Up and Down Sunset

Do bands still make cool flyers to promote shows like back in the day? I don't mean the odd poster printed by a label to promote a big-scale tour. I mean those small, handmade flyers that were once the calling card of Glam bands.

Man, seeing old flyers is like a blast from the past. I was never old enough to truly enjoy Glam in its heyday (and by truly "enjoy" I mean walk up and down the Sunset Strip with a mane of teased hair wearing some fishnets). Anyway, when I see a homemade poster by a band I instantly think of 80s Glam. Back then bands had to be smart to play. They were hungry, and I don't just mean for fame. They were literally broke and starving! Those copied posters helped bring fans into the doors - and pay for beer, er - dinner.

I always thought it would be cool to have a bunch of framed vintage Sunset Strip flyers displayed as art. I know there are people out there that had the piece of mind to grab Motley Crue and Poison flyers from way back before either band was famous. Talk about a great collector's item. I'd guess they would be worth even more if the staple holes were visible. After all, most bands just stapled hundreds of flyers to telephone poles up and down Sunset.

Maybe the reason we don't see as many homemade flyers these days is because 1) they are no longer cheap and 2) there are probably rules against tacking items to telephone poles. I'm pretty sure that in Ohio, you can't just post stuff up willy nilly anymore. After all, there are laws against just about everything these days.

Are you lucky enough to have any classic Sunset Strip flyers?

Comments

[aXe mAn]

Very cool article Allyson! I think it would be really cool to have some Glam flyers...

On Sleaze Roxx, they have a pretty cool section for this...
http://www.sleazeroxx.com/gallery.shtml

[red6ixx]

i agree with axe man - i have copied flyers from sleazeroxx and made a poster from them - it hangs in my hallway - Glamour punks, swingin thing, cinderella etc.
I dont see many these days tho - shame really.

[Xavier]

I think I have one of the biggest collections of hand made flyers by Glam Bands on Sunset Strip from 89 to 92(the hey days), most of them collected by me personally, it was so great to pick up all those pieces of art and look at them all week waiting to choose wich concerts to go on the weekend !!
Some of the best are from The Glamour Punks, Alleycat Scratch, Swingin' Thing, Tryx, Pretty Boy Floyd, and a long etc....besides looking at each flyer now, brings back so many memories from each concert by those great bandz, those where wild times !!!!

[Xavier]

By trhe way, I think now a days Internet and myspace have taken away the place of those beautiful hand made flyers.....

[Valentine]

Holy Shit! I just thought I'd see what Allyson had to write about today and suddenly I'm face to face with my past!

Whoa!

Let's talk spandex and leather shall we?

Xavier, If you'd like to add a vintage T.Y.R flyer to your collection, let me know.

...Whoa... I was kinda cute... hahahah

[Frank]

The image of seeing Allyson in fish nets just made my stomach do back flips. Thanks for ruining my dinner tubby.

[Valentine]

Geez, Frank, do you have to try to be such an asshole or does it just come naturally to you? I guess the only reason you actually post here is to show how "witty" you are, huh? Go back to Metalsludge, dude, where you can fight it out with others like yourself.

Wipe the sand out of your vagina, would you... Hateful fuck.

[Allyson B. Crawford]

Oh good, our friend Frank is back.

Hey everyone, Frank is at IP 207.200.116.134

I did a little research and it turns out he got in trouble on Wikipedia too for - no joke - anti-gay sentiments. Who knew?

Allyson

[Christian]

I wonder who has less of a life than people who find their views are not welcome at a website, and yet still hang around to make rude comments. Tubby ? Gosh, most bullies at least find an insult with a basis in fact, are you too stupid to even do that ?

[George]

It's funny that with all the modern technology we have and the easy ways we have through the internet and text messaging that these flyers actually seem cooler. You know, in a similar vein, it's so much easier now to find out when bands are coming to your town through the internet, but there was something special about having to thumb through your local newspaper or favorite mag weekly to find out about shows. In the small town I grew up in it was so exciting when you'd hear an ad on the radio promoting a show and finding out what bands were coming.

[Kenny Ozz]

I got some great old Tuff flyers from the 80's. I'll have to show them to you sometime Allyson.

[Gene]

Those flyers were way cool!..I always kicked myself that I didn't get out to LA during those prime years..85-92....but as cool as the internet is these days...that sense of discovery that a flyer would bring ...You can't deny the fun it that...good stuff-

[Monte]

I collected in the 80s but mostly punk and thrash metal about 100 or so mostly from Northern California(Sacramento, Berkeley, San Francisco). i did get allot of stuff from independent record labels when i ordered records. a few from the strip mostly really obscure stuff.

[Xavier]

Hey Allyson, dont even waste any time with people that are not worth it, thats exactly what they want..he has clearly a problem....

Valentine...would be great to have those !!

;))

[r0ck0n]

I have to disagree. I see flyers ALL THE TIME. Go to a college town or a club or bar. I bet they'll be there. I live in Raleigh, NC...not too far from NC State, UNC Chapel Hill, and Duke University. You can't even possibly get another staple in some of our telephone poles. I've even personally put up flyers for bands I like...never had a problem.

but I agree...framing flyers is a cool idea! I like that. I've just started framing some of my favorite old records, and I bet some flyers would really be cool hanging up beside them.
I should look in to that. Thanks for the idea!

[CHays]

Allison,

That's my brother-in-law on the far left--Kevin St. James! How can I get a copy of the picture? I'd love to give that to him Blown up and frame it for his B-day coming up.

Any help you can provide...I'd love you for it!

Cin

[GM]

Here's a link below to a page that has quite a few 80's hair band fliers....
http://tyr-online.com/ShowFlier.html

[Eddy M]

Bobby Dall gave me a Poison flyer out the front of the Troubadour in 1984. Still have it somewhere

[Mike Schneider]

You want Flyers??? You'll get Flyers!!!

Check out this limited edition heavy metal scrapbook Flyers of the Sunset Strip.

On Sale Now!!

https://m.facebook.com/flyersofthesunsetstrip

[Mike Schneider]

Check out the limited edition heavy metal scrapbook Flyers of the Sunset Strip!!

On Sale Now!!

https://m.facebook.com/flyersofthesunsetstrip