B-Side was a bi-monthly American alternative rock-and-roll magazine published from 1986 to 1996, based in the Philadelphia area. It placed particular emphasis on goth and industrial artists.

History B-Side magazine, described by MTV as an "seminal East Coast fanzine," was founded by Sandra. C. Davis, Sandra A. Garcia, and Carol Schutzbank in 1986. Garcia and Davis met Schutzbank through their work contributing to Terminal!, an earlier Philadelphia fanzine that had folded. They all held multiple roles with the new publication. Davis and Garcia were the publishers and art directors, later relabeled Design Direction. Davis was also the photo editor and principal photographer. Garcia was the executive managing editor and a writer. Schutzbank, who handled ad sales, marketing, and publicity, was also the senior contributing editor and a writer. Schutzbank was a fixture of the Philadelphia music scene; in addition to her work on B-Side, she also managed local bands such as Ruin and she co-producer the Delaware Valley Music Poll Awards. Garcia took over as advertising manager following Schutzbank's 1995 death.

Content in the bi-monthly publication included artist interviews, concert reviews, album reviews and overviews of festivals such as the New Music Seminar, South by Southwest, and the Reading Festival. It featured both editorial coverage and advertisements for major and independent label artists. Although other music alternative magazines also covered the music that was most popular on college radio and MTV's 120 Minutes in its era, B-Side carved a unique identity with an emphasis on goth and industrial music, evidenced by multiple cover stories on Gene Loves Jezebel, Ministry, and Skinny Puppy, and early championing of Nine Inch Nails. Ministry manager Jon Zarzula commented that, with regard to credibility with fans, "I'd rather be in B-Side than Rolling Stone." With three women at the top of its masthead and well represented among contributors, the magazine provided more coverage of female artists than was typical among music magazines of the period. For example, Siouxsie Sioux graced the cover three times, twice with Siouxsie & the Banshees and once with the Creatures. Garcia and Davis demonstrated their background and skill in graphic design in the magazine's layout.

B-Side produced 57 issues with improved production quality over its nearly 10-year run. The first dozen were black and white tabloids. With the February/March 1989 issue, it switched to a staple-bound format, still on black and white newsprint, but with a colored border around the glossy cover. It added a full color cover in December 1990/January 1991 and color interior pages in 1993. Circulation peaked at 30,000. Although primarily distributed in the U.S. and Canada, Tower Records carried it in their London stores. The magazine is still held by at least 14 libraries.https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/29807340

Publication was based in the Philadelphia area, initially in the suburb of Fort Washington, PA before jumping across the Delaware River to Burlington, NJ in 1990. Although many contributors were Philadelphia-based, from the start the roster included UK-based writer Andy Darlington, and the masthead soon credited contributors based in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and elsewhere, eventually including Toronto and Iceland. Staff included writers Joey Sweeney, who started writing while still in high school and before landing a column for Philadelphia Weekly and co-founding Philebrity.com; Bruce Warren, who was already a DJ at WXPN, where he would eventually be named Program Director; and Chicago-based photographer Bobby Talamine.https://www.bobbytalamine.com/

The magazine ceased publication in 1996.

List of Issues

+ Issue Cover Stories Issue No. Issue Date Artist 1 Nov/Dec 1986 Cabaret Voltaire 2 Feb/Mar 1987 Gene Loves Jezebel 3 Apr/May 1987 Love and Rockets 4 Jun/Jul 1987 Peter Murphy 5 Aug/Sep 1987 The Mission U.K. 6 Oct/Nov 1987 Wire 7 Dec 1987/Jan 1988 Gene Loves Jezebel 8 Feb/Mar 1988 The Bolshoi 9 Apr/May 1988 Flesh for Lulu 10 Jun/Jul 1988 Robyn Hitchcock 11 Aug/Sep 1988 Love and Rockets 12 Oct/Nov 1988 The Sugarcubes 13 Feb/Mar 1989 Siouxsie & the Banshees 14 Apr/May 1989 Ministry 15 Jun/Jul 1989 New Model Army 16 Aug/Sep 1989 The Fall 18 Dec 1989/Jan 1990 The B-52s 19 Feb/Mar 1990 Peter Murphy 20 Apr/May 1990 The Creatures 21 Jun/Jul 1990 Nine Inch Nails 22 Aug/Sep 1990 Revenge 22 Aug/Sep 1990 Ryuichi Sakamoto 23 Oct/Nov 1990 Gene Loves Jezebel 24 Dec 1990/Jan 1991 Skinny Puppy 25 Feb/Mar 1991 Front 242 26 Apr/May 1991 Sisters of Mercy 27 Jun/Jul 1991 Jesus Jones 28 Aug/Sep 1991 Pigface 29 Oct/Nov 1991 Psychedelic Furs 30 Dec 1991/Jan 1992 Nitzer Ebb 31 Feb/Mar 1992 Ministry 32 Apr/May 1992 The Church 33 Jun/Jul 1992 Curve 34 Aug/Sep 1992 Front Line Assembly 35 Oct/Nov 1992 Skinny Puppy 36 Dec 1992/Jan 1993 Medicine 37 Feb/Mar 1993 The The 38 Apr/May 1993 Jesus Jones 39 Jun/Jul 1993 New Model Army 40 Aug/Sep 1993 An Emotional Fish 41 Oct/Nov 1993 Front 242 41 Oct/Nov 1993 Juliana Hatfield 41 Oct/Nov 1993 Tool 41 Oct/Nov 1993 Truman's Water 42 Dec 1993/Jan 1994 Curve 42 Dec 1993/Jan 1994 Dead Can Dance 43 Feb/Mar 1994 Nine Inch Nails 44 Apr/May 1994 Tori Amos 45 Jun/Jul 1994 Autechre 45 Jun/Jul 1994 Cabaret Voltaire 45 Jun/Jul 1994 The Orb 46 Aug/Sep 1994 Luscious Jackson 47 Oct/Nov 1994 Love and Rockets 48 Dec 1994/Jan 1995 The Cranberries 49 Feb/Mar 1995 Siouxsie & the Banshees 50 May/Jun 1995 50th issue collage 51 Jul/Aug 1995 Radiohead 52 Sep/Oct 1995 David Bowie53Nov/Dec 1995Alanis Morissette54Jan/Feb 1996Julian Cope55Mar/Apr 1996Gavin Friday56May/Jun 1996Tori Amos57Jul/Aug 1996James Hall

References