IF you are going to ask someone to write a book about X-Press magazine, there’s only one person for the job – Bob Gordon.
He worked at the iconic music mag for a total of 18 years and enjoyed multiple stints as editor, full-time writer, contributor and more (he describes it as a “pleasant saga”).
• An old copy of X-Press magazine
X-Press is turning 40 and Gordon is putting together a 200-page coffee table tome that captures the magazine’s long and loving relationship with the WA music scene.
Like some middle-class Indiana Jones, he’s been headfirst in the dusty X-Press archives in Northbridge, as well as rummaging through the State Library for old copies.
Evocative
“The book isn’t an academic history, it’s evocative of the time and hopefully captures those moments that were so special to so many,” Gordon says.
“I was handed the first ever edition of X-Press at about 2am on a Sunday morning outside a nightclub in Northbridge.
• Michael Jackson on his HIStory World Tour
“And so I sort of followed it before I had anything to do with it, and then once I had something to do with it, well, I had a lot to do with it.”
The limited-edition book will feature a plethora of photos, magazine art and front covers, chronicling how the magazine evolved and became highly popular in the late 80s and 1990s.
At its peak, X-Press was 100 pages and covered all the big international acts that came to town including U2, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and even Michael Jackson.
• Music journo Bob Gordon, who still knows how to have fun at a birthday party
Kangaroos
“A front cover on X-Press was a big deal and put bums on seats – it had a strong pull with the youth market,” Gordon says.
“I remember going to the official welcome for Michael Jackson at the old Observation hotel in Scarborough in 1996.
“You had to go through all these checkpoints and there was a choir and kangaroos in the lobby.
“Thousands were outside in the street just staring up at his room like zombies.
“He had the fedora on and mask pre-covid. Because he’d walked into so many unfamiliar situations and all eyes were on him, he needed help with sort of orientation. So there’d be someone behind him going, ‘Local dignitaries to your left’.”
But X-Press’s bread and butter was the local music scene. Gordon now lives in Beaconsfield, but back in the day he used to get the train down from Perth to see all the local bands.
“I remember seeing Freud’s Pillow, which were the pre-cursor to Eskimo Joe, and the Jam Tarts playing the Sea View on a Sunday. That was always a great gig,” he says.
• Freo band Freud’s Pillow were the pre-cursor to Eskimo Joe
“The old Harbourside used to be a fantastic venue and so did The Stoned Crow and The Newport.
“Then you had Kulcha and bands like Circus Murders, DM3, and The Jackals. There was a lot going on in Perth and Freo.”
Aside from the WA music scene, the book will show how the magazine evolved over the years.
“As X-Press found its feet and became a bit more sophisticated, we had dedicated sections for branches of the arts,” Gordon says.
“It started out mainly covering rock music, but we soon had everything from fashion and clubbing to plays and movies.
“We were always a bit irreverent in tone, but at the same time highly inclusive.
“We covered a lot of things before they went mainstream.”
Gordon recalls some fascinating, and poignant, behind-the-scenes stories.
“There’s just little things along the way,” he says.
“The first issue was this little small green magazine, and the first editor was apparently – he was just referred to as ‘Green’.
“He was coming from over east, and had a car accident on the Nullarbor and passed away, so he never got here.”
X-Press was a rites of passage for some great writers like Gordon, David Craddock, and Michael Dwyer, who went on to write for Rolling Stone (US) and The Age.
• Some classic X-Press magazines.
“There was some conjecture about whether the State Library had archives copies of X-Press and I was glad to find out it did,” Gordon says.
“It deserves to be in there. There’s some great writing.”
Sadly, X-Press closed down its print offices in June 2016, the same day Gordon turned 50.
“It wasn’t my favourite day of all time,” he laughs.
“They wanted me to do a book shortly after that, but it was too raw, I needed some time to process everything and get some distance and perspective.”
The magazine made the successful transition to online and Gordon still contributes articles now and again.
“Working there for so many years; well it’s been lots of fun – a pleasant saga.”
To pre-order Rewind: 40 Years of X-Press Magazine see xpressmag.com.au/rewind. They’ll be a launch for the book with live bands and a Q&A at the Astor Theatre on March 18.
by STEPHEN POLLOCK