Mott The Hoople and Ian Hunter

Fanzines are newsletters/magazines published by fans for fans. As a rule, fanzines fall into one of two categories. One simply recycles current and old stories, and add little new material. The other type actually goes and finds things out that aren't in the newspapers and magazines. Fortunately, the Mott the Hoople/Ian Hunter fanzines are firmly in the latter category. This means that you will find information here that you won't find anywhere else!

In the 1990's and early 2000's there were two fanzines: Just A Buzz which was published by Justin Purington, and The Outsider which was produced by Sven Gusevik and followed a one-off Mott the Hoople fanzine in 1990.

These days, of course, we have blogs and websites so the need for printed fanzines has diminished. Further, the advent of the MTHAS (and the Two Miles From Heaven magazine) meant the need for fan-produced material was diminished.

Details of the fanzines are as follows:

The Outsider fanzine

Eight issues of The Outsider were published.

Issue 8

[The Outsider, issue 8]

Issue 8 was published in January 1999. Topics covered were:

  • Mott The Hoople worlwide discography;
  • 1997 tour bootlegs;
  • Mott The Hoople's mispressed first album;
  • Mott The Hoople transcription discs;
  • Tommy Mandel interview (Ian worked with Tommy from 1979 to 1990);
  • Box set and Biography reviews;

Issue 7

[The Outsider, issue 7]

Issue 7 was published in March 1998. Topics covered were:

  • Ian Hunter's 1997 tour;
  • Mott The Hoople magazine index;
  • Mott The Hoople box set preview/li>
  • Darrell Bath interview;
  • Dicken interview (Ian produced Mr Big's unreleased 3rd album in 1978);
  • Sandy Dillon interview (she worked with Mick Ronson in the mid-80's);
  • 16 pages of news!

Issue 6

[The Outsider, issue 6]

Issue 6 was published in December 1996. Topics covered were:

  • Ray Majors interview;
  • Steve Hyams interview;
  • Floodgates album;
  • Artful Dodger album;
  • Moth Poet Hotel album;
  • 20 pages of news!

Issue 5

[The Outsider, issue 5]

Issue 5 was published in July 1994. Topics covered were:

  • Mick Ronson memorial concert review;
  • Dale Griffin interview;
  • Bootleg Bible (part 1);
  • Morgan Fisher interview.

Issue 4

[The Outsider, issue 4]

Issue 4 was published in December 1993. Topics covered were:

  • 1993 Tour report;
  • "The Hoople" album special;
  • Mott the Hoople at the BBC.

Issue 3

[The Outsider, issue 3]

Issue 3 was published in July 1993. Topics covered were:

  • Mick Ronson tribute issue;
  • Verden Allen interview;
  • Ariel Bender interview.

Issue 2

[The Outsider, issue 2]

Issue 2 was published in December 1992. Topics covered were:

  • The Ian Hunter story (part 2) 1979-81;
  • "Mott" album special;
  • Mott the Hoople tour listing (part 2) 1972-74

Issue 1

[The Outsider, issue 1]

Issue 1 was published in May 1992. Topics covered were:

  • The Ian Hunter story (part 1) 1975-78;
  • Ian Hunter discography;
  • Mott the Hoople tour listing (part 1) 1969-71

Each issue also contained news, trivia and other material.

Back issues may still be available; contactSven at his Outsider Online website.

Just a Buzz fanzine

Justin Purington also published his own fanzine, Just a Buzz, to the same high standards set by The Outsider. Publication alternated with Sven's schedule for The Outsider.

Issue 5

Just A Buzz, issue 5]

Issue 5 was published in June 2001. Topics covered were:

  • Dale Griffin interview;
  • Steve Holley interview;
  • Ian Hunter interview;
  • Howard Helm interview;
  • The Rant album;
  • 2000 UK Tour report

Issue 4

Just A Buzz, issue 4]

Issue 4 was published in early 2000. Topics covered included:

  • Robbie Alter interview (he played guitar in Ian's touring band in 1981, and more recently on the Artful Dodger album);
  • Geoff Appleby interview (Geoff played bass in Ian's band in 1975);
  • Martin Briley interview (he played bass in ian's touring band in 1979 and 1980);
  • Ricky Byrd interview (he played guitar in Ian's touring band in 1993);
  • Paul Fenton interview(he worked with Mick Ronson in the late 1980's);
  • Sham Morris interview (he also worked with Mick Ronson in the 1980's)

Issue 3

Just A Buzz, issue 3]

Issue 3 was published in November 1998. Topics covered included:

  • Brynn Arens interview (Mick Ronson produced his previous band's album);
  • John Butler interview (John replaced Steve Ellis in Widowmaker);
  • Lizzie Grey interview (Lizzie was in LA-based London; one of their vocalists was Nigel Benjamin);
  • Steve Hunter interview (Steve worked with Ian on the Hunter-Liang project);
  • The Silence tour diary.

Issue 2

Just A Buzz, issue 2]

Issue 2 was published in July 1997. Topics covered included:

  • Roy Young interview;
  • Corky Laing interview;
  • Mark Clarke interview;
  • Cody Melville interview;
  • Luther Grosvenor interview;
  • 1997 tour report;

Issue 1

Just A Buzz, issue 1]

Issue 1 was published in October 1995. Topics covered included:

  • News and new releases;
  • Bootleg Bible (part 2);
  • Ian Hunter's Dirty Laundry;
  • Mick Ralphs interview;
  • Fans on the internet.

The "bootleg bible" lists every known concert tape and bootleg album, and follows on from part 1 which was published in issue 5 of The Outsider. This time Justin covers the Ariel Bender and Mick Ronson shows. For each bootleg Justin identifies the date and venue, and provides us with a track listing and sound quality assessment, with many of them complemented by comments from Morgan Fisher.

Each issue also contains news, trivia and other material.

Back issues of Just a Buzz may still be available. Contact Justin at www.justabuzz.com.

Mott the Hoople fanzine

[Mott The Hoople Fanzine]

The Mott The Hoople fanzinewas published in October 1990. The following topics were covered:

  • The Mott the Hoople story;
  • Mott the Hoople discography;
  • Dale Griffin/Overend Watts/Ariel Bender discographies;
  • Mott the Hoople sessionography;
  • Dale Griffin interview

At the time (1990), this fanzine was essential reading. It has since been superceded by Campbell Devine's excellent Mott The Hoople biography and is now out of print.