Variety called Trouser Press "e;one of the greatest music magazines in history"e; and described Zip It Up! (2024) as "e;practically a real-time history of some of the best rock music of that era."e;Zip It Up! Too is packed with more enthusiastic, in-depth coverage of a diverse collection of artists. Vintage interviews with Paul McCartney, Jeff Beck, Bill Wyman and members of The Who provide insight into classic rock history, while profiles of the Police, Talking Heads, Duran Duran, the Cars, Devo, the Pretenders and New Order reflect the progress of music in the 1980s. There are features on Nick Drake, Ian Dury, the Modern Lovers, Lene Lovich, ABBA, the Troggs and the German group Can — as well as a previously uncollected Ramones interview by the famed Lester Bangs.Zip It Up! Too includes 21 "e;autodiscographies,"e; a unique Trouser Press feature in which artists spoke about each of their albums in sequence, sharing detailed behind-the-scenes memories of them. Stars who opened their musical closets to Trouser Press include Genesis, Jethro Tull, Jefferson Airplane, Cheap Trick, Sparks, Iggy, Blondie, Slade and Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople), all of whom provided fascinating first-person documents of real historical value.Trouser Press, which began as a mimeographed fanzine in New York in 1974, grew to a glossy national monthly by the end of its existence in 1984. Although known for its coverage of British bands, the magazine more generally focused on music that was underground, independent or unappreciated. Fans called it "e;the bible of alternative rock."e; Trouser Press put its name to five album review guides published in the 1980s and 1990s and continues with a dedicated website.
