Girlyhead 1996–2004

“We are only reviewing stuff we like”, explained editor Sunny Andersen (later Sunny Chanel) in the first issue of Girlyhead, which was published in five issues in San Francisco from 1996 to 2004. The zine demonstrates a fascination with the pin-up models of an older generation—the first issue features a cut-out doll of Brigitte Bardot and a later issue a lengthy profile of Liz Renay—and its visual style is reminiscent of the sexploitation movies of Russ Meyer. The name itself was a reference to fellow publication Gearhead, a title concentrating on a mixture of punk rock and automobile culture. However, Girlyhead, as its name suggests, was written primarily for and by women. Musically eclectic, the zine profiled or interviewed Japanese rock band Guitar Wolf, the French-born singer Claudine Longet, the French prog rock band Magma, as well as U.S. punk groups The Camps and Scared of Chaka. The fourth issue–a special issue on the theme of romance–juxtaposed profiles of the new wave rock band Adam and Ants and bestselling romance novelist Barbara Cartland.