Ugly Things is a music magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 established in 1983, based in La Mesa, CA. Editor is Mike Stax, born 1962, England. It covers mainly 1960s Beat

Beat music

Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll, doo wop, skiffle, R&B and soul...

, Garage rock

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...

, and Psychedelic music

Psychedelic music

Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...

 ("Wild Sounds From Past Dimensions"). The title Ugly Things is a pun that refers to the band The Pretty Things

The Pretty Things

The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...

.

History

Contributing writers include such names as Mick Farren

Mick Farren

Michael Anthony 'Mick' Farren is an English journalist, author and singer associated with counterculture and the UK Underground.-Music:...

, Alan Clayson

Alan Clayson

Alan Clayson is a singer-songwriter, who was popular in the late 1970s as leader of Clayson and the Argonauts...

, Richie Unterberger

Richie Unterberger

Richie Unterberger is a US author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.-Life and writing:Having worked as a DJ at WXPN in Philadelphia, he started reviewing records for Op magazine in 1983...

, Doug Sheppard, Michael Lynch, Miriam Linna

Miriam Linna

Miriam Linna has run the Brooklyn-based independent record label Norton Records since 1986 with her husband—the producer and singer-songwriter Billy Miller...

, Phil X Milstein, Don Craine, Mark St John, Pete Innes, Lenny Helsing and Michael Lucas

Michael Lucas

Michael Lucas is the name of:* Michael Lucas , performer in and director of gay pornographic films* Michael Lucas , artist, designer, and political activist...

. San Diego City Beat reviewed Ugly Things in an article titled, "Mike Stax of Ugly Things: A local scenester's internationally known music magazine."

The Lama Workshop editor Patrick Lundborg

Patrick Lundborg

Patrick Lundborg is a writer on pop culture and author of the book The Acid Archives.Lundborg has a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Science from Stockholm University, 1991. With special focus on psychedelic music and culture, Lundborg has published four books and written numerous...

 has stated about UT and editor Mike Stax: "1980s (music) zines have retired into the great recycling container in the sky (it's down to UT, Shindig!, and Misty Lane now), Mike Stax has managed not only to keep it alive, but expand his trip in various directions, and in the process become one of the very best -- perhaps THE very best -- 1960s-oriented writer out there."

A review of Ugly Things in Head Press by David Kerekes sums up the publication, "When it comes to garage rock and everything associated with “wild sounds from past dimensions”, there is little to compare to the magnitude that is the mighty Ugly Things."
.

In "My Rock and Roll Magazine Rack", Mark Boudreau (of rockandrollreport.com) writes about Ugly Things, "Absolutely encyclopedic in its knowledge of arcane rock and roll, Ugly Things is a rock and roll fan's delight.".

The Mod-Sixties Webring says of Ugly Things, "For fans of '60s beat, punk, R&B, garage, psych and freakbeat Ugly Things magazine has been the place to go for over 15 years".

UT Records

In 2002 Mike Stax started his own 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,...

 and released an album by The Misunderstood

The Misunderstood

The Misunderstood were a psychedelic rock band originating from Riverside, California in the mid-1960s. The band moved to London early in their career, and although they recorded only a handful of songs before being forced to disband, they are considered highly influential in the then-emerging...

 on "UT Records" that received International media coverage.

UT Publishing

Currently Stax is working as co-writer (with Rick Brown

Richard Shaw Brown

Richard Shaw "Rick" Brown was the lead singer, harmonica player, and co-song writer of Psychedelic group The Misunderstood. The Misunderstood were a rock band originating from Riverside, California in the mid-1960s...

) on a feature film about The Misunderstood. A novel: "Like, Misunderstood" - based on the script was published in October 2007.

Music

Mike Stax is also lead singer of his own band, The Loons Ref. The Loons on MySpace
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