Greg Shaw
Encyclopedia
Greg Shaw was a Los Angeles
-based fanzine
publisher, music historian and record label
owner. He grew up near San Francisco, California
.
It was as a young teenager that he started writing about rock and roll
music. His first zines were Tolkien related, but among them was also a mimeographed sheet called Mojo Navigator (full title, "Mojo-Navigator Rock and Roll News") started in 1966 by David Harris with Greg's help, and is said to have been an early inspiration for Rolling Stone magazine. In the 1970s he moved to Los Angeles with wife and partner Suzy Shaw and started another fanzine, called Who Put the Bomp
, popularly known as simply Bomp!, or Bomp magazine. Greg's writing appeared in Bomp!, of which he was editor and publisher, as well as Creem
, Phonograph Record Magazine, and occasionally, Rolling Stone. He also wrote a book about Elton John
while on staff as a writer for United Artists records. Bomp featured many writers who would later become prominent, including Lester Bangs
, Greil Marcus
, Richard Meltzer
, and Ken Barnes.
During the 1970s, Greg worked for Sire Records
, and was instrumental in the signing of The Flamin' Groovies, a band that he also managed for a couple of years. In 1974 Bomp! became a record label, and Greg released records by Devo
, The Weirdos
, Iggy Pop
and worked with several artists including Stiv Bators
and the Dead Boys
. He signed, and distributed, power pop
and new wave acts such as Shoes
, The Nerves
, The Plimsouls
and The Romantics
. Bomp! Records
was a LA record store for a couple of years, as well as one of the first independent distributors in the U.S.
In the 1980s, Greg Shaw helped launch the garage
revival scene with bands such as The Miracle Workers
and The Pandoras
. He also released music by Spacemen 3
and The Brian Jonestown Massacre
in the mid to late-1990s, and appears in the Sundance award-winning documentary Dig!
. In 1994, he associated with Patrick Boissel's Alive Records
, a label with music by The Black Keys
, Two Gallants (band)
, Soledad Brothers, Black Diamond Heavies
, Brian Olive, Thomas Function, and many other artists.
In addition, Greg was known as a record collector, archivist, and historian, and started the "Pebbles
" series in the early-1980s, a project inspired by Lenny Kaye
's 1972 Nuggets
reissue.
Greg Shaw died of heart failure in Los Angeles
at the age of 55.
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
-based fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
publisher, music historian and record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
owner. He grew up near San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
.
It was as a young teenager that he started writing about rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
music. His first zines were Tolkien related, but among them was also a mimeographed sheet called Mojo Navigator (full title, "Mojo-Navigator Rock and Roll News") started in 1966 by David Harris with Greg's help, and is said to have been an early inspiration for Rolling Stone magazine. In the 1970s he moved to Los Angeles with wife and partner Suzy Shaw and started another fanzine, called Who Put the Bomp
Who Put the Bomp
Who Put The Bomp was a rock music fanzine edited and published by Greg Shaw from 1970-79. Later its name was shortened to "Bomp!". Shaw was one of the first and best known rock fanzine editors. Active in science fiction fandom as a young man, he became familiar with fanzines...
, popularly known as simply Bomp!, or Bomp magazine. Greg's writing appeared in Bomp!, of which he was editor and publisher, as well as Creem
Creem
Creem , "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine," was a monthly rock 'n' roll publication first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. It suspended production in 1989 but received a short-lived renaissance in the early 1990s as a glossy tabloid...
, Phonograph Record Magazine, and occasionally, Rolling Stone. He also wrote a book about Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
while on staff as a writer for United Artists records. Bomp featured many writers who would later become prominent, including Lester Bangs
Lester Bangs
Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist, author and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock 'n' roll criticism....
, Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a much broader framework of culture and politics than is customary in pop music journalism.-Life and career:Marcus was born in San Francisco...
, Richard Meltzer
Richard Meltzer
Richard Meltzer was one of the earliest rock music critics. His first book, The Aesthetics of Rock, evolved out of his undergraduate studies in philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and graduate studies at Yale University...
, and Ken Barnes.
During the 1970s, Greg worked for Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
, and was instrumental in the signing of The Flamin' Groovies, a band that he also managed for a couple of years. In 1974 Bomp! became a record label, and Greg released records by Devo
Devo
Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
, The Weirdos
The Weirdos
The Weirdos were an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California. They formed in 1976 and broke up in 1981, were occasionally active in the 1980s, and recorded new material in the 1990s...
, Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
and worked with several artists including Stiv Bators
Stiv Bators
Stiv Bators , was an American punk rockvocalist and guitarist from Youngstown, Ohio. He is best remembered for his bands, The Dead Boys and The Lords of the New Church.- Music and film career :...
and the Dead Boys
The Dead Boys
The Dead Boys were an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. Among the first wave of early punk bands, the Dead Boys were initially active from 1976 to 1979, briefly reuniting in 1987, 2004 and 2005.-Formation and 1970s punk rock era:...
