MIKE SHEA
I was gonna talk about management lessons this month. But I don’t feel like it, and I thought it might be a lot more fun if we gave you a look at how AP picked the covers in what would become one of our best years ever. 1996 was a mixed year, too, as far as cover choices went. We had alt-rock icons alongside credibility-saturated indie bands next to punk icons-in-waiting-pretty much the gamut of cool. So without further adieu, the year that was...



The Perspectives:
Jason Pettigrew/Senior Editor: The editorial P.O.V.
Norman Wonderly/Photo Editor: The creative P.O.V.
Mike Shea/Publisher: The business P.O.V.
Aaron Burgess/Assistant Editor: The new-guy P.O.V.

AP 91: Flaming Lips
WHY THEM? The new album, Clouds Taste Metallic, was good, and we thought the “Alternative Nation” would dig it. (JP) The editors wanted this to happen, bad. (MS)

PROS: Respected band with a great track record in the underground. (JP)
CONS: “She Don’t Use Jelly” was perceived as a novelty hit. (JP)

WHO WANTED IT MOST?
Dave, Rob and Jason (JP) As I said, the editors wanted this to happen, bad. (MS)

END RESULT: The issue tanked in mainstream stores, and did well in both bookstores and indie record stores. (MS) One of Brad Miller’s best covers, taken in the Windy City. (NW)

AP 92: Ministry
WHY THEM? They’d been on the cover three times previously and had done well. They’re icons, dude. (JP) Jason Pettigrew and Al Jourgensen are secretly married. (NW)

PROS: Thinking like the Democratic Party, we felt it would please our industrial base. (MS)
CONS: Filth Pig, the album they were schlepping, was despised by much of their fanbase. (JP)

WHO WANTED IT MOST? Mike, Jason, Norman. (JP)

END RESULT: Jourgensen and Paul Barker would always have one or two unscrupulous hangers-on who were always trying to pit the two of them against each other. Neither Al or Paul would ever specifically address the exact people, which demeans the role of the perpetrators, but makes for a really bo-rang story. (JP)

AP 93: Marilyn Manson
WHY THEM? The cult of Manson had started growing even bigger than the Despair Faction. (JP) The new gen of industrial rock? (MS)

PROS: Selling records-plus, hey, they’re on Trent Reznor’s label, and he’s our bud, so... (JP) Extremely visual. (NW)
CONS: Parents wouldn’t let their kids have it in the house for fear said chilluns would become devil worshippers after reading the story. (JP)

WHO WANTED IT MOST? Rob liked freaks, Norman likes visually exciting bands, Aaron likes controversy, and Mike likes magazines that sell. (JP) I was leery at first about doing it too soon after the record came out. I worry, I worry... (MS)

END RESULT: We sold a ton of copies, and Manson became an AP house band from then on. Why did I worry? (MS) Fans tried to buy back issues for years, but it was sold out from the get-go. (NW)

AP 94: Girls Against Boys
WHY THEM? Highly credible indie band getting the reward of their first AP cover. (MS) They put out an amazing record. (NW)

PROS: House Of GVSB was a great record. (JP) They look good. (NW)
CONS: How could GVSB looking good and drinking
martinis not sell? (NW)

WHO WANTED IT MOST? Everyone in the office except me. (MS)

END RESULT: Despite all the “research” we did to prove it would sell to our indie-rock base, the issue bombed, even in indie record stores. It taught us a valuable lesson: that cool bands don’t necessarily sell magazines. So we did it again several months later with Jon Spencer. Go figure... (MS)

AP 95: The Cure
WHY THEM? It’s the Cure, dude. (JP)

PROS: They’re frickin’ icons that everybody loved. (JP) We got the first cover story for their new record. (MS)
CONS: People who read AP back then weren’t fond of Wild Mood Swings, the record Bob Smith & Co. were pimping at the time. (JP) We soon learned this was one of the reasons why we got the first cover. (AB)

WHO WANTED IT MOST? Mike, Norman, Rob (JP)

END RESULT: Sold just fine, but it was the last time they graced our cover. (MS)

AP 96: Rage Against The Machine
WHY THEM? They were the biggest band in the world at the time. Or somebody in the office thought so. (JP)

PROS: Norm Arenas, late of Shelter, Texas Is The Reason, New End Original and the iconic NYC hardcore fanzine Anti-Matter, was doing the story, so we knew it would be good. (AB)
CONS: MTV darlings who unwittingly fostered nü metal. More on that in AP History 2000 (JP)

