Access All Areas – Mitt liv med hårdrockens giganter
By: Anders Tengner
Published May 2011, 458 pages

“When you say jump, I jump” – Gene Simmons

Just when I got really disappointed by a book about Okej that I had been awaiting with high anticipation, I got the news that Anders Tengner was writing a book about his life as a journalist in the world of hard rock and metal. My first thought was that this book has to be good. Anders is the one rock journalist we all dreamt of been in our early teens. He was the one who traveled the world meeting all our Idols. And It was easy to see that he was a big fan himself.

The first time I read something knew Anders had written, was the Poster Special from Scandinavia in 1980. I probably read the magazine thousand times during the early 80′s. As one who missed the 1980 tour this was my window into what happened. And brought my fandom up to another level than It had been since I became a fan in 1978. Many more great articles and TV-interviews followed on the 80′s and 90′s.

So, what is the book like? It’s different than I expected. When I read “Nordsteds” was publishing the book, I really thought we would get a book in the same format as the Okej and Poster books with a lot of big pictures with the text. But when I first let my eyes on It when I came home late one night, I must admit my first impression was one of a little disappointment. It was just an ‘ordinary book’ with a picture insert in the middle, like a lot of other books. And the pictures was not as special that I would have expected. So I was a little disappointed for about a couple of minutes… Continue reading →

Boken om OKEJ: 80-talets största poptidning (In Swedish)
By: Jörgen Holmstedt
Oktober 2010, 339 pages

The mouse that should have shouted…

Okej was really the magazine that took over for POSTER as the Swedish #1 music paper. And the magazine was around until the fall of 2010. In 1980 Hans G Hatwig was the editor of both Okej and POSTER, until POSTER folded. Okej was really a magazine for all teenagers and featured everything from really mainstream pop to trash metal.

Kiss was as in POSTER probably the most featured artist in the first four to five years of the magazines history. And It’s more or less safe to say that many of those who bought Okej in the 80′s were Kiss fans. A Kiss article was a fast and safe way to sell a lot more issues of each number. Hans Hatwig as a editor made the most of this.

The magazine featured Kiss heavily already from the beginning. This was around the time “The Elder” came out, so there were many new pictures from the Barry Levine photo sessions. Okej also had a couple of interviews that I have not seen anywhere else. And it seemed like Kiss really wanted to drop the makeup and wanted to become a “serious” band. Continue reading →

Poster: nordens största poptidning 1974-1980 (In Swedish)
By: Fabian H Bernstone, Mathias Brink
November 2008, 252 pages

The magazine that made Kiss huge in Scandinavia

POSTER! That’s word a brings word usually brings a grin to the faces of Scandinavian Kiss fans, that discovered the band on the 70′s or the beginning of the 80′s. I really believe that POSTER and Hans G. Hatwig are more or less “responsible” for Kiss selling out multiple shows in Stockholm in 1997 (over 40 000 people) and all the other shows they have played in Scandinavia from 1976 to 1999. POSTER “made” Kiss a household name for kids in Scandinavia in the 70′s.

Even if I started buying POSTER on the eve of it’s existence, the magazine had an tremendous impact on me. I just remember waiting for each new issue. Going down to the newsagent and buying the magazine. It was always with great joy I put my new posters on the wall. Me and my friends also bought old posters from other kids. How many hours we spent trading and rearranging the wall on our rooms I really can’t say. Continue reading →