Circus Magazine

[Fat Freddy]

Saw this on Blabbermouth earlier today and thought "Wow, I didn't even know that mag was still around," but on the other hand, I read it pretty regularly in the early to mid-80s when I was in junior high/high school and just getting into metal. (Most of my issues usually wound up getting cut to pieces and hung on my bedroom walls...) Sad to hear it's gone!

 

CIRCUS Magazine Is No More - May 18, 2006

 

According to Gawker.com, long-running rock publication Circus has closed its doors. Circus Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Gerald Rothberg has sent the following magazine-closure e-mail to the publication's contributors:

 

"It is with sadness and a deep sense of loss that I must inform you that I've experienced great financial loss, which includes Circus magazine. Over the last year, I've tried my best to hold on to Circus mag, selling all my personal possessions, including my home, pumping the money into the mag. And I've lost all. I've held off contacting people because of the shame and humiliation I've experienced. I'm broke. I feel like Humpty Dumpty who had a great fall.

 

"Circus magazine is in foreclosure. Will the magazine be resurrected? I don't know. If it will appear on the newsstands again, we'll find out. Let me say this now, I appreciate and I am grateful your contributions all these years and wish all my freelance contributors the best of health and success."

 

According to RockCritics.com, Rothberg started Circus in 1966 under the title Hullabaloo. In the almost 40 years since, Circus has been many different kinds of music publication. It started out as a general interest rock magazine, running stories on classic rockers such as the DOORS, GENESIS, and GRAND FUNK RAILROAD. Later, Rothberg realized that his target audience — teen boys — loved to read about their favorite rock stars over and over, month after month. So when a band like KISS hit, they were one of Circus's biggest cover stars. Circus covered all kinds of rock and pop music but always featured a large number of heavy metal and hard rock bands in its pages.

 

Following an unpopular move to a pop culture weekly in the mold of People in the late '70s, Rothberg went back to a monthly format and started to get back to the hard rock and heavy metal stars that made his magazine sales soar. Rothberg's lean toward those kind of acts paid off big time in the '80s when the hair metal explosion hit. Month in and month out, it was DEF LEPPARD, VAN HALEN, and BON JOVI on the covers. The hair metal years in the '80s were Rothberg's most profitable for Circus. When grunge hit in the '90s, Circus got confused and lost its focus (even putting rappers ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT on the cover one month — and getting tons of hate mail in the process).

[aMetalhead1966]

Man...I wish I had some of the old ones to look through...I still have a few I think...Freddy I did the same thing...they would look like the victim

of a farming accident when I was done with 'em. Getting old sucks!!

[Fat Freddy]

I started a thread about "old metal magazines" a while back that basically said "MAN I wish I'd hung on to all my old issues of Circus, RIP, Metal Edge, etc, instead of cutting 'em up and hanging'em on my walls...D'OH!"

[aMetalhead1966]

Yeah I remember that thread....I wish I had at least kept some intact

I would love to read 'em again...I gotta find some!!

[Fat Freddy]

Yeah I remember that thread....I wish I had at least kept some intact

I would love to read 'em again...I gotta find some!!

 

Vintage issues of those old rock mags are going for STUPID money on eBay these days... I got curious one day about how much it would set me back to try and get some old issues of those metal mags and started browsing... then wished I hadn't. Now I know how my Dad felt when my grandma got rid of his baseball card collection.

[aMetalhead1966]

Yeah probably a chunk of $$$ .There is a used cd shop I go to that has some old ones for $1.50-2.00 each...So I guess my purchase will be about 10 of 'em...

[Fat Freddy]

Yeah probably a chunk of $$$ .There is a used cd shop I go to that has some old ones for $1.50-2.00 each...So I guess my purchase will be about 10 of 'em...

 

If they have any duplicate issues, pick up the extras for me!

[aMetalhead1966]

Yeah probably a chunk of $$$ .There is a used cd shop I go to that has some old ones for $1.50-2.00 each...So I guess my purchase will be about 10 of 'em...

 

If they have any duplicate issues, pick up the extras for me!

I will....they have alot of mags...the only problem is digging through the crap..this place is

a dump but that is the good thing cause the guys who run the place don't pay anymind

the goldmine they have...they just don't have a clue..so I'll be looking for ya!!

[Fat Freddy]

Yeah probably a chunk of $$$ .There is a used cd shop I go to that has some old ones for $1.50-2.00 each...So I guess my purchase will be about 10 of 'em...

 

If they have any duplicate issues, pick up the extras for me!

I will....they have alot of mags...the only problem is digging through the crap..this place is

a dump but that is the good thing cause the guys who run the place don't pay anymind

the goldmine they have...they just don't have a clue..so I'll be looking for ya!!

