''TAGG – The Alternative Gig Guide'' or ''TAGG'' (its acronym and popular name) was a free fortnightly
Australian music street press published from 1979 to 1981 in Melbourne. It was published by Toorak Times, an independent newspaper started in 1972,
and later expanded to Sydney.
History
TAGG was founded in 1979 by Helmut Katterl and Mick Pacholli, and the first issue arrived Thursday 14 June 1979, with 500 copies printed.
Each issue featured interviews, reviews, and charts alongside the gig guide, and readers could subscribe annually for $10.
Early issues featured between 50-60 pages, but later issues expanded to close to 100 before its closure.
Mick Pacholli would later write, "It was a time when discos were taking over every major pub which had been the main stages for live music around Australia and it was very difficult to find out when and if bands were playing...I had been producing pocket sized tourist guides called 'The Visitor's Guide to Melbourne and Surrounding Areas' with my father and had also seen a need for music fans to find out where and what was happening."
TAGG was Australia's earliest
street press
Street press is a type of publishing, between zines and magazines/newspapers in terms of distribution, content and audience. They are particularly prolific in Australia, especially music street press, although there are also some examples from Eu ...
newspapers, and predated Beat Magazine and
Inpress
''Inpress'' was a free weekly tabloid-sized music magazine (street press) that was published in Melbourne, and was released in the Geelong and Mornington Peninsula areas of Victoria, Australia. The magazine was published by Street Press Austr ...
by several year, who both began publishing in Melbourne during the 1980s. After circulating in Melbourne, TAGG's pocket-sized gig guide expanded to Sydney where it was edited by
Stuart Coupe
Stuart Coupe (born 11 September 1956) is an Australian music journalist, author, band manager, promoter, publicist and music label founder. He is best known for his work as a rock writer with Roadrunner (Australian music magazine), RAM (Rock Aus ...
.
The Melbourne edition had several editors, starting with Helmut Katterl until issue #9, then Al Webb from #11-23, publisher Mick Pacholli from #28,
Al Waymann from #37, and Steve Lane from #45. But not every issue of TAGG listed an editor for the Melbourne edition.
The initial editions of TAGG and The Toorak Times closed in the 1980s, but TAGG was reborn in 2015 as an 8 page printed edition and online publication.
The online edition remains available, and pulls event data from Facebook to keep itself up to date.
References
Further readingTAGG website
- Mick Pacholli writing about TAGG
Listen To Older Voices: John Michael (Mick) Pacholli – Part 2
- Podcast where Mick Pacholli discusses his father's life and running The Toorak Times
TAGG Magazine 1st Edition June 1979
- Video of TAGG #1
Tagg - The Alternative Gig Guide - Issue No2.mpg
- Video of TAGG #2
TAGG - Reborn
- Video of 2015 edition of TAGG
{{DEFAULTSORT:TAGG - The Alternative Gig Guide
1979 establishments in Australia
1981 disestablishments in Australia
Music magazines published in Australia
Defunct magazines published in Australia
English-language magazines
Magazines established in 1979
Magazines disestablished in 1981
Biweekly magazines published in Australia
Magazines published in Melbourne
Magazines published in Sydney