Certain substances 1981

A one-off fanzine produced anonymously in the 1980s by Alan Rider—who also edited Adventures in reality, Not the job hunter, Sticky fingers, and Negative reaction—Certain substances spoofed the contemporaneous music scene of Coventry, England. In the author's own words: Certain substances was “the first of three A6 sized spoof fanzines that I produced in the same year (1981), not really as any sort of planned spin-off from Adventures in reality, but mainly to amuse myself. Because of their small size they were far easier to produce than Adventures in reality and much cheaper to print, with each magazine consisting of just two double-sided A4 photocopied sheets cut and folded to create an 8-page booklet. There were a few serious reviews included (a single review, a live review of The Wild Boys, plus a rather pathetic list of the local groups I liked) which in hindsight spoilt it a bit. I should have stuck to the satire. The cover was one of my favourites of all those I had designed, a line cartoon of a dinosaur sharing its thought bubble with two teenage boys. That probably made perfect (non)sense at the time! The back page featured a photograph I had taken of the sign next to the track at Coventry train station. It read: "Coventry, city of skills and opportunities.” Inspiring stuff. Or would have been if the sign hadn’t stood in the middle of an industrial wasteland of derelict factories and rusting metal! You just couldn’t make it up. Only 50 copies were produced, all of the covers were hand-coloured, and it was only sold through the left-wing Wedge bookshop in Coventry High Street. The posters advertising it deliberately made it sound like it was all about drugs. That must have worked, because it quickly sold out."