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BACKSTREETS:
Living It Every Day Since 1980 BACKSTREETS
IN-HOUSE STAFF BACKSTREETS
STAFF-AT-LARGE A BRIEF
HISTORY In 1989, for the first edition of the Backstreets book, "Springsteen: the Man and His Music," Cross wrote: "Little did I know at the time that a decade later the damn thing would still be around as a quarterly magazine and be called by some 'the world's greatest fanzine.'" Now nearing the quarter-century mark, Backstreets continues an uninterrupted run of quarterly publishing and is a Music Journalism Award winner for Best Fanzine. From its 4-page debut, Backstreets grew slowly. But thanks to dedicated fans, word-of-mouth, and Charley's tenacity (he wrote out subscription labels by hand!), it grew. After nine issues on newsprint, Backstreets switched to the magazine format with issue #10, adding slick paper and full-color covers soon after.
For more about Backstreets, see our Frequently Asked Questions list. To get in touch, see our Contact Us page.
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©1998-2023 The Backstreets Publishing Empire |
Backstreets
began in 1980, when Seattle-based Springsteen fan Charles R. Cross printed
10,000 copies of a 4-page tabloid he called Backstreets. He passed it
out for free at Bruce's October 24, 1980 Seattle Coliseum show. Most copies
of this first issue wound up trampled under foot, soaking in puddles by
the end of the night; original copies of this three-color premiere issue
now sell for three figures.
Current Publisher and Editor Christopher Phillips, son of a Jersey Girl, grew up a faithful Backstreets reader in South Georgia. First show: Tallahassee, FL, 12/7/84 (Bruce's only performance to date of Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon's "Tallahassee Lassie"). In 1993 Chris moved to Seattle and began working with Charley at Backstreets on issue #44, became Managing Editor in 1994, developed the Backstreets website in 1995, and took the reins in 1998. After a couple more years in Seattle, Phillips moved Backstreets to the East coast in 2000, with the magazine and website headquarters now based in Chapel Hill, NC. 
About
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