Surf Mags

[Lairdy]

Tracks - The Surfers Bible.

I didn't realise it was published by Emap (large Pommie publisher).

The same publisher that publishes Waves and FHM magazine. However it is the same publisher that publishes New Woman and Slimming and Health magazines too!

What do people think of Tracks? Is it the surfers bible, or is it full of so many ad's it's sold out?

I admire the great photography in the mag. The ad's are pretty annoying though. I understand that they have to pay for the photo's etc

What do others think?

[Lucky Al]

I read it religiously from early 1983 up until Gary Dunne became editor in I forget when, around 1990 I think. I don't know what went wrong after that or where to lay the blame for decline in quality, as surely it wasn't only individual editors blew it, must have been other factors contributed. Haven't really read an issue from cover to cover since the early 1990s, but keen to take a close look at recent ones and to hear what other people have to say about it now.

[dammit__01]

bunch of shit for poser kids. they try the were so cool card every issue so little show off 15 yr old pricks but it ... nothing but crap

[Chrisp]

Yeah I don't think it's great, prefer ASL myself (on the odd occasion that I read one of them)

Usually the best you get out of any of them is a useful tool (like ASL's board bible or Stab's copy of Passion Pop)

Still worth a flick while ur sitting on the can tho

[Johnno]

Still worth a flick while ur sitting on the can tho

Since they changed the paper in the mag you can't wipe your butt with it .............

Which is all it's good for these days.

[Beanpole]

Actually read a copy last week. Someone gave me one. Gee the Abertons are great guys. I don't know how I got it so wrong
I believe the demise of the mag came like the demise of everything else with the change from editorial decision making and ethics to mindlessly reinforcing the surveyed prejudices and base tastes of its increasingly well defined target market. It is so far removed from its original source that it should call itself something else.

Anyhow I reckon surf mags are destined to go completely electronic sooner rather than later.

[dammit__01]

Actually read a copy last week. Someone gave me one. Gee the Abertons are great guys. I don't know how I got it so wrong
I believe the demise of the mag came like the demise of everything else with the change from editorial decision making and ethics to mindlessly reinforcing the surveyed prejudices and base tastes of its increasingly well defined target market. It is so far removed from its original source that it should call itself something else.

Anyhow I reckon surf mags are destined to go completely electronic sooner rather than later.

i stole 1 from work to read in my break (there was nothing else) what a loadof shit the abbertson guy is. altho i did laugh when he was thanking people and he said: and of course i wouldnt have made it without my bras . little immature but ... rnt we all well after my best efforts of taking the mag i put it in the lockers to take home and finish it ... but some1 stole it from me hope they got caught taking it outa the store

[Shaunm]

Only when I go to the Drs, used to get Tracks for the calendar once a year

[LaNkYbOoG]

i like tracks, its a good read. but i find there is alot of ads. i guess its away for the magazine to make money but its annoying sometimes.

[brendo]

tracks used to be awesome back in the late 80s when i was a grom, but these days it has definetly sold out. its full of ads and mostly poorly written 'boys own adventure' stories.

and really, who gives a sh)t about the bra boys. tracks rams them down our throats month in , month out. they make them out to be good guys, and super cool, but they are a bunch of immature twits. who cares that they tow in when its barely overhead, and they send everyone in??! and that richie vaculik has the WORST style of any surfer ive ever seen....seriously, the guy looks like hes taking the piss on the ultimate poo man.

if you want a good grass roots mag without the bullsh)t and hype, buy SW

[Lucky Al]

surely current tracks staff are giving it their all, but wonder if they're making their ideal mag or doing things they'd rather not under pressure from publisher, advertisers or even readers. thirty-eight thousand issues come out every month so they must be doing the right thing by a decent-sized group, but wonder if criticism of their work from former tracks readers bothers them at all.

[Hawkeye]

thirty-eight thousand issues come out every month so they must be doing the right thing by a decent-sized group, ...

Number of issues coming out is irrelevant. The number of issues sold is what counts. There's a lot of games played by publishers around those numbers.

Unless it has a CAB (Circulation Audit Bureau) logo and number I wouldn't believe anything the publisher says about circulation, as it's aimed at generating higher ad rates fro madvertisers.

[NCP]

Tracks is trash, like most mags (not just surfing ones) but, like most mags, I don't mind having a look at one if I am in a car, or waiting for some reason or something. Never buy it though, and never go out of m,y way to read one.

Funny you should mention the bra boys, cos it seems everytime I even glance at an issue of tracks, it they are all over it? What is with that? Guess all the controversy they cause must sell...

[Chamberess]

Not a fan of tracks...they just write trash.There's never an article in there that you sit down and want to read from start to finish.They try to be the FHM of surf mags.given im a female i don't quite understand...wouldnt you just buy FHM if you wanna have a perve?It's just something to look at if you're desperate to see surf pics and the posters now and then are alright-got the one of fanning at charging snapper up at work.

But yeah,ASL dominates in my opinion.Many times i have found myself totally hooked on an article in ASL,even the blurb from the editor gives me a few laughs from time to time..

That's just my 2 cents

[CaT_SPeW]

i went out looking for a decent surf mag to buy recently. i had no idea what to get so i ended getting Tracks coz it came with a free dvd (BURN), cant go past that. anyway the mag that came with it was chocka's with ads and very little reading material, so i think i'll try one of the pthers out next time

[Chamberess]

thats another thing worth mentioning

anyone realise how they've changed it from "free dvd" to "bonus dvd" why?because everyone realised your paying $10 instead of the usual $7.50.not that i complain young guns 2 and the like are nice to see

[grazza]

Not a fan of tracks...they just write trash.There's never an article in there that you sit down and want to read from start to finish.They try to be the FHM of surf mags.given im a female i don't quite understand...wouldnt you just buy FHM if you wanna have a perve?It's just something to look at if you're desperate to see surf pics and the posters now and then are alright-got the one of fanning at charging snapper up at work.

But yeah,ASL dominates in my opinion.Many times i have found myself totally hooked on an article in ASL,even the blurb from the editor gives me a few laughs from time to time..

That's just my 2 cents

I so agree. Tracks has become a piece of sexist fluff with a pronounced Brit Lager Lout sensibility, with a target demographics of IQs under 70. It's so easy to see the FHM stamp, even the layout's got the same tacky cheap feel.

That's not to say that there's no good writing in there. Sometimes Sean Doherty sneaks in a well written piece pretending to be crap to catch you by surprise, but by and large it's pretty awful. There is a difference between irreverent and retarded, which the current Tracks completely fails to grasp. It's sad when you think about its history.

[Chamberess]

not sure if anyone has the latest issue of tracks-parko on the cover at snapper.

The article "south bound" page 68 was a good read i thought-article about mark mathews and mates charging shipsterns and then saying how they shit themselves in shark infested waters.gotta love a good shark article to get your fear reignited That's probably the only hafl decent thing ive read in that mag in years