Perverts Wanted

Just kidding… or maybe not. We need artists and we need art about sex. Whether that means something depraved or something tasteful, let us know. We are open-minded.

Issue Eight Update

Thanks to everyone who’s thus far contributed to Beatdom’s eighth issue. I know it’s a long time coming, but be patient – it’ll be here in January, and it’ll be better than ever.

The theme of this issue, as you know, if SEX.

On the Road Anniversary

Thanks to Michael Hendrick for reminding me… Today is the 53rd anniversary of the publication of On the Road.  Jack Kerouac’s classic was published September 5th 1957, and has been inspiring people ever since. As Bob Dylan said, “It changed my life like it changed everyone else’s.”

Finding the Beat Video

Here’s a project we could not endorse more… Finding the Beat is not just a favourite of Beatdom because it features our writers. It is simply an awesome idea for a movie. I sincerely believe that the finished version of this film will be a modern classic – a Beatific documentary.
If you’ve been following their progress you will know how far they’ve come. Finding the Beat has four of its ten intended subjects and they’re currently a hot topic on the interweb.

Beatdom #7 Released!

Beatdom’s seventh issue is now available to buy or to read online for free. Please take a look at our website for more details.

(Here’s the cover…)

Quick Update

I’ve been busy getting issue seven ready these past few weeks, and cconsequently haven’t been updating this blog as much as I’d like. Hopefully that will change after the release, which is scheduled for next month.

The Beatdom Facebook page is doing well. I’m always happy to see people participating. This isn’t the sort of magazine I want people just to read… I want you all to feel like part of the Beatdom family. I know that sounds silly and cheesy… but there you go. It’s true.

Issue Seven Update

About Issue Seven:

Firstly, I apologise for the delay in releasing this issue. Beatdom is a strange beast. As a not-for-profit organisation we don’t have the funding we’d like, and so it takes a while to get things done. All of our regular staff work their own jobs, live their own lives, and contribute their valuable time to making Beatdom what it is.

These past few months have been busier than most. We’ve had the new www.beatdom.com in production for a long time, but it looks set to be worth it. This website will be a drastic improvement on the last.

We’ve also been busy with competitions and internships and all sorts of company growth… but we haven’t entirely put off releasing this seventh issue. Beatdom #7 is set to be a good one.

The theme of this coming issue is “music.” That means we’ll be looking at the relationship between music and literature (specifically the Beats) as well as a few contemporary poems and short stories that deal with the subject of music.

So far we have essays on:

• Hunter S. Thompson and the Music of the 1960s
• John Lennon and the Beat Generation
• Allen Ginsberg and Music
• Jim Carroll
• William S. Burroughs and Rock Music
• Patti Smith, Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg
• Bob Dylan and the Beats
• Isaac Bonan is back with some new illustrations!
• We also have interviews, poems and fiction that will blow your minds

Changing Beatdom

The first six issues of Beatdom were a little expensive, and a little difficult to purchase. I think you all for supporting us, and I’ve been trying my hardest (along with everyone at Beatdom) to lower the price, increase distribution and get the magazine into as many hands as possible.

I believe that is about to happen with Issue Seven. The new www.beatdom.com will have its own store, so you don’t need to go to another retailer, and we will send Beatdom to you at what I hope will be around half the regular price. Once all is finalised, we’ll be offering subscriptions at further discounts.

Hunter S. Thompson’s Ten Best Albums of the 1960s

I’ve been busy working on an essay for Beatdom #7, titled, “Hunter S. Thompson and the Music of the 1960s.”

Anyway that knows anything about HST knows that’s a pretty broad topic, with plenty of material to study. HST was a music fiend. He once said, “I’ve been arguing for years now that music is the New Literature, that Dylan is the 1960s’ answer to Hemingway.”

My research brought me across a 1970 letter that he wrote to Rolling Stone editor John Lombardi, that contains “Raoul Duke’s” ten best albums of the 1960s…

1)     Herbie Mann’s 1969 Memphis Underground

2)     Bob Dylan’s 1965 Bringing It All Back Home (especially noted as “Mr. Tambourine Man” in his letter)

3)     Dylan’s 1965 Highway 61 Revisited

4)     The Grateful Dead’s 1970 Workingman’s Dead

5)     The Rolling Stones’ 1969 Let it Bleed

6)     Buffalo Springfield’s 1967 Buffalo Springfield

7)     Jefferson Airplane’s 1967 Surrealistic Pillow

8)     Roland Kirk’s “various albums”

9)     Miles Davis’s 1959 Sketches of Spain

10)  Sandy Bull’s 1965 Inventions

Kerouac Best Dressed Man?

According to Esquire magazine, Jack Kerouac is the 23rd best dressed man in the history of the world. Why? “Because during the decade that brought the world The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, Kerouac embraced workwear as both a functional uniform and a nod to nonconformity.”

There’s no mention of Allen Ginsberg or William Burroughs. Certainly, I’m not surprised Ginsberg failed to make the cut. The hippies aren’t exactly venerated for their impact on the world of male fashion, but I always held Burroughs as a particularly well dressed guy. His hats and suits sat well with his creepy face and haunting voice.

And where the hell is Hunter S. Thompson? You’re telling me that Hawaiian shirts and cargo shorts didn’t make the cut? “Cavemen” were collectively no #1 and “Dandies” no #2!

Also on the list are Tom Wolfe, Bob Dylan and Johnny Depp.