 

You know where to find me, brutha!

[aMetalhead1966]

Yeah probably a chunk of $$$ .There is a used cd shop I go to that has some old ones for $1.50-2.00 each...So I guess my purchase will be about 10 of 'em...

 

If they have any duplicate issues, pick up the extras for me!

I will....they have alot of mags...the only problem is digging through the crap..this place is

a dump but that is the good thing cause the guys who run the place don't pay anymind

the goldmine they have...they just don't have a clue..so I'll be looking for ya!!

 

You know where to find me, brutha!

Yes I do....i'll be going there tomorrow or saturday..

[Doksdad]

Too bad to hear about Circus. I was a subsciber from 1984-1996. I still have most of my old issues. I have (and still am) a subscriber to Metal Edge. I have most of them issues. I keep them next to my nightstand and page through them when I have nothing else to read. I then replace them with new (old) issues. It is so cool reading those issues and remembering how great we had it back in them days when new bands were popping up everywhere. Cool stuff. I would not sell them. They mean too much to me. At least I don't think I would sell them.....I will have to check on ebay how much they are going for....

[glam_junkie]

i loved circus mag back in the late 80's cos it had the best exclusive pics of bands, and always plenty of live pix.

[heaven&hell]

I have folders full of old pictures from Metal Edge, RIP, and Circus.

I should of kept all those mags instead of tearing them up.

On the topic of Circus magazine, they were the first mag to sell out to the Alternative and Grunge music, so I stopped buying it sometime around 92 or 93.

[Doksdad]

On the topic of Circus magazine, they were the first mag to sell out to the Alternative and Grunge music, so I stopped buying it sometime around 92 or 93.

You're right. Pissed me off. I held out for a few more years but they never did get back into real rock.

[heaven&hell]

On the topic of Circus magazine, they were the first mag to sell out to the Alternative and Grunge music, so I stopped buying it sometime around 92 or 93.

You're right. Pissed me off. I held out for a few more years but they never did get back into real rock.

 

 

I remember around 94 or 95 Circus would have their awards and it would be guys from Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Dinosaur JR. At the same time Metal Edge's awards would have Ozzy, Slaughter, Firehouse, and Aerosmith. People said alot bad things about Metal Edge when Gerri Miller ran it but they could never say that she sold out to Grunge and Alternative bands. Even though 80's bands weren't popular anymore she stuck by them anyway.

[Doksdad]

On the topic of Circus magazine, they were the first mag to sell out to the Alternative and Grunge music, so I stopped buying it sometime around 92 or 93.

You're right. Pissed me off. I held out for a few more years but they never did get back into real rock.

 

 

I remember around 94 or 95 Circus would have their awards and it would be guys from Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Dinosaur JR. At the same time Metal Edge's awards would have Ozzy, Slaughter, Firehouse, and Aerosmith. People said alot bad things about Metal Edge when Gerri Miller ran it but they could never say that she sold out to Grunge and Alternative bands. Even though 80's bands weren't popular anymore she stuck by them anyway.

And for the most part still stick by them.

[Nick C]

I think the only rock mags I have held onto are

 

1) The first 100 issues of Kerrang

2) Fireworks all them up to about the last 3 or so

3) One called Frontiers (kept all those) which started out as a small fanzine then went A4 then I think changed it's name but eventually folded. I think Tim(2) used to write for them.

 

I even throw my Classic Rocks away when I've read em these days.

[Jacob M.]

I never had a chance to read classic Circus. Every time I saw music mags in stores they would make me gag. Just reading Spin and Rolling Stone was about enough to kill me. I especially hate Rolling Stone. Stupid Liberal mag that makes fun of my music. I do have a couple old issues of Hollywood Rocks. That's about all I got in terms of music. About the only magazines that I got into were gaming ones. Was a big fan of Next Generation. Game Players and GameFan were pretty cool too. All the best ones go under.

[Fat Freddy]

I never had a chance to read classic Circus. Every time I saw music mags in stores they would make me gag. Just reading Spin and Rolling Stone was about enough to kill me. I especially hate Rolling Stone. Stupid Liberal mag that makes fun of my music. I do have a couple old issues of Hollywood Rocks. That's about all I got in terms of music. About the only magazines that I got into were gaming ones. Was a big fan of Next Generation. Game Players and GameFan were pretty cool too. All the best ones go under.

 

Rolling Stone hasn't been relevant since the early 70s. Now it's all Gap ads and perfume samples. Someone got me a subscription to R.S. as a gift in the early 90s when I was still in college and I was like "Gee, um... thanks." Every time I got an issue I'd give it to my next-door neighbor without even opening it.

