Finding your very own superfox

January 6, 2011 6:47 PM

Star Magazine ran for five issues in the spring and summer of 1973. Based in Los Angeles and directed at teenage girls, it covered rock stars, fashion ("How to get the rich hippie look"), dating advice ("How to get guys"), and interviews with such luminaries as Marc Bolan and Sally Struthers, as well as paeans to groupie life and getting your head together. All five issues have been scanned and uploaded for your viewing pleasure (once you get past the clunky interface and watermarks). Platform shoes recommended.
posted by jokeefe (38 comments total)

This is AWESOME!
posted by Senor Cardgage at 6:56 PM on January 6, 2011

the cartoon david bowie centerfold is equal parts awesome and terrifying.
the cartoon mick jagger centerfold is one hundred percent terrifying.
posted by changeling at 6:58 PM on January 6, 2011

and how I wish I could unsee the cartoon alice cooper centerfold.
posted by changeling at 7:00 PM on January 6, 2011

The first few exchanges in the Karen Carpenter interview (issue 2) are heartbreaking.
posted by bendybendy at 7:02 PM on January 6, 2011 [5 favorites]

Inside cover of Issue #1: Alanis Morissette, is that you?
posted by bwg at 7:02 PM on January 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

Also, the gals all remind me of my babysitter who showed me how to open childproof caps on medicine bottles when I was six.
posted by bendybendy at 7:05 PM on January 6, 2011 [2 favorites]

Ah. If the girls were reading this, it would explain why I had no chance of getting laid in highschool ('70 to '75).

The last ish (sorry, issue) cover looks like Cosmo for 14-yr-olds.
posted by Artful Codger at 7:12 PM on January 6, 2011

I like UIs that fight comprehension, I can feel my brain getting bigger!
posted by user92371 at 7:16 PM on January 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

OMG. Pure win. Pure.
posted by dejah420 at 7:19 PM on January 6, 2011

Love it love it love it.

And I've seen this guy's other sites before; he along with ep.tc provide a lot of what I love about the Internet, and they both seem to live in the same town...
posted by jtron at 7:20 PM on January 6, 2011

If the issues are complete, it's no wonder they went under: I haven't seen anything looking like an obvious ad in issue 1 and 3!
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 7:25 PM on January 6, 2011

Oh, awesome! I was just wondering about this magazine recently -- the only time I'd ever heard of it was when I read something about Lori Maddox (aka Jimmy Page's 14-year-old girlfriend) being featured in it at one point.
posted by scody at 7:26 PM on January 6, 2011

I want a Superfox. I wonder if I'll know it's him?
posted by cabingirl at 7:26 PM on January 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

chuck negron looks like a magic user.
posted by clavdivs at 7:27 PM on January 6, 2011 [2 favorites]

Wait, are the cartoons by "Petagno" the same as this guy? That would be...surprising.
posted by emjaybee at 7:27 PM on January 6, 2011

I think I've found what will become my ersatz form letter for making first contact on dating sites:

Hey, [little sister/my main main, depending on gender of subject]!

Yes, you, you foxy little [momma/stallion, depending on gender of subject], you sly young thing! It doesn't make a great big deal of difference to me where your headtrip is taking you or who your friends are, whether you prefer to be an underground groover or you've got your own beautiful [color depending on profile photo] eyes on the wild blue sky above you!

Foxy [Lady/Guy] it is written in the stars and in the hearts of every worshiper of the Zodiac, from the inner brooding soul of the Capricorn to the deep, easy warmth of Sagittarius, that it is time for [him/her] to have her very own SUPERFOX.

And I, [insert username] am that SUPERFOX. What do you say we get coffee sometime?

Sara C.

Guys, I think 2011 is going to be my year.
posted by Sara C. at 7:30 PM on January 6, 2011 [23 favorites]

Has anyone scanned in all the issues of Dynamite! magazine, too?
posted by inturnaround at 7:33 PM on January 6, 2011 [4 favorites]

A space helmet TV and a book review for Jonathan Livingston Seagull? Between this post and the funky fashion post Joe Beese did the other day, I may never come out of my time warp again.
posted by ninazer0 at 7:37 PM on January 6, 2011

And I've seen this guy's other sites before

I hadn't. Anyone who hasn't explored yet should navigate over to here and be sure to bring a big bowl for when your brains leak out of your face.

This is great stuff, and the other associated sites appear to be equally neat. Super post. Thanks.
posted by mintcake! at 7:51 PM on January 6, 2011 [2 favorites]

seconding mintcake! - I just finished reading that too. Read all 4 sections. Very interesting.
posted by Artful Codger at 8:08 PM on January 6, 2011

inturnaround, if anyone ever does that I will gladly download the whole mess and read it all the way through

On a completely unrelated note, if anyone has issues of Dynamite!, send them to me and I'll scan them :)
posted by jtron at 8:19 PM on January 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

Has anyone scanned in all the issues of Dynamite! magazine, too?

