About Manor On Movies

Back before punk became a mall clothing style, there were no zines--at least no products called that. With the punk/new wave explosion came a tidal wave of DIY literature reflecting the energy and general tude of the scene. Some called them underground, others preferred alternative, this being a period when that term actually lived up to itself.

Well, I'm not about to go into a The Evolution Of Zines treatise here, nor a syrupy nostalgia fest. To get right to the point, zine publishers were open to coverage of anything as long as it bucked mainstream standards. Not content to join the legions writing record reviews, I approached the publishers of Philly-based Flight 90 with the remarkable opportunity to be the first to carry the revolutionary Manor On Movies. A fortnight later, M-O-M debuted; and the rest is history.

I know that sounds cliche', but I mean it literally.  So overwhelmed was the Smithsonian by the remarkable perceptiveness, they sealed copies of the first three columns in a time capsule to be opened in the year 2178. Perfect timing, actually. By then they'll be Stately statues on every other street corner.

With the addition of M-O-M to Flight 90 and, a bit later, Beat Fete, professional quality writing finally arrived on the alternative magazine scene. Thereafter, zines (and cyberzines) became a Really Big Deal, their numbers totaling in the thousands. Only a complete imbecile would fail to draw the obvious conclusion. And to think the Big Bang of the zine universe was a  digest-sized single-page review of The Creeping Terror. A lesser person would be humbled.

Having planted the seed, I took Manor On Movies out of circulation for a mere decade. Then, like all heavyweight champions, M-O-M made a roaring comeback, returning in the mid-Nineties to its "home," as it were. And with its re-emergence comes yet another Stately innovation, the freeware column.

That's right, in honor of myself, I am magnanimously offering every zine editor a chance to participate in the syndication of ManOMov at virtually no expense.  Here are my terms: (1) Inform me you're carrying the column; (2) If it's a print zine, send me a copy; (3) If you don't pay your staff, that's okay.  If you do, gimme some.  Fair enough?--SWM

(Webmaster's note:  If this is your first encounter with Stately, and the above strikes you as, shall we say, "self-impressed".....well, perhaps if you bopped by Stately's Home Page, all will become clear with regard to said lack of humility.  Or not.)