WHO WANTED IT MOST? Mike and Rob. (JP) Joe Banks. (NW)

END RESULT: Issue sold out. Story was great. I slept better that month. (MS)

AP 97: THE SEX PISTOLS
WHY THEM? Icon status, d’oh! (JP)

PROS: Tour and new live disc were impending. (JP)
CONS: We jokingly tagged the cover “Hide Your Grandmothers, It’s The Sex Pistols,” secretly knowing the band’s collective age would’ve made “great-grandmothers” more apt. (AB)

WHO WANTED IT MOST?
I think I forced this one to happen. I just didn’t know how we could turn away this option for a cover. Plus, we were in the middle of doing our year-long “AP History Of Punk” series. Ah, the synergy... (MS)

END RESULT: John Pecorelli wrote that the Pistols agreeing to a reunion to grab the cash was the most punk-rock thing ever, which got AP a stream of hate mail calling us “Dittoheads.” (JP)

AP 98: Dead Can Dance
WHY THEM? They were alternative icons, and bands on the 4AD label were much loved by our readership. (JP) I was a huge fan. (MS)

PROS: The 4AD connection, as well as appealing to sophisticated goths (not an oxymoron) and those middle-aged, tie-dye-wearing world-music lovers who groove to NPR. (JP) I was a huge fan. (MS)
CONS: I saw Dead Can Dance live for the first time that year and thought, “Wow, I’ve never seen people sleep through a rock concert before.” (AB)

WHO WANTED IT MOST? Mike, Norman, Rob. (JP) I was a huge fan. (MS)

END RESULT: We sold a lot of copies, and I got to see them three times in concert that year. (MS)

AP 99: Mazzy Star
WHY THEM? They took half-decades between records, and we thought it would be a big deal for us. (JP)

PROS: Hope Sandoval on the cover. (NW)
CONS: They’ve always been long on attitude and short on talent. (JP)

WHO WANTED IT MOST? Everyone but me. (JP)

END RESULT: Hope Sandoval was schtupping a member of the Jesus And Mary Chain back then and wasn’t particularly lucid through much of Dave Segal’s interview. (JP) Issue sold out. (MS)

AP 100: 100 Underground Inspirations
WHY THIS? We had never done a theme cover before. (JP) It was my idea and this was way before every music magazine on Earth started doing a “Top 50...” list every issue. (MS)

PROS: It was a breadth of classic, important artists working in different styles, which would appeal to a lot of people-or at least to genuine music fans. (JP)
CONS: Dullards who thought Candlebox were “alternative” didn’t know three-quarters of the bands, nor did they want to learn anything. (JP) There was a lot of fretting from the art department about not having a single strong image for the cover shot. (MS) It was the first issue in years that we used provided photos from publicists instead of taking an original photo shoot-I wasn’t happy at first. (NW)

WHO WANTED IT MOST? Mike, Rob, Norman and Aaron. (JP)

END RESULT: There was some fighting over who should make the final list, and, naturally, there was a stream of “You idiots forgot about...” mail from readers. (JP)

AP 101: JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
WHY THEM? The editors loved the band, and the new record, Now I Got Worry, was great. (JP) Jon Spencer is cool, and his wife is pretty hot, too. (NW)

PROS: We thought the record was strong enough, and JSBX would constantly sell out shows all over our fine land. (JP)
CONS: Indie rockers who sit on their thumbs listening to Sebadoh 7-inches are big on lip service and short on loyalty. (JP)

WHO WANTED IT MOST? Everyone but Mike. (JP)

END RESULT: It bombed. I’m not saying a thing, but you can refer to my comments for issue 94. (MS) Eight years later, JSBX are on a record label with Gene Simmons, Dokken and Kelly Osbourne. (AB)

AP 102: Weezer
WHY THEM? They had sold a bunch of records the first time out, and Mike thought it would translate into dollar signs for us. (JP) I was right. (MS)

PROS: They sold records. (JP)
CONS: Emo fans had yet to discover Weezer and make them über-hip underground icons, so the novelty hit “Buddy Holly” was still the biggest memory anyone had of the band’s recent past. (AB)

WHO WANTED IT MOST? Mike, definitely. (JP)

END RESULT: It turned out to be a journalistic coup for writer Dave Daley, because the band were open with him about the situation being the Rivers Cuomo show. Pinkerton would later become an emo touchstone and we would get the first cover when Weezer came off hiatus for the Green Album. (JP) The issue sold out, and Norman and Christopher did a great job on the cover art and photo. (MS)