New York Rocker

New York Rocker
Cover of the February 1982 issue, featuring The Blasters
CountryUnited States
Based inNew York City
LanguageEnglish

New York Rocker was a punk rock new wave magazine founded by Alan Betrock in 1976.[1][2] In 1979, it had a circulation of 20,000.[3] Betrock left the magazine in 1978, and Andy Schwartz took over as editor until 1982.[4] When the magazine suspended publication in October 1982, Schwartz said, "There are people ready to finance the magazine, to put it on the footing it should be on."[5] However, his optimism that "our chances are a lot better than others" of returning proved unfounded, and the magazine was closed that same year.[6]

It published a total of 55 regular issues during its lifetime, plus a May 1979 issue of pictorial content named PIX and two issues of a resurrected version published by Iman Lababedi in 1984.[7][8]

Ira Kaplan, guitarist and singer for Yo La Tengo, was a critic for the magazine.[9] The dB's wrote and recorded the song, "I Read New York Rocker" in tribute to the magazine and recorded several demos in the magazine's offices.[10]

  1. ^ Powers, Ann (April 15, 2000). "Alan Betrock, 49, Pop Critic and Record Producer". New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  2. ^ Village Voice
  3. ^ Orth, Maureen (March 26, 1979). "The Beat Comes East". New York Magazine. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  4. ^ Gendron, Bernard (2002). "No wave". Between Montmartre and the Mudd Club: popular music and the avant-garde. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-28735-1.
  5. ^ Millman, Joyce (October 26, 1982). "Cellars". The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  6. ^ "New York Rocker". Rock'sbackpages. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  7. ^ "New York Rocker: The Covers (1976 – 1982)". Flashbak. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  8. ^ "The Rock Mag Archive". Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  9. ^ Norris, Chris (May 12, 1997). "It Takes Three to Tengo". New York Magazine. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  10. ^ "dB's". Trouser Press. Retrieved December 31, 2009.