A child of late 70s and 80s, I remember pouring through Creem’s pages (along with Circus magazine) and cutting out pictures of Jimmy Page and Alice Cooper to tape on my bedroom closet door and the inside of my tin Star Wars lunchbox. I devoured every page, and still have a crate of them in my attic. 

After buying the most recent edition at Mr. Oz’s candy shop in town as a young lad, I immediately turned to the Profiles page… which I learned from the movie was a direct mock on Dewars Whisky “Profile” advertisement. I also loved reading the “Letters” section. For me (like many), Creem Magazine was my connection to people in the music world since my friends were not “hip” to my tastes in the third grade. 

The movie did a nice segment on the “Star’s Cars” feature that made these rock stars real, especially when their cars weren’t so great. 

I always thought it cool that both Rolling Stone and Creem magazines were named after great rock and roll band. Creem had Lester Bangs, a poor man’s version of Rolling Stone Magazine’s crazy man Hunter Thompson. In comparison, Rolling Stone was more of a lifestyle and pop culture publication. When you called Creem Magazine they answered the phones “cream your jeans boys and girls”.

Bangs has been long celebrated for his smash mouth writing style. Many know Bangs from the great scenes in Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” (click here for clip) in which he mentors the young budding rock critic.  After seeing real interviews with Bangs, it struck me how on the money Philip Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal is of the late writer. 

The movie makes mention of Bangs ongoing battles with Lou Reed and cites “the rivalry brought out the best on both of them.” Here is a wonderful video clip of the real Lester Bangs talking about Jethro Tull and Roxy Music (click here).

From the early days above a record shop at Wayne State College, to the strange commune farm property (it lasted two years before imploding), and finally the corporate move to the Michigan suburb of Birmingham… the story of Creem Magazine is unique and a must hear for rock music fans. After a 20 year run, Creem closed its pages in 1989. I was 16 years old.

One of the many genius moves by the founders was luring cartoonist Robert Crumb to the staff to create the Boy Howdy logo, which gave immediate underground credibility and visual excitement to the publication.

The magazine was chock full of innovative moves, like the time Bangs was invited on stage by Peter Wolf to do a live review of his J. Geils Band. (Read more on this here.) Another great moment was when Kiss invited one of the female writers to wear makeup on stage with the band.

The movie makes an interesting point about the great women writers they had on staff.  These women were strong and held the place together like a family.

My favorite story in the movie is told by Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer (and Will Ferrel doppleganger) Chad Smith, who grew up a few blocks from Creem’s final suburban headquarters. Smith tells a passion-filled story of riding his bicycle down the magazine and seeing Alice Cooper walking out of the building.  (Read more on this in Detroit News movie review.) You cannot make this stuff up.  If Creem were in New City, NY (my hometown during the bicycle days), I would have been there too!

Long live Rock.  Despite this COVID crap, keep flapping your wings Rancheleros….