Short-Lived 70s Groupie Magazine Star Now Online
by Liz Colville
Star magazine was a teen magazine, but it was essentially a magazine for groupies. Published by Petersen Publishing, it lasted a mere five issues in 1973 due to an influx of complaints from the public. Those five issues are now going online with the help of one Ryan Richardson, who’s uploaded digital issues here. So what was the public so upset about? Oh, how about the first feature story in the very first issue: “Your Very Own Superfox: How You’ll Know It’s Him.”
Excerpts from that article, which reads a bit like a religious pamphlet stuck to the floor of a New York subway station:
Foxy Lady, it is written in the stars and in the hearts of every worshipper of the Zodiac, from the inner brooding soul of the Capricorn woman to the deep, easy warmth of the Lady of Sagittarius, that there is a time for her to have her very own SUPERFOX. It is written that the time must come for a girl to move forward and up from the ranks of the shy, blushing Teenybopper, and to express herself as a brave new woman in a brave new world.
Later:
SUPERFOX is no dream, Sugar! SUPERFOX is that groovy dude who is the perfect match for your far-out personal style. He is your Main Squeezzzzzze! This is the man who will put a little more glide in your stride, and let you fall out to a happening in your sizzle pants with a few extra dips in your hips. Know where I’m coming from? I bet you do!
Fall out to a happening in your sizzle pants. It goes on, with section headers called “Your Own Little Loveplots!” and “You’ll Be a Sex Slave!” and “Superfox Will Make You Insanely Jealous!” Regarding that jealousy:
Little Sister, don’t be surprised if you suddenly discover that the calm, collected, come-whatever-may inner you is actually the jealous type! You will be super-jealous about this particular dude, insanely so. Your life will be one red alert alarm after another. It will just irk you to death the way that certain little brunette gumpdrop somehow manages to be around Him all the time. The poor guy almost has to trip over this self-appointed shadow to get where He’s going: And you’ll feel that’s too close for comfort. Right? You’ll even keep half an eye on your very own buddy, buddy girlfriends; you don’t leave anything to chance. You’ll even be jealous of this Fox’s dumb friends…boys will be boys, My Dear. That’s the only answer I can give you. But at least you’ll be sure of one thing: This is SUPERFOX.
In this issue is also an article called “I Fought for His Love,” with an illustration of one Farrah-haired groupie punching out another, and another called “Those Foxy Hollywood High Girls.” There is also a craft project called “What’s New to Do: Make a Foxy Pillow,” which is literally a star-shaped pillow with a cloth fox sewn onto it, which the model in this picture is definitely crying into/kissing:
There is also fiction — “In her desperate struggle to find herself, could Pam stop the beautiful, earthy Michelle from coming between her and Len?” — and this is just the first issue.
[Via]