And Pizzazz too, please.
posted by Dirjy at 8:56 PM on January 6, 2011 [2 favorites]

This is the best thing I've ever read in my entire life. I saw this linked on The Hairpin today and was out after work and FINALLY got to get into STAR MAGAZINE tonight and if I'm ever called upon to do a dramatic monologue (doubtful, admittedly) I am absolutely going to pull it from this. The interface is annoying, but it's worth it. I especially love the article about how to deal with The Evil She-Fox, which seemed terribly retrograde at first but has a twist at the end. (SPOILER: Your SUPERFOX will come crawling back after he realizes that the Evil She-Fox is a plastic chick. But maybe you won't take him back... because the whole time he's been gone, you've been getting EVEN. FOXIER.)
posted by moxiedoll at 9:17 PM on January 6, 2011 [3 favorites]

One of the things I really like about this is the fact that they manage to write a magazine about how to get a man without resorting to basically any of the tropes of Cosmo and the other ladymags rely on to this day. And this came out 38 years ago. And was aimed at high school girls. I mean, sure, it's still bullshit, but I'd rather teenage girls read that they are awesome and should be free to live life on their own terms than all the pearl clutchy "don't have a personality or surely you are doomed to die alone" crap you see now.
posted by Sara C. at 10:01 PM on January 6, 2011 [3 favorites]

It was actually this revamped Star that lasted for only five issues. Prior to that, in the early 1970s, Star (same name, same publisher, etc) was a "regular" teen magazine that competed directly with 16 and Tiger Beat, but which considered itself a bit more hip (it constantly referred to its competitors as "those bubblegummer mags", even in the text of a "true! tape recorded!" interview with bubblegum stars like the Osmonds or David Cassidy). I used to buy it regularly (hey, I was a kid) and I remember when all of a sudden *bam* with no explanation the covers no longer had pictures of fave teen raves and everything was "foxy" this and "superfox" that.
posted by Oriole Adams at 10:04 PM on January 6, 2011

I don't have any scanned issues of Dynamite, but this guy has a lot of cool Dynamite stuff.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 11:02 PM on January 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

changeling: "the cartoon david bowie centerfold is equal parts awesome and terrifying.
the cartoon mick jagger centerfold is one hundred percent terrifying."

You obviously have never seen the non-cartoon, totally butt-naked Martin Mull centerfold from CREEM circa 1975, which was equal parts awesome and inexplicable.

I am not making this up. If I could find a link to a scan, I'd include it.
posted by maudlin at 11:35 PM on January 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

Reader, it's true: I completed the entire How High Is Your Foxy IQ quiz on page 14 of issue #1, and I'm here to tell you that I scored in the top bracket:

"You really have your head together! People like you and want to be with you! Especially guys!! And you know how to handle them in a clever and cool way! You are also a warm person with a lot of tender feelings inside of you. Others come to you with their problems because they feel you are an understanding person. Babe, you are a Foxy Lady!"

It was the kind of quiz that dispenses wisdom that wouldn't be an iota out of place today, in language that doesn't really smell of the early 70s, except for the bit that asks your opinion about girls who wear "far out, funky clothes." And it's only a matter of time before "far out" is in again. I wonder if we're reading this magazine at just the right moment in the circular nature of language for it to seem natural again?
posted by bicyclefish at 11:52 PM on January 6, 2011

Why wasn't the magazine called Fox?
posted by fairmettle at 1:51 AM on January 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Fun fact: over 20 years later, Petersen Publications would buy Sassy magazine and make it into the most depressing teen publication ever. In light of these issues of Star, I find this tremendously amusing.
posted by pxe2000 at 5:16 AM on January 7, 2011

Can't get pages to load. Am I doing something wrong?
posted by sundrop at 7:47 AM on January 7, 2011

Okay, now I know why my Mom looked like that in all her old photos.
posted by The Whelk at 9:16 AM on January 7, 2011

So who won the Raspberries' Rollswagen??
posted by candyland at 11:11 AM on January 7, 2011

So who won the Raspberries' Rollswagen??
A girl named Shana who lived in Florida. Raspberries drummer Jim Bonfanti was voted "foxiest" band member in that contest and went to Florida to participate in a parade and present the keys to the car to the contest winner.
posted by Oriole Adams at 2:17 PM on January 7, 2011

These quiz questions are pretty interesting, it makes me wonder if a "good-bye" was 70's code for something . . .

Ronnie is over at your house listening to records and Ken comes up to the door for a surprise visit. (You dig both guys, but know they'd flip out if they knew you were cheating on them.) You:

A. FAINT!!!
B. Step out on the front porch (so Ronnie can't see you) and give Ken a big kiss and a quick "good-bye." Say you're terribly "busy", but you'll let him call you in the morning.
C. Let Ken in. Suggest that he and Ronnie have a fight over you. The winner gets to stay and listen to records and the loser goes home.
D. Slam the door in Ken's face! He's got his nerve coming over for a surprise visit.
posted by jeremias at 6:08 PM on January 7, 2011

Speaking with the authority of someone who was 14 when these magazines were originally published, I don't think the "goodbye" means anything other than an ordinary "you get to leave, right now."
posted by jokeefe at 9:29 PM on January 7, 2011

maudlin: "If I could find a link to a scan, I'd include it."

Found it! [Genuine naked Martin Mull. Not safe for work or those sensitive to the mid-seventies colour palette.]
posted by maudlin at 10:47 PM on January 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

A minor detail, but I like that they use "Ms," beating the New York Times by 13 years. That's Ms. Soul to you, thank you very much.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:54 AM on January 8, 2011