Acquired Tastes XLIII
Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 161
Gaytimes Book Club, Part 7
Today, we continue taking a look at New Male's Gaytimes Book Club imprint.
Unsurprisingly, very little is available in the way of information regarding the imprint's history.
The books were distributed by Star Distributors, LTD., which held a P.O. Box (#362) at the Canal Street Station in New York, NY, zip code 10013,
The imprint published 208 titles during its run from 1979 to 1992, all credited to Anonymous.
Unsurprisingly, very little is available in the way of information regarding the imprint's history.
The books were distributed by Star Distributors, LTD., which held a P.O. Box (#362) at the Canal Street Station in New York, NY, zip code 10013,
The imprint published 208 titles during its run from 1979 to 1992, all credited to Anonymous.
Publisher's Page
The covers went through four distinct cover changes. Initially they displayed facial or upper torso with face portraits of masculine gay archetypes presented in a stylistic manner all done by the same artist. The publisher chose to switch cover designs starting around book #60 in 1983. At that point the portraits, typically of a single figure - although there were exceptions - featured a three-quarter portrait of a male, usually clothed. The drawings, all done in a comic book-like style by the same artist, appear somewhat amateurish, though colored nicely in an array of flat, solid colors. A third style would be introduced, featuring a black background, creating a domed frame with an amateurish colored drawing. By that point the books were under the heading of New Male, with the Gaytimes Book Club name not mentioned at all. Near the tail end of the imprint's history, they would feature a colored drawing with a bit more artistic merit, minus any framing device or background.
Examples of the back covers. The first example was used for books #1-60. After that, the back covers were used to advertise the most recent offerings from Star Distributer's Rough Trade imprint.
But the covers were not the only thing to change. The books now advertised ten pages of personal ads and an assortment of sexual enhancement products. Below is a partial description of such a book from Gay's The Word Bookshop, "the UK's oldest LGBT+ bookshop, opening in January 1979 at 66 Marchmont Street."
"Very rare pulp paperback published in 1984 by the GayTimes Book Club (New York). Read and worn, with creasing to spine and on lower cover, but intact with no loss and in solid condition. Yellow sticker on upper cover showing "R" rating: "(a) not to be sold or exhibited to minors, (b) Not to be available for perusal by minors, (c) Not to be displayed in any place to which minors have access, (d) Not to be advertised." With advertisements for "Stallion Slo-Cum Spray" and "Anal Ecstasy" on inside covers, personal advertisements in the final pages ("TEN pages of ads from people who want to meet you!"), and a further catalog of gay erotica available from Star Distributors."
Books #1-60 also feature ads, about nine pages worth, at the back of book - things like subscriptions to The Gaytimes News (12 issues for $18), payment to be sent to P.O. Box 101, Murray Hill Station, New York, NY 10016; Rough Trade, Male Photo, and Stud Series books; and an assortment of 'Butt Tinglers', 'Pocket Pussies', and alarming-looking dildoes.
Oddly, the book's catalog number does not appear on the cover of the book (only on the spine), nor do the words 'New Male' appear anywhere on this first batch of covers, yet that brand name is later associated with the books.
As previously mentioned, I'm not sure how many of the 208 covers I will be able to track down, but here are the next ten covers I could find. We'll just take it one post at a time...
Well, this post is the reason I couldn't say how many parts to this imprint there would be: we've got bumpkis. So many covers missing, but it is what it is. In fact, there are so many covers missing - we go through a change in cover design and I can't tell you when exactly that may have happened.
Out of 52 titles, I could only find ten covers.
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Initiation Night
Author: Anonymous
1983
NM-075
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.
Punk Hustler
Author: Anonymous
1983
NM-076
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.
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Freshman Class Virgin
Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-077
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Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-078
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Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-079
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Marine Chicken
Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-080
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Leather Boy
Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-081
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Truck Stop Chicken
Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-082
According to a note on Hommi Publishing's Big Ass List this one is about truckers who pick up a young hitchhiker.
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Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-083
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Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-084
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Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-085
According to a note on Hommi Publishing's Big Ass List this one is about a rich and a poor high school student lust for each other
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Lockerroom Rookie
Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-086
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Prep School Nights
Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-087
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Backwoods Rough House
Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-088
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Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-089
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Down on His Knees
Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-090
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Coach’s Secret
Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-091
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Bound to Please
Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-092
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Reform School Studs
Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-093
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His Hung Master
Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-094
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Suburban Chicken
Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-095
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Film Crew Studs
Author: Anonymous
1984
NM-096
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Trucker Studs
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-097
This is the first cover I could find which indicates a change in tone regarding the cover art, moving toward more explicit content.
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Shore Leave
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-098
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Beach Meat
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-099
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Caged Chicken
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-100
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Chicken Buster!
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-101
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Stud on the Prowl
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-102
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All-Night Boy-Chick
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-103
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Black Meat Hunger
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-104
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Tim’s Sweet Ass
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-105
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Major League Lovers
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-106
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All Male Farm
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-107
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Prep School Pussy Boy
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-108
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Heavy Hung Recruit
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-109
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Prowling for Big Ones
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-110
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Hot Assed Coach
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-111 FIN-184
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Rick’s Big Stick
Author: Anonymous
1985
NM-112
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Rock Hard Studs
Author: Anonymous
1986
NM-113
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Mark’s Hot Ass
Author: Anonymous
1986
NM-114
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Hot Black Meat
Author: Anonymous
1986
NM-115
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Hung Black Punk
Author: Anonymous
1986
NM-117
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High School Comers
Author: Anonymous
1986
NM-118
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Big City Chicken
Author: Anonymous
1986
NM-119
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Quarterback Bruiser
Author: Anonymous
1986
NM-120
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Heavy Black Meat
Author: Anonymous
1986
NM-121
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Chicken Delight
Author: Anonymous
1986
NM-122
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Macho Man’s Sex Toy
Author: Anonymous
1986
NM-123
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Young Hot & Hung
Author: Anonymous
1986
NM-124
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Dick for Daddy
Author: Anonymous
1986
NM-125
A definite change in format. The 'Gaytimes Book Club' tag is no longer featured - we might as well refer to these as New Male books, now. We have a new artist (Clement) and style. The title font has also changed.
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.
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Chained Chicken
Author: Anonymous
1986
NM-126
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Slave Boy
Author: Anonymous
1986
NM-127
Republished as NSS-101 for the New Stud Series imprint.
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And that's all for now.
Next week: ten more Gaytime Book Club covers.
Until then...
Thanks for reading.
Chicken Delight - 1999
Chicken Delight - 1984
Chicken Delight - 1983Chicken Delight - 1983
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2 comments:
Wow. They got really brave with those covers in 85, didn't they?
Well, so those last ones got really explicit?
I wonder what motivated the change. Did they strike down the pornography laws??
XOXO
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