The job at UA was to be Assistant Head of Creative Services, under "house freak" Marty Cerf. This meant, among other things, writing all the artist bios and press materials (for everyone from Bobby Vee to the Hawkwind), running the press office, organizing reviews and interviews for UA's artists, even writing radio spots. On top of these normal chores, Marty had the idea of starting an in-house magazine that would cover the whole spectrum of music, not just the UA roster, and hire the best writers to give it credibility. Greg was to be the editor. Phonograph Record Magazine grew to have a circulation around 200,000 (rivaling Rolling Stone for a couple years) distributed around the country via a network of leading FM rock stations, and because it was given away free as promotion for the stations, there were no commercial considerations and Greg was able to turn it into a kind of fanzine, covering all kinds of obscure music, cult favorites, critics' bands and new trends. The glam trend was very popular in its pages, and it was one of the first to put the New York Dolls on the cover. Writers like Lester Bangs, Nick Kent, and other "stars" loved it because they could write about whatever they liked, and all this glory redounded to the good name of UA, who were footing quite a large bill for it each month.
In addition to editing and art-directing PRM, Greg was also typesetting it and doing all the paste-ups. You might think he would be busy enough, but somehow he managed to continue publishing Bomp at the same time (though he never managed more than 2 or 3 issues per year of his "quarterly" schedule). There had been some substantial pieces in the zine already, like Lester Bangs' classic 70-page rant on the Troggs, (written on a 3-day binge of amphetamine and booze and cheap sex with the alcoholic slut next door, at Greg's house in Marin in 1971), but after the move to L.A., Bomp expanded considerably, and began to feature lengthy discographies and rock history pieces, exhaustive reviews of obscure 60s records and new things of interest, and beginning The Encyclopedia of British Rock, an A-Z history of everything recorded in England from 1960 to 1970, with band bios, photos, and complete discographies. (It only got up to "F" before the magazine folded, but it's still more complete in some respects than anything else published to date). In addition, songwriters like Mann & Weil, Pam Sawyer and Jackie DeShannon were profiled (with complete song-ographies), a lengthy surf discography was published, histories of the recording scenes of Sweden and Holland, and on and on. In 1975, Kim Fowley sponsored a contest in Bomp's pages to assemble a band he hoped to make "the female Beatles", the result being the Runaways.
Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
What's really sad about this obit is in the coming years how rare the statement: "he/she made a real difference in music" will be.
But geez, 55? That's mortality looking you in the face.
There was an article in The Observer today about Iggy Pop who was a Bomp! veteran.
2 - Mike Kole
Eric- thanks for this post. I wouldn't have known about Greg Shaw's passing if it weren't for you putting it up here. (Nose deep into political grindstone.)
I'm eternally grateful to Shaw and Bomp! for the Stiv Bators solo LP "Disconnected" and for the Wierdos' ep "1977, 1978, 1979", and Shaw's contributions to the Nuggets and Pebbles comps.
Man, 55 is just too young.
3 - Julie Patchouli
Greg Shaw was and still is a pioneer in the Rock N Roll World. He introduced particular genre's to many generations that without his introduction probably would not have seen the light of day due to its rarity and obscurity. This is Julie Patchouli, bass player for the famed "Pandoras" signed to Greg's label Voxx.
Greg Shaw's inspiration and true enlightenment will be missed. Greg was always big hearted, eventhough we, (the"Pandoras") never recieved a salary per say, Greg paid us in merchandise, he would allow us to run wild in his warehouse and pick out whatever we wanted.... I felt like a kid in a candy store!! Thanks Greg !! We love you and miss you.....
Sincerely
Julie Patchouli
4 - Eric Olsen
thanks Julie, I saw you guys play a few times in LA and you rocked!
5 - Douglas Mays
Yes, BOMP was a label that made a difference in the modern world. Greg's work was a crucial cog in the wheel of modern independent music in the USA. The artwork alone on some of the albums were worth it (Calamari/Zincavage/Pettengill).
Anyway, good job Greg, maybe you can serve as A&R for the astral world. We could use it here on earth...
peacloveguidance
6 - Susan (Sutton) Crawford
I first got to know Greg through Phonograph Record Magazine, which I LOVED. I was 16 and had written to ask for a copy of the issue with a cover article he wrote on John Fogerty, saying how much I loved it. Imagine my surprise when it showed up in my mailbox with a really great letter from Greg himself. A few years later, I had become a big fan of Dave Edmunds et al, and started going to alot of club shows in L.A., just an hour from where I lived (Ventura), and had printed up a fanzine of two of my own (Top Of The Rockpile). Again, Greg helped me out. He had that wonderful little Bomp store where I could find so MANY cool things, where so MANY cool people hung out, spilling out onto the sidewalk in that cheesy L.A. neighborhood it was in. In my mind, it will always be there, a freeze-frame memory, circa 1977.
Thanks for being there, Greg, and...do they have mimeograph machines where you're at now??? I bet they do.