Much missed 80s music mag Flexipop! is to be immortalised in book form, just in time for Xmas!
The monthly magazine, published totally independently by ex-Record Mirror writers Barry Cain and Tim Lott, first appeared on 30 October 1980, with each issue coming complete with an exclusive flexi-disc on the cover. The likes of the Jam, Blondie, Madness, the Cure, Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, the Pretenders, Thin Lizzy, Motorhead, Bow Wow Wow, even Genesis, did flexis and the magazine was a runaway success.
Flexipop! was a strange concoction of dark humour, cynicism and cute stories with cute pix. Timeless features like Testament Of Youth and Welcome To The Working Week revealed hugely intimate details about the lives of a host of stars from Kate Bush to Kim Wilde via Johnny Rotten and Marc Almond.
Flexipop! photo stories sometimes approached dodgy graphic novel territory. But it didn’t stop the likes of Depeche Mode, the Damned, the Stranglers and XTC from starring in them. Flexipop! cartoons were, frankly, grotesque but incredibly funny. They were the deranged work of the magazine designer Mark Manning who went on to become Zodiac Mindwarp.
This new 164-page book has been lovingly put together by Cain and Flexipop! photographer Neil Matthews. Featuring many pages reproduced from original issues of the magazine, it includes a flexi-disc with tracks provided exclusively by Spandau Ballet and Marc Almond.
Priced £24.99, Flexipop! The Book is available to pre-order now from Vive Le Shop!
