Tim Yohannan (August 15, 1945 – April 3, 1998), also known as Tim Yo, was the founder of Maximum Rocknroll, a radio show and fanzine documenting punk subculture in San Francisco.[1] He also helped in establishing a number of DIY collectives, such as 924 Gilman Street,[2] Blacklist Mailorder, and the Epicenter Zone record store.[3][4]

Biography

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Yohannan was initially a 1960s counterculture-era leftist, before shifting this ideology to the punk scene. Issue 425 of Maximumrocknroll stated, "Tim Yo was a Marxist!"[5]

As a self-appointed "punks' herdsman", Yohannan had a reputation as being notoriously difficult.[6]

Yohannan died at 53[3] on April 3, 1998 from complications from lymphatic cancer.[7]

The band Green Day recorded the song "Platypus (I Hate You)" on their 1997 album Nimrod. The song does not directly mention Yohannan. However, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong tweeted on February 17, 2011 (and deleted the tweet a few hours later), "Platypus was written for Tim Yohanon. And I pray to god I misspelled his name. Rest in shit you fucking cunt".[8]

The NOFX song "I'm Telling Tim" from their 1997 album So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes was also about Yohannan.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Hindin, Seth (April 7, 1998). "Punk Publisher Tim Yohannan Dead At 52". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 20, 2023. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  2. ^ Seth Hindin, "Punk Publisher Tim Yohannan Dead At 52," Rolling Stone, April 7, 1998.
  3. ^ a b Sullivan, James. "Whats Shakin at Epicenter?". SF Weekly. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  4. ^ "EPICENTER ZONE - San francisco, California". Salespider.com. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  5. ^ MRR response to a letter signed from Ilja, Maximumrocknroll issue 425, page 8, October 2018
  6. ^ "Bad Tase is in the Majority: Interview with Tim Yohannan and Jen Angel of Maximumrock'n'roll, Part 1," Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine Razorcake, October 18, 2011.
  7. ^ Gil Kaufman, "Punk ‘Zine Publisher Tim Yohannan Dead At 52: Maximumrocknroll Fostered Bay Area Punk-Rock Scene that Eventually Spawned Green Day and Rancid," MTV.com, April 6, 1998.
  8. ^ Aska, "Song of the Week: 'Platypus (I Hate You),'" Green Day Authority, February 13, 2012.
  9. ^ https://www.filminquiry.com/turn-it-around-2017-review/

Further reading

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  • Todd Taylor, "Bad Taste is in the Majority: Interview with Tim Yohannan and Jen Angel of Maximumrock'n'roll," Razorcake, October 18–19, 2011. Part One | Part Two
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