CREEM Celebrates Legendary Rock Journalist Lester Bangs’ 75th Birthday With Winter Issue Out Today

Today, CREEM released its Winter 2023 edition – The Lester Bangs Issue, featuring a retrospective on the iconic magazine’s former editor and celebrated rock journalist Lester Bangs in honor of what would have been his 75th birthday on December 14. Legendary artist Gary Ciccarelli, illustrator of classic 1970’s CREEM covers (KISS, Paul McCartney, Elton John), returns with an original image of Bangs.

Lester couldn't stomach puff pieces, so expect a warts and all look at his work, life and legacy by those who knew him best, including the original CREEM staffers who worked beside him daily. Part remembrance, part reckoning, and part reason to ask what happened to music criticism since his death, the issue features archive selections, a Lester Bangs Ouija board Q&A, How Not To Be A Rock Critic with Jeff Tweedy and unpublished work found around the office, including Lester’s letter to CREEM founder and publisher Barry Kramer that touches on journalistic themes from typewriters to health insurance.

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Celebrating one year of the magazine’s audacious relaunch after a 33 year hiatus, The CREEM Box Set is also available in time for the holidays, including the year's previous issues like CREEM vs. The ‘90s and beyond. The collectible set has one copy each of CREEM #001 through #005, available through December or while supplies last. Pair it with a gift subscription for any music fan this season. 

Lester Bangs worked in Detroit as an editor of CREEM from 1971 to 1976, defining the magazine’s cheerful but aggressive, punk-gonzo voice. It was in the pages of CREEM that Bangs honed his signature fast-and-loose style, deploying words like the rhythms and riffs of the music he bled for. “Where others idealized the rock 'n' roll lifestyle or presented a distant academic version of it, he lived it, reveling in its excesses, drawing energy from its din, and matching its passion in prose that erupted from the pages of Rolling Stone, CREEM, and the Village Voice,” Jim DeRogatis writes in Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs. “In the process he became a peer of the artists he celebrated, brash visionaries and dedicated individualists such as Captain Beefheart, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, and most of all Lou Reed, with whom he had a relationship that was equal parts Johnson/Boswell, Vidal/Mailer, and Mozart/Salieri.”

Lester Bangs, Patti Smith, and Lou Reed in 1975. Photo Credit: Kate Simon

One of the most surprising recent media relaunches, in the past year CREEM has proven that a truly rock ‘n’ roll print magazine can still be successful in a digital age. From classic coverage (The Who, Black Sabbath, Metallica) to new faces (Viagra Boys, Sleaford Mods, Bully) and everything that CREEM missed in between (Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, Paramore), readership has become bigger and even more engaged than anyone imagined. Visionary artists like Raymond Pettibon (Vanity Fair - Sonic Youth, Black Flag) and Jeremy Dean (Grateful Dead/Black Flag tees, Rolling Stones) have designed CREEM’s new covers and merch lines. 

Founded in 1969 Detroit, CREEM grew from underground paper to national powerhouse - an essential source of music journalism for twenty years. It reflected and shaped the culture, cultivating some of the most legendary writing talent of the era: Lester Bangs, Cameron Crowe, Patti Smith, Robert Christgau and Jaan Uhelszki, who now returns as Editorial Director. The magazine’s original rise and fall is chronicled in the critically-acclaimed 2020 documentary CREEM: America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine, which earned praise everywhere from The New York Times to CBS This Morning. 

Today, CREEM Entertainment is led by former VICE publisher John Martin as CEO, alongside Chairman JJ Kramer (son of original CREEM co-founder & publisher Barry Kramer). In addition to Uhelszki, the new CREEM editorial staff includes VP of Content Fred Pessaro formerly of VICE’s Noisey and Executive Editor Dan Morrissey from Entertainment Weekly. Zachary Lipez is Editor at Large, following his work with Pitchfork, The Washington Post and others. Last fall, CREEM welcomed Stephanie Augello as Photo Editor. Augello is an entertainment photographer and editor who has worked with Live Nation, Shutterstock Editorial, and ABC.

The Lester Bangs Issue includes:

Editor-at-large Zachary Lipez on the everlasting yet ever fluctuating influence of Lester Bangs.

How NOT to Be a Rock Critic

Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, an interview vet if there ever was one, helps us outline some rules on what NOT to do.

Women Talking

A veritable hen house of CREEM's former staff gets the last word on Lester's legacy with the ladies.

The Lester Letter

Bangs kicked off 1976 by sitting at his typewriter for two weeks and unloading on CREEM founder Barry Kramer. Here, for the first time ever, is that letter.

Ghosted

CREEM summons Lester via Ouija Board to ask about the current state of music.

Plus selections from the CREEM archive, curated and introduced by some classic CREEM writers carrying the Bangs torch/torching the Bangs myth.

Lester Bangs in the CREEM office. Photo Credit: Charlie Auringer

Other features in the Winter 2023 issue include:

It’s Midnight

Jamie Walters of Cleveland’s sleaziest metal band gives CREEM a look under the hood.

by J. Bennett

Crash and Burn

The slippery slope from loving the Germs to robbing banks.

by Shane Enholm

Pump Up the Volume 2

Lenny Kaye and the unearthing of more Nuggets.

by Eric Davidson 

Salem’s Lot

The dirtbag duo emerge for another bumpy ride.

by Meaghan Garvey

Darling Nikki

Photographer Nikki Sneakers keeps her shutter—and her heart—open at all times.

Plus, Ace Frehley, John Waters, Mitski, Mike Pike, Phish, Buckcherry, Devendra Banhart, Fiddlehead, cumgirl8

About CREEM Entertainment:

CREEM Entertainment is the modern-day reincarnation of Detroit's legendary CREEM Magazine. During its initial twenty-year run, CREEM launched the careers of countless iconic music journalists and bands, while never hesitating to lampoon those who took themselves too seriously. Today's CREEM, powered by the next generation of cage-rattling truth tellers and provocateurs, delivers the best content, merchandise, and experiences to rock 'n' roll fans of all ages. Boy Howdy!

For more information on CREEM, please contact:

Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com)

Shannon Cosgrove (scosgrove@shorefire.com)