Mini-histories and black-and-white cover shots of all the music mags teens craved in the glory days of rock ‘n’ roll. Includes both U.S. and U.K. titles. You could pick these mags up at the drugstore, man: Crawdaddy, Cheetah, Dig, Hep Cats, Hit Parader, Eye, Mojo-Navigator R&R News, Flip, Melody Maker, Rave, Tiger Beat and Sixteen. GR

Publisher: Shake
Paperback: 111 pages
Illustrated

“The wildest, weirdest, sexiest mass-market magazines ever published. This illustrated price guide covers the golden age, the quarter century starting with the end of WW II and stopping at the end of the sensational ‘60s. More than a price guide, this book is a road map to what was published and when. Includes 500 titles and almost 500 photos.”

Publisher: Shake
Paperback: 160 pages
Illustrated

“Sleazy Business is an attempt to cover all known exploitation tabloids of the years 1959-1974 and show a sampling of their representative covers, along with a bit of history and an evaluation of each title. Few people realize the number, the style and the content of these numerous papers as few examples exist today. It is true that these tabloids, published some 20 to 30 years ago, were more explicit and graphic than just about anything mass marketed today, and they remain an important part of exploitation publishing history.”
These publishers seem to cater to the collectible paper market, and seem to know about every obscure title’s history and have a lurid example of each. Since the tabs were often regional, printed on the cheap and considered disposable, this is a truly impressive collection. The bulk of the book consists of several cover pages from each tabloid. The introduction is a well-written overview of the circumstances that helped these publications flourish. SA

Publisher: Shake
Paperback: 128 pages
Illustrated

Lift the conservative rock of the Eisenhower years, and underneath you’ll find a writhing mass of popular magazines on crime (Police Dragnet Cases), sex (Peep Show), scandal (Shocking News) and vice (The Lowdown). Hundreds of black-and-white covers are reprinted here, with brief overview. Recalls a time when Confidential was the largest selling newsstand magazine in the country, selling 4 million copies per issue. GR

Publisher: Shake
Paperback: 112 pages
Illustrated

A black-and-white photo-book ode to the girdle, the garter belt and the pointy bra. “Remember the days when you found the secret shoebox hidden in the back of your father’s night table? Inside were pictures of GIRLS! Beautiful girls, in various stages of undress! And they weren’t Mom! There was no denying it, Dad did think about sex, “about girls, gals, sirens and sex kittens, all posed to tease and titillate his horny soul.” GR

Publisher: Shake
Paperback: 94 pages
Illustrated

This time it’s capsule histories of men’s magazines, from Playboy to Poorboy. The ‘60s’ cheesiest cheesecake, from Alan Betrock, the “King of ‘50s Sleaze” (his collection is legendary), each one with a cover full of female cleavage and with articles like “Are Burlesque Queens Really Dumb?” and “The Sexual Side of Crime.” Hundreds of black-and-white cover shots of such magazines as Gent, Modern Man, Escapade, Fling, Nugget, Rogue, Scamp, Satan and Sir Knight. GR

Publisher: Shake
Paperback
Illustrated