SNIFFIN' GLUE — NO. 11 (JULY 1977)

Publisher: Sniffin' Glue, London
Year: July 1977
Editor: Mark Perry
Issue: No. 11
Dimensions: 21 × 30 cm
Language: English
Format: Staple-bound fanzine
Pages: Unpaged
Condition: Good — restored and re-stapled with new staples. The pages and cover are original to the issue.

Sniffin' Glue was the fanzine that taught British punk to write about itself. Founded by Mark Perry in London in 1976, it began as a homemade publication produced with a typewriter and felt-tip pen before becoming one of the defining documents of the first wave of British punk. Issue No. 11, published in July 1977 and priced at 30p, captures the magazine at a moment when the scene was rapidly expanding beyond its earliest circles.

The cover features early photographs of John Lydon, The Clash performing live, and The Damned in hoods. Inside are a feature on The Damned, a piece on Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, Sandy Robertson's reflections on punk and the music industry, reviews and writing by Danny Baker, collage pages, and the recurring “Rock n' Roll Gloo” cartoon.

The advertising throughout the issue forms an archive of its own. Full-page announcements promote Throbbing Gristle, the New York Dolls, Lou Reed, the Patti Smith Group, The Radiators, Johnny Moped, Chelsea, The Cortinas, The Models, The Electric Chairs, and Deptford Fun City Records, documenting a network of artists, labels, and venues while many of these acts were still at the beginning of their careers.

Issue No. 11 is particularly revealing because Mark Perry later described it as a moment when Sniffin' Glue was beginning to lose its original direction. In his retrospective account, Perry wrote that much of the issue had been opened to contributions from others, while his own creative focus had increasingly shifted toward Step Forward Records and Alternative TV. The result is a publication that feels less like a single-author manifesto and more like a collective snapshot of the punk underground in motion.

Among its strongest contributions is a Throbbing Gristle collage by Genesis P-Orridge, functioning simultaneously as an advertisement for the group's first album, alongside a poetic contribution from Sandy Robertson and a collage by Jon Savage. Mick Jones contributes a “Communiqué From Clash City,” documenting the increasingly chaotic world surrounding The Clash and their early public appearances.

Printed cheaply and distributed within the rapidly developing British punk network, Sniffin' Glue remains one of the essential primary documents of the movement. Its physical fragility, inexpensive production, and short-lived nature make surviving original copies increasingly difficult to find, particularly in clean, complete condition.

This copy has been restored with new staples. The cover and pages are original to the July 1977 issue.