1998 Vintage JUSTIN HAMPTON Artist THE ROCKET # 292 Newspaper Seattle

Description

Selling 1998 Vintage JUSTIN HAMPTON Artist THE ROCKET # 292 Newspaper Seattle
"
Justin Hampton is one of the leaders in the modern rock poster scene. His bold imagery & sublime color palette mixed with a vivid imagination are unmistakable."
"Justin Hampton has been creating high impact imagery since his arrival on the art scene in 1990. He began his tenure in Seattle working for famed graphic designers Art Chantry and Jeff Kleinsmith at the Rocket Magazine. A decade and a half later, he is renowned as one of the leaders in the modern rock poster scene and has garnered international attention for his illustrations, fine art and comic books. After 20 years in Seattle, Justin has recently relocated to Portland, Oregon...   More information about Justin Hampton can be found at his web site:
http://www.justinhampton.com"
CHeck out my other music related listings at:
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The Rocket
(newspaper)
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Cover of the April 7–21, 1999 issue of
The Rocket
(Issue #299)
The Rocket
was a free
biweekly
newspaper
serving the
Pacific Northwest
region of the
United States
, published from 1979–2000. The newspaper's chief purpose was to document local music. This focus distinguished it from other area weeklies such as the
Seattle Weekly
and the
Willamette Week
, which reported more on local news and politics. Originally solely a
Seattle
-based newspaper, a
Portland
,
Oregon
edition was introduced in 1991. In general, the two editions contained the same content, with some slight variations (i.e., different concert calendars) although occasionally they ran different cover stories.
Contents
1
Publication history
2
Final years
3
References
4
External links
Publication history
Bob McChesney
, the paper's founder and publisher, had been active as a salesman for the
Seattle Sun
, a weekly
alternative newspaper
that competed with the
Seattle Weekly
. Frustrated by the paper’s refusal to cover Seattle’s then-burgeoning music-scene, the
Sun’s
arts editor,
Robert Ferrigno
, and art director, Bob Newman, started
The Rocket
as a companion publication to the
Sun
, with its first issue appearing in October 1979. By April of the following year, Ferrigno, Newman and McChesney raised enough money to produce the issues of
The Rocket
on their own. Ferrigno would edit the publication from 1979–1982. Published on a monthly schedule, during that period
The Rocket
had articles about such bands as
Patti Smith
,
The Blackouts
, The Enemy, and The Jitters, (led by
PK Dwyer
.) Publisher McChesney insisted that the newspaper also cover major label arena bands, and Ferrigno and his writing staff reluctantly agreed to do so, but only if they could “trash them” in the articles.
[1]
By January 1982, the paper’s circulation had grown to 50,000 copies per month. The magazine managed to attract writers and cartoonists such as Jeff Christensen, Roberta Penn,
Lynda Barry
,
John Keister
, Wes Anderson,
Charles R. Cross
and
Scott McCaughey
. The editors and writers constantly attempted to cover only “fairly obscure alternative bands” in the local area, such as
The Fartz
, The Allies, The Heats/The Heaters, Visible Targets, Red Dress, and The Cowboys. Publisher McChesney continued to insist that “mainstream material” be given equal time.
[2]
In April 1982,
[3]
Ferrigno quit the newspaper and Newman took over as editor. By the end of 1983, McChesney had also left.
The Rocket
continued to attract new writing talent, including Daina Darzin, Craig Tomashoff,
Ann Powers
, Jim Emerson,
Gillian G. Gaar
, Brent Lorang, Grant Alden, and
Dennis Eichhorn
.
Matt Groening
provided some cover art during this period.
Bruce Pavitt
began a monthly column called "
Sub Pop
U.S.A." devoted to the independent and underground music scene in Seattle and other parts of the U.S. Cover stars included
The Young Fresh Fellows
, who at the time of their
Rocket
feature had only performed live a dozen or so times. At the end of 1984, the newspaper printed a list of the “10 Hottest Northwest Bands”, which consisted of:
Fastbacks
,
54-40
,
D.O.A.
, Hosannah Choir, Girltalk, Ellipsis,
Robert Cray Band
,
Metal Church
, The Young Fresh Fellows, and
The U-Men
.
[4]
In 1986, Charles R. Cross became the paper’s editor and remained in that capacity until
The Rocket
’s demise. In the mid-1980s,
heavy metal music
developed a strong following in the Pacific Northwest, and the paper had cover stories on such bands as
Slayer
,
Wild Dogs
,
Queensrÿche
, and Metal Church. By 1988, that scene had pretty much faded, and
The Rocket
’s editorial focus shifted to covering the pre-
grunge
local
alternative rock
bands that were even then beginning to attract national attention. Long before any other publication took notice of them,
Soundgarden
and
Nirvana
became
Rocket
cover stars in 1988.
[5]
In December 1989,
The Rocket
celebrated its tenth anniversary by hosting a “Nine for the 90’s” concert with a mix of what the paper felt were Seattle’s most promising new bands, including
Love Battery
,
The Posies
, High Performance Crew,
The Walkabouts
, The Young Fresh Fellows, and
Alice in Chains
.
[6]
In 1991,
The Rocket
introduced its Portland, Oregon edition, which generally simply mirrored the Seattle-version, with only the concert listing pages offering different contents. The following year, publication of the paper switched from monthly to bi-weekly frequency.
Final years
In 1995, Cross sold the paper to
BAM Media
, a
San Francisco
-based company that published several music-related publications. BAM utilized the profitable
Rocket
“to float its other papers” for years, which slowly drained
The Rocket
of its money while the other papers never managed to find their footing. In August 2000, BAM shut down all of its floundering projects and sold
The Rocket
to Dave Roberts, the publisher of
Illinois Entertainer
. Roberts reduced the size of the office, purchased some new computers for the staff, paid for a few
promotions
, and gave the appearance that he was seriously attempting to revitalize the publication.
However, only a few weeks later “almost everyone's paychecks bounced”, and Roberts abruptly advised the entire staff that the magazine was shutting down immediately. No explanation was provided to any of the staff members as to the reason for the publication’s closure.
The Rocket
’s final issue was dated October 18, 2000.
[7]
According to
The Seattle Times
, during its final years
The Rocket'
s readership was stronger than ever, with circulation having reached 55,000 copies in Seattle and 36,000 in Portland. After the magazine's demise, former publisher Charles Cross stated, "This was not about
The Rocket
not being read or respected or advertised in. It's just been poorly run the last few years..."
[8]