[JustJason]

I never had a chance to read classic Circus. Every time I saw music mags in stores they would make me gag. Just reading Spin and Rolling Stone was about enough to kill me. I especially hate Rolling Stone. Stupid Liberal mag that makes fun of my music. I do have a couple old issues of Hollywood Rocks. That's about all I got in terms of music. About the only magazines that I got into were gaming ones. Was a big fan of Next Generation. Game Players and GameFan were pretty cool too. All the best ones go under.

 

Rolling Stone hasn't been relevant since the early 70s. Now it's all Gap ads and perfume samples. Someone got me a subscription to R.S. as a gift in the early 90s when I was still in college and I was like "Gee, um... thanks." Every time I got an issue I'd give it to my next-door neighbor without even opening it.

 

I liked Rolling Stone for the adds. Not the Gap ones or the perfume ones. Twix had a talking add a few years back and Fruit of the Loom put a tiny pair of underwear in one of their adds.

[Fat Freddy]

On the topic of Circus magazine, they were the first mag to sell out to the Alternative and Grunge music, so I stopped buying it sometime around 92 or 93.

You're right. Pissed me off. I held out for a few more years but they never did get back into real rock.

 

 

I remember around 94 or 95 Circus would have their awards and it would be guys from Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Dinosaur JR. At the same time Metal Edge's awards would have Ozzy, Slaughter, Firehouse, and Aerosmith. People said alot bad things about Metal Edge when Gerri Miller ran it but they could never say that she sold out to Grunge and Alternative bands. Even though 80's bands weren't popular anymore she stuck by them anyway.

And for the most part still stick by them.

 

I quit buying Metal Edge in 2001 or so because I was seeing entirely too much Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Kid Rock on the covers. I had been buying it on and off since the late 80s and started buying it monthly again around the time the KISS reunion happened because they were just about the only mag that was really covering the tour. It was OK for a while but then it got too OzzFest-y for me. Is that guy Paul Gargano still the editor?

[heaven&hell]

On the topic of Circus magazine, they were the first mag to sell out to the Alternative and Grunge music, so I stopped buying it sometime around 92 or 93.

You're right. Pissed me off. I held out for a few more years but they never did get back into real rock.

 

 

I remember around 94 or 95 Circus would have their awards and it would be guys from Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Dinosaur JR. At the same time Metal Edge's awards would have Ozzy, Slaughter, Firehouse, and Aerosmith. People said alot bad things about Metal Edge when Gerri Miller ran it but they could never say that she sold out to Grunge and Alternative bands. Even though 80's bands weren't popular anymore she stuck by them anyway.

And for the most part still stick by them.

 

I quit buying Metal Edge in 2001 or so because I was seeing entirely too much Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Kid Rock on the covers. I had been buying it on and off since the late 80s and started buying it monthly again around the time the KISS reunion happened because they were just about the only mag that was really covering the tour. It was OK for a while but then it got too OzzFest-y for me. Is that guy Paul Gargano still the editor?

 

 

No Paul isn't there anymore. I looked through an issue a couple of months ago and there was a woman that was the editor but I don't know her name. I know Paul had moved to California and I think he was managing Beautiful Creatures for a while.

[Fat Freddy]

I think Paul was a better writer than Gerri Miller (who always seemed to me like a giggly groupie who lucked into the job) but a lot of the bands he covered didn't really belong in a mag called "METAL" Edge if you ask me...

[heaven&hell]

I like Paul because he tried to support newer bands but also did as much as he could supporting bands that help get that magazine going.

I just think he realized what Gerri Miller realized that it was never going to be 1989 again.

 

The thing I did like about Gerri was how she used to break down an entire album song by song. That was before they had a cd reviews section. The thing I didn't like about her was that it seemed like she did everything she could to get something about Slaughter in every issue. I like Slaughter but I don't wanna hear about them every month.

[Fat Freddy]

There always seemed to be lots of pictures of Gerri hanging out with the various band members too, like "Look at me! I got to hang out with White Lion! Look at me, I'm hanging out with Paul Stanley! Now I'm hanging out with Roxy Blue! Ain't I the coolest?" That got a little annoying after a while

 

I did always get a kick out of the letters section when Gerri Miller ran it though, cuz there would always be at least one "restraining order" letter per month. "Restraining Order Letters" (a term I coined myself) were usually from some teenage girl who would write, "Could you please ask (name of rock star) the following questions? How tall is he? What color are his eyes? What's his favorite food, what's his shoe size, what kind of car does he drive, what does he look for in a girl, when did he lose his virginity, etc., etc."

 

I always liked the "Rockin' Roundup" section too, when they would ask dozens of different band members the same silly question.