Acquired Tastes XLIII:
Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 208
Spade Classics
Part 3 of 5
This was yet another imprint brought to you by the good people at Star Distributors, LTD., the Spade Classics imprint lasted a three years, from 1972-1974, publishing 52 titles in all. Star Distributors, LTD. operated out of a P.O. Box at the Canal Street Station in New York City and are responsible for numerous, short-lived vintage gay pulp imprints. As with most such publishers, information is in short supply.
The books covers went through four distinct styles changes. Initially, they featured a solid black background with the title in a unique bold white font, below which you'd find a black and white erotic drawing done in a linocut style. Their unique logo, a black card spade set in a white Mars/male symbol with the name of the imprint could be found in the upper left corner of the cover, the price - in the upper right, and the author's name below the linocut style drawing.
That changed with the thirteenth book in the series. The new style was similar to the first, but now a white banner ran the width of the top of the book, containing the Spade Classics logo, name and price. The artwork, by the same artist, was now framed in a circular frame with the sides cut flat. The artwork also softened a bit, looking more like a pen and ink drawing or an engraving, rather than the rough linocut look used previously.
With no rhyme or reason, the imprint would see saw back and forth between the two styles for the next twenty titles, at which point a third style would be introduced.
All the authors are presumed to be writing under pseudonyms.
These books tend to sell for between $25.00 to $55.00.
Here are the next ten Spade Classic titles. I was able to locate all ten covers.
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Young Hard Hitch-Hiker
Author: Paul Stevenson
Spade Classics
1973
SPADE-121
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Whoring Teenagers
Author: Jim Leads
Spade Classics
1973
SPADE-122
According to Hommi Publishing's Big Ass List, this one is about "teens who come to the big city after having their first sexual experiences and eventually find each other".
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing for just $1.95!
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Back Door Buddies
Author: Rick Smith
Spade Classics
1973
SPADE-123
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing for just $1.95!
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The Chicken Sailor
Author: Robert Sharp
Spade Classics
1973
SPADE-124
According to Hommi Publishing's Big Ass List, this author's name is a pseudonym of Ron Sproat, the American playwright, writer responsible for the phenom Dark Shadows.
Sproat is best known for his work on Dark Shadows, the 1960s ABC Daytime gothic soap opera. Sproat created the vampire character Barnabas Collins portrayed by Jonathan Frid, and turned the low-rated show into a huge national success. Sproat worked on the show from October 1966 through January 1969.
Sproat also worked on several other soap operas, including Never Too Young, a 1965-1966 ABC soap aimed at teenagers, Where the Heart Is, a 1969-1973 CBS family melodrama, and Strange Paradise, a Canadian soap opera that aired in syndication in the United States from 1969 to 1970, as well as Love of Life, The Doctors, and The Secret Storm.
In addition to television writing, Sproat penned the play The Dry Season which was performed in 1954 by The Hamilton College Charlatans. He also wrote for musical theatre including Abie's Island Rose and Back Home: The War Brides Musical, both of which ran off Broadway. Both shows had lyrics by Sproat's longtime partner, Frank Evans, who died in 2016.
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing for just $1.95!
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The Father Affair
Author: Jim West
Spade Classics
1973
SPADE-125
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing for just $1.95!
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The Love Rammers
Author: Mitchell Champion
Spade Classics
1973
SPADE-126
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing for just $1.95!
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Pretty Boy Lifeguard
Author: Paul Stevenson
Spade Classics
1973
SPADE-127
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing for just $1.95!
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The Blue-Eyed Stud
Author: Will Cassidy
Spade Classics
1973
SPADE-128
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing for just $1.95!
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Boy Hungry Studs
Author: San Falzar
Spade Classics
1973
SPADE-129
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The Gay Whores
Author: Lee Styles
Spade Classics
1973
SPADE-130
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Next week: ten more tantalizing Spade Classics titles.
Until then...
Thanks for reading.
Dark Shadows - Trailer
"The Beginning"
(1966)
.jpg)
3 comments:
We usd to rush home from school to watch Dark Shadows! It was SO cheesy.
Whoring teenagers? The Blue Eye Stud? Subtle they were not. Just how I like my one-handed reading.
And the covers are not the best, though... I liked the old ones better.
XOXO
Dark Shadows! OMG! Ron reminds me a bit of Samuel Steward, men of two lives, back in the day - respectable and louche! I must say, I always love the graphical covers of gay pulps!
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