. He signed, and distributed, power pop
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...
and new wave acts such as Shoes
Shoes (band)
Shoes are an American power pop band, formed in Zion, Illinois, in 1974 by brothers John and Jeff Murphy, and Gary Klebe and incorporating several different drummers over the years including Skip Meyer, Barry Shumaker, Ric Menck, John Richardson, and Jeff Hunter. The Murphy brothers and Klebe were...
, The Nerves
The Nerves
The Nerves were a mid-'70s American power pop trio based in Los Angeles, featuring guitarist Jack Lee, bassist Peter Case, and drummer Paul Collins. All three members composed songs and sang. They managed an international tour in the U.S. and Canada, including dates with The Ramones, and...
, The Plimsouls
The Plimsouls
The Plimsouls are an American rock band formed in Paramount, California in 1978.-Formation:Formed by singer, guitarist and songwriter Peter Case , the Plimsouls began as a trio in 1978 which included Case, bassist Dave Pahoa and drummer Louie Ramírez...
and The Romantics
The Romantics
The Romantics is an American New Wave band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1977. The band adopted the name "The Romantics" because they formed on Valentine's Day, 1977. The Romantics achieved popularity in the United Kingdom, The U.S...
. Bomp! Records
Bomp! Records
Bomp! Records is an Los Angeles-based indie label formed in 1974 by fanzine publisher and music historian Greg Shaw.-History:The label has featured punk, pop, powerpop, garage rock, new wave, old school rock, neo-psychedelia among other genres, and its roster has included artists such as The Modern...
was a LA record store for a couple of years, as well as one of the first independent distributors in the U.S.
In the 1980s, Greg Shaw helped launch the garage
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
revival scene with bands such as The Miracle Workers
The Miracle Workers
The Miracle Workers were a rock and roll band in the 1980s, who began as a garage rock revival band in Portland, Oregon.-Background:The Miracle Workers were formed in January 1982 by Gerry Mohr , and Joel Barnett . The original guitarist and drummer, who were friends of Gerry's, but weren't...
and The Pandoras
The Pandoras
The Pandoras were an all-female rock and roll band from Los Angeles, California from 1983–1991, who found a following in the Hollywood "Paisley Underground" scene and later adapted a more contemporary Sunset Boulevard, hard rock look and sound. The band ended when, on August 10, 1991 band leader...
. He also released music by Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3 were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce. Their music was "colorfully mind-altering, but not in the sense of the acid rock of the '60s; instead, the band developed its own minimalistic psychedelia"...
and The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American eclectic musical group led by Anton Newcombe, whose music spans multiple genres including psychedelia, electronica, folk music, blues, experimental music, and many others....
in the mid to late-1990s, and appears in the Sundance award-winning documentary Dig!
DiG!
Dig! is a 2004 documentary film directed by Ondi Timoner, and produced by Timoner, Vasco Nunes, and David Timoner. Compiled from seven years of footage, it contrasts the developing careers of the bands The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre and the bands' respective frontmen Courtney...
. In 1994, he associated with Patrick Boissel's Alive Records
Alive Records
Alive Naturalsound Records – also known simply as Alive Records – started in 1994 in Los Angeles, California, by Patrick Boissel, is an independent record label specializing in garage rock, punk blues, garage punk, psychedelic rock, power pop and blues-rock music. It grew out of Boissel's...
, a label with music by The Black Keys
The Black Keys
The Black Keys are an American rock duo consisting of vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. The band was formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. As of October 2011, the band has sold over 2 million albums in the U.S....
, Two Gallants (band)
Two Gallants (band)
Two Gallants is a folk rock duo from San Francisco, California. The name comes from the title of a story by James Joyce in Dubliners.-History:Two Gallants are made up of Adam Stephens on guitar, harmonica and vocals and Tyson Vogel Two Gallants is a folk rock duo from San Francisco, California....
, Soledad Brothers, Black Diamond Heavies
Black Diamond Heavies
Black Diamond Heavies is a United States blues-rock band originating from Nashville, TN. The band is composed of John Wesley Myers aka Reverend James Leg, formerly of The Immortal Lee County Killers, on bass keys, Fender Rhodes, organ, and vocals with Van Campbell on drums.- Style :After the...
, Brian Olive, Thomas Function, and many other artists.
In addition, Greg was known as a record collector, archivist, and historian, and started the "Pebbles
Pebbles series
Pebbles is an extensive series of compilation albums in both LP and CD formats that have been issued on several record labels, though mostly by AIP...
" series in the early-1980s, a project inspired by Lenny Kaye
Lenny Kaye
Lenny Kaye is an American guitarist, composer and writer who is best known as a member of the Patti Smith Group.- Early life :...
's 1972 Nuggets
Nuggets
- Music :* Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968, a compilation of U.S. psychedelic rock released between 1965 and 1968...
reissue.
Greg Shaw died of heart failure in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
at the age of 55.