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NEWS : STORIES
Tim Yohannan, founder of punk rock 'zine Maximumrocknroll (MRR) and one of the forces behind the famed 924 Gilman St. punk-rock club in Berkeley, Calif., died Friday due to complications from lymphatic cancer. He was 52. MRR
Prior to founding MRR in 1982, Mr. Yohannan launched a weekly rockabilly-themed radio show of the same name on Berkeley community radio station KPFA in 1978. The program quickly evolved into a punk-rock showcase, highlighting the burgeoning early '80s punk scene. After establishing all-punk 'zine MRR, Mr. Yohannan was part of a collective that launched 924 Gilman St. in 1984-85. The space was designed as an egalitarian, alcohol-free, all-ages scene that featured live performances and nurtured the careers of such modern-day punk acts as Green Day, Rancid and a host of other bands. It is still open for business. Mr. Yohannan, known for his provocative, incorrigible attitude, was also credited with being a key player in the establishment of the Epicenter punk record store in San Francisco. "I always deeply, deeply respected his contribution to the punk-rock scene in America and in the world," said Slim Moon, owner of the Olympia, Wash.-based punk record label Kill Rock Stars. Moon said Mr. Yohannan's endeavors helped the punk community grow in ways unseen by most fans. For example, because MRR was distributed by Mordam Records rather than a magazine distributor, it indirectly encouraged music store owners to purchase more punk records when they placed their monthly call for the 'zine. V. Vale, publisher/editor of San Francisco-based V/Search publications, said he remembered when a pompadoured, rockabilly-styled Mr. Yohannan walked into the offices of Vale's short-lived punk 'zine Search and Destroy in early 1979 to soak up as much information as he could about the then-waning San Francisco punk scene. "He is the central organizing and driving force behind an absolutely prodigious body of documentation on punk rock which became published under the name Maximumrocknroll," said Vale, who credited MRR with being the "major clearinghouse and communication nerve center for the global punk lifestyle/movement that emerged during the '80s and is still with us." Jonathan Floyd, who works at the Bay Area punk label Fat Wreck and who has written reviews for MRR, testified to Mr. Yohannan's obsessive drive to document and dissect the punk scene. He said Mr. Yohannan often pushed him to be more discriminating in his reviews. "One time, I wrote this review of a really bad album, and Tim really wanted to know why it was so awful. Was it melodic and bad? Was it this, or that? He really wanted me to figure it out," Floyd said. "He really lived and breathed that magazine." So dedicated was Mr. Yohannan to his mission to spread the gospel of punk that he turned the offices of the magazine into a communal living space inhabited by staffers and frequently visited by punk bands in town for gigs. "If it wasn't for him, there wouldn't be a scene here [in San Francisco]," said Brian Archer, who works in the advertising department of Fat Wreck. "If it wasn't for him, I definitely wouldn't be doing what I'm doing." And while Slim Moon added that his relationship with Mr. Yohannan was often contentious, he considered that a reflection of the strength of the punk elder's convictions. "Me and him almost always butted heads," Moon said, often in debates over such topics as whether punk was more of a sound (Mr. Yohannan's view, according to Moon) or a lifestyle. "But I think that just proves something about punk-rockers, which is that principles and issues and politics and ethics are really important to us, and we're not going to be namby-pamby about it. If there was one person who proved that, it was Tim Yohannan." Mark Hanford, MRR's NetPunk columnist, set up a memorial website in Mr. Yohannan's honor (http://gate.cruzio.com/~hanford/memorial), allowing users to post and read dedications, farewells and memories. By 2 p.m. Monday, there were 85 posts on the site. Many of them were from people such as Pittsburgh resident Joe Horvath, who wrote that he didn't know Mr. Yohannan personally, but he considered MRR a major influence in his life. "The first time that I grasped a copy of MRR and opened its pages, I was in love," Horvath wrote. "I have never, before or since, seen such a comprehensive source of the underground punk-rock scene. So many styles ... so many bands ... so many stories and so much more. I appreciate everything that Tim did and I believe that his heart was ... strong and filled with the true passion of ... punk rock." "The bottom line is Tim Yohannan changed my life," a fan named Joel Wick wrote. "I can't thank him enough for starting a magazine that [put] into motion so many people that ultimately made my life better. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be where I am today. I knew he would pass away eventually, but it's still very saddening. Thanks Tim." (SonicNet contributing editor Randy Reiss contributed to this report.)
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