Rapid Fire Magazine

Publisher Paul ‘Ratdog’ Allison was attached to Vermont’s punk scene from its very beginning around 1978. He realized that local radio stations and newspapers didn’t give local music the exposure it deserved. In 1988, when he got a job in the printing industry, he was inspired to start Rapid Fire Magazine — a ’zine featuring interviews and reviews of music and shows, combining motorcycle topics, too. 

The magazine was almost called News from the Front, but a bar called The Front opened up in Burlington at the same time, so Rapid Fire became the name instead. Ratdog, a rider, says it was “70% music, 30% motorcycles.” Cover stories featured names like Peg Tassey, The Dropkick Murphys, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Lunachicks, Total Chaos, and more, for a total of 22 issues. Rapid Fire interviewed many bands that eventually found fame, including Green Day, No Doubt, and The Offspring. 

First published in a copy shop with a 5 ½” wide format, Ratdog eventually bought a printing press and published letter-sized versions. Rapid Fire editor Loren Tindall recalls, "The magazine's run might have been limited to just its first three issues if Rat Dog hadn't been recording at my studio (Avalon Studios) one day. He hadn't put out an issue in a while, I think, and I tried to convince him of its importance and that he should resume publishing it. Being fluent in desktop publishing software, I offered to take on that aspect of the publishing process. As it turned out, the role quickly expanded into that of editor when content contributors started turning in material that required editing. My wife at the time and I also wrote a lot of articles under a number of pseudonyms for issues that needed more.” Content for the magazine and graphic design came from contributors like Drew Steeler, Loren Tindall and Jamie Williamson. Different print shop owners were supporters throughout the publication of the magazine, including Clyde Graves, Steve Parizo, and staff at the UVM print shop.

Drew moved to Boston and helped connect the Vermont scene to the city through interviews with Boston bands. Awareness of the magazine spread through relations built from trading issues with other ’zine publishers and from The Wards’ growing reputation, fueled by exposure in Maximum Rocknroll. Rapid Fire was Vermont’s music calling card, featuring a spectrum of genres and artists and claiming a spot in the nationwide punk rock and ’zine consciousness. 

As the internet came into being, Ratdog “saw the writing on the wall” and after putting out issues about every six months for twelve years, he brought Rapid Fire Magazine to a close. Big Heavy World thanks Ratdog for making it possible to share Rapid Fire with you. The archive below is incomplete — we’re still locating issues to scan and include here. If you can help us with that, thank you! Thanks also to the volunteers of Big Heavy World who scanned these issues — Mara Brooks and Brynn Hutchins.