Sun Zoom Spark
Encyclopedia
Sun Zoom Spark was a mid-1990s British music magazine. It took its name from a track on Captain Beefheart
's LP, Clear Spot
and covered alternative rock
and britpop
music. Its editorial staff was based in Galashiels
, Scotland
.
in October 1992, sold by mail order
. Its unusually professional production made it an immediate success, and after four issues it began to be sold in record shops, at which point the issue numbers started again from 1. From issue 4 (July 1994) onwards, it became a full-colour national magazine sold in newsagents.
In October 1995, the magazine was radically reformatted as a fortnightly inkie under the title "The Trigger". It ran for only a handful of issues before closing down due to poor sales.
publication Vox
, leading to the tagline "...because Vox need the ideas" appearing on the cover of a later issue of Sun Zoom Spark. Another regular feature was "Ism-isms", a list of made-up buzzwords for various real or imagined cultural phenomena.
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
's LP, Clear Spot
Clear Spot
Clear Spot is the seventh album by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, originally released on LP in 1972 in a clear plastic sleeve.After Trout Mask Replica, which was critically acclaimed but sold poorly, each of the group's following three albums was slightly more conventional than the one before...
and covered alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
and britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
music. Its editorial staff was based in Galashiels
Galashiels
Galashiels is a burgh in the Scottish Borders, on the Gala Water river. The name is often shortened to "Gala" .Galashiels is a major commercial centre for the Scottish Borders...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
History
The magazine originally appeared as a fanzineFanzine
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...
in October 1992, sold by mail order
Mail order
Mail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer...
. Its unusually professional production made it an immediate success, and after four issues it began to be sold in record shops, at which point the issue numbers started again from 1. From issue 4 (July 1994) onwards, it became a full-colour national magazine sold in newsagents.
In October 1995, the magazine was radically reformatted as a fortnightly inkie under the title "The Trigger". It ran for only a handful of issues before closing down due to poor sales.
Format
A large portion of each issue was given over to a regular section called "Spotlight Kid" which focused entirely on up-and-coming new acts. The magazine also contained several playful features distributed throughout the pages, such as the surreal cartoons "A Severed Head" and "The Adventures Of Flagwoman", a parody of "Did You Know..." columns titled "It's Daft, Like... But It's True" and what the editors called "sparks", short mottos which appeared at the bottom of most pages (including the front cover). This latter feature was soon copied by the IPC MediaIPC Media
IPC Media , a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Inc., is a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year.- Origins :...
publication Vox
Vox (magazine)
Vox was a British music magazine, first issued in October 1990. It was published by IPC Media, and was later billed as a monthly sister-magazine to IPC's music weekly, the NME....
, leading to the tagline "...because Vox need the ideas" appearing on the cover of a later issue of Sun Zoom Spark. Another regular feature was "Ism-isms", a list of made-up buzzwords for various real or imagined cultural phenomena.