chadbourne started out playing rock and roll guitar, but...

, and Larry Polansky

Larry Polansky

Larry Polansky is a composer, guitarist, mandolinist, and a professor at Dartmouth College. He is a founding member and co-director of . He co-wrote HMSL with Phil Burk and David Rosenboom....

.

When Foster ended OP after only twenty-six issues, he held a conference, offering the magazine's resources to parties interested in carrying on; two magazines became the dual successors to OPs legacy: attendant journalist David Ciaffardini went on to start Sound Choice, which published until 1992, while Scott Becker, alongside Richie Unterberger

Richie Unterberger

Richie Unterberger is a US author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.-Life and writing:Having worked as a DJ at WXPN in Philadelphia, he started reviewing records for Op magazine in 1983...

, founded Option

Option (music magazine)

Option was a music magazine based in Los Angeles, California.-History:Originally called OPtion, it, along with Sound Choice, were the dual successors to the earlier music magazine OP, published by John Foster and the Lost Music Network and known for its diverse scope and the role it played in...

, lasting until 1998.

Foster, Holm, and Rauh currently administrate the Olympia-based radio station KXXO

KXXO

KXXO is a radio station broadcasting a Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Olympia, Washington, USA, it serves the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is currently owned by 3 Cities.-External links:...

.