Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta

Heart of a Punk - Soul of a Rasta
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Heart of a Punk - Soul of a Rasta is a monthly music Fanzine compiled by two old tossers from Wolverhampton: Ed Scribbler and John Bigot. It surfaced first during the summer of 1977 and was sold after gigs at the Lord Raglan pub in Wolverhampton . Its early output was provincial heralding a local punk band Neon Hearts as: “f'in bostin – the best punk band North of Upper Gornal”; and predicting that the reggae band Capital Letters would “soon be playing venues bigger even than Dudley JB’s.” The parochial nature of the fanzine changed after the Sex Pistols played the Club Lafayette Wolverhampton in December 1977 - and for a short period in the early eighties the fanzine was produced in Catford London.

The fanzine has disappeared and reappeared over the course of the last 30 years but has never been anything more than piss poor. During its height, between ’78 and ’81, Heart of a Punk – Soul of a Rasta occasionally sold more than five copies in a single month seriously threatening the mainstream music press.

According to Ed Scribbler: "Paul Simonon bass player of the Clash has been subscribing to the Fanzine since the early Catford days". When Simonon was asked in about early punk fanzines in a MOJO interview in 2008 he said that "I’ve been a subscriber to the Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta Fanzine for f***kin years now and thankfully I’ve never received a single f***kin copy". [Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed December 2008]

The beginning of the end for Heart of a Punk – Soul of a Rasta came on 15 February 1983. Whilst selling the fanzine outside the Hammersmith Odeon on a night when The Stranglers were plying their trade there, John Bigot was set upon by members of SIS (Stranglers Information Service) who were attempting to sell the bands own fanzine Strangled. Nobody required hospital treatment that night but shortly after the incident John Bigot developed the debilitating disorder, Cruckshanks Malady. This condition, which was very rare in England in the early 1980’s, is akin to venue agoraphobia. A sufferer is able to buy tickets for a gig, and attend as normal. He or she is strangely also able to watch the support band. But as the lights dim for the main artist or band the sufferer suffers a severe panic attack and is compelled to immediately leave the venue.

The fanzine suffered, very slightly, no one noticed, it struggled on. Then in the July '85 the fanzine consisted purely of one side of A4 paper with a statement hand written by John Bigot.

“Things are currently really SHIT and I can't see anything coming to save us anytime soon. English music is waiting for a saviour; endlessly bloody waiting. One day a band will come out of the North. Maybe they'll be clutching onto the coat tails of The Smiths. Who knows? I'm f**ked if I do. All I know when this band finally arrives on the scene they'll be like an oasis after an eternity in a desert of nothingness. Hopefully I will live to see this new band. Till then farewell.”

The fanzine finished Ed and John both joined local bands - Ed soon became an alcoholic and John didn't.

In July 1995 after exactly ten years of relative happiness for the Ed and John and for reasons known only to them Heart of a Punk – Soul of a Rasta returned. Since then the fanzine has continued to under whelm on a monthly basis. In October 2008 sections of the fanzine became available for the first time online; no one minded; it can still be purchased on paper from John Bigot C/O The Newhampton Inn, Whitmore Reans Wolverhampton.

Quotes and Testimonials
When asked about the fanzine in 2006 John Lydon said “Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta? Never bloody heard of it”. ". [Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed December 2008]

When Tony Parsons (British Journalist and author) was asked, what in his opinion was Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta main achievement since it's formation in 1977, he said “Reading through this piece of unadulterated shit you’ve just given me, I think the main achievement of the compilers is that they've been able to spread their infinitesimal talents so thinly for so long”. [Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed December 2008]

Paul Morley (Stockport Journalist) said “It's a pretty hopeless fanzine. Yeah ok, I liked the single A4 issue in '85. But did they say anything about Oasis? Did they f***”. [Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed December 2008]