Moody Street Irregulars
Encyclopedia
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
and the Beat Generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
. Edited and published by Joy Walsh, it featured articles, memoirs, reviews and poetry. Published from Clarence Center, New York
Clarence Center, New York
Clarence Center is a hamlet located in the Town of Clarence in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 1,747 at the 2000 census...
, it had a run of 28 issues from Winter 1978 to 1992. Some issues were edited by Walsh with Michael Basinski
Michael Basinski
Michael Basinski is an American text, visual and sound poet. He is the curator of The Poetry/Rare Books Collection of the University Libraries, State University of New York at Buffalo. He performs as a solo poet and with the performance/sound ensemble, Bufffluxus.-References:...
and Ana Pine.
The magazine's approach is indicated by the contents of issue number 9 (1981), a special Vanity of Duluoz
Vanity of Duluoz
Vanity of Duluoz is a 1968 semi-autobiographical novel by Jack Kerouac . The book describes the adventures of Kerouac's alter ego, Jack Duluoz, covering the period of his life between 1935 and 1946...
issue including essays and articles by Gregory Stephenson, John Clellon Holmes
John Clellon Holmes
John Clellon Holmes , born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, was an author, poet and professor, best known for his 1952 novel Go. Considered the first "Beat" novel, Go depicted events in his life with his friends Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg. He was often referred to as the "quiet Beat"...
, Carolyn Cassady
Carolyn Cassady
Carolyn Elizabeth Robinson Cassady is an American writer associated with the Beat Generation through her marriage to Neal Cassady and her friendships with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and other prominent Beat figures...
, plus an interview with William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
by Jennie Skerl.
Issue number 11 (Spring/Summer 1982) was a special "French Connection" issue, featuring articles and essays about Kerouac, his French-Canadian ancestry and his popularity in Quebec.
Issue number 15, published in 1985, was a special "Music Issue":
- “Missing the Beat” by Joel Scherzer
- “Jack and the Beatstalkers” by Warren Peace
- “Kerouac and the Big Beat” by Joel Scherzer
- "Mark MurphyMark Murphy (singer)Mark Murphy is an American jazz singer based in New York. He is most noted for his definitive and unique vocalese and vocal improvisations with both melody and lyrics...
’s Bop for Kerouac" by John Jablonski - “Through a Swinging Looking Glass or Steps to Discovering Jack Kerouac” by Con Holland-Skinner
- Poems: “To Kerouac” by Tony Quagliano, “Thelonious MonkThelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
” by Michael F. Hopkins, “Bird in Paradise” by Steve Dalashinsky, “Jazz for Jack” by Tom Clark, “Aalborg” by Finn Slumstrup, “Jack Kerouac” by Dann Belanger - “The Golden Juke Box” by Kevin Ring
- “Van MorrisonVan MorrisonVan Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
and Kerouac” by Alex Albright - Book reviews, including “Mysteries of MagritteRené MagritteRené François Ghislain Magritte[p] was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images...
” by Harold Norse, “Jack Kerouac” by Tom ClarkTom Clark (poet)Tom Clark is an American poet, editor and biographer. Clark was born on the Near West Side of Chicago and educated at the University of Michigan where he received a Hopwood Award for poetry. On March 22, 1968, he married Angelica Heinegg, at St. Mark’s Church, New York City...
, “All the News” by Mark Pawlak - “Jazz and the Modern Symphony and the News Music”, two articles by Jack Kerouac and Tom Livornese
Contributors
Beat Scene
Beat Scene is a UK-based magazine dedicated to the work, the history and the cultural influences of the Beat Generation. As well the best known and more obscure Beat novelists and poets this has included artists, musicians filmmakers and publishers...
, which also probed and surveyed Beat culture. Ring's publication was launched in Coventry, England in 1988. Dave Moore, of Bristol, UK was a regular contributor and in January 1984 launched his own magazine, The Kerouac Connection, which ran for 30 issues.
Another contributor to Moody Street Irregulars was illustrator Steve Fiorilla
Steve Fiorilla
Steve Fiorilla was an American artist born in Paterson, New Jersey, who lived and worked in Buffalo, New York. Throughout his career, Fiorilla emphasized the grotesque and surreal in illustrations, sculpture and fine art. As a sculptor, he produced a variety of bizarre, malformed creatures...
. who drew both covers and interior art.
Index
In 1990, Textile Bridge Press published Index to Moody Street Irregulars: A Jack Kerouac Newsletter (Esprit Critique Series No 4) by Michael Basinski.The title of the publication derives from the Baker Street Irregulars
Baker Street Irregulars
The Baker Street Irregulars are any of several different groups, all named after the original, from various Sherlock Holmes stories in which they are a gang of young street children whom Holmes often employs to aid his cases.- Original :...
, a group of street urchins often employed by Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
in the novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Dave Moore did not write for Beat Scene at all.
See also
- Beatdom
- Evergreen ReviewEvergreen ReviewEvergreen Review is a U.S.-based literary magazine founded by Barney Rosset, publisher of Grove Press. It existed in print from 1957 through 1973, and was re-launched online in 1998...
- New World WritingNew World WritingNew World Writing was a paperback magazine, a literary anthology series published by New American Library's Mentor imprint from 1951 until 1964....
- The RealistThe RealistThe Realist was a pioneering magazine of "social-political-religious criticism and satire," intended as a hybrid of a grown-ups version of Mad and Lyle Stuart's anti-censorship monthly The Independent. Edited and published by Paul Krassner, and often regarded as a milestone in the American...