Rockers Sample Glossy, Reborn Creem

The Scene: Party at the Palace Tuesday night for the rebirth of Creem magazine. The gritty, rock ‘n’ roll mag went out of business 18 months ago after a 20-year run. The new Creem has the large-format, glossy look of an L.A. Style or Interview magazine. Its initial printing is 150,000. “I like it,” said musician David Was. “But it’s a little strange. It’s like opening the Berkeley Barb and seeing an Absolut vodka ad.”

The Buzz: Has the music scene gentrified enough to support a rock ‘n’ roll coffee-table magazine? Do heavy metal yuppies exist? Do they own coffee tables?

Who Was There: Approximately 1,000 of the rock faithful including musicians John Doe, Johnny Van-Zant, Tears for Fears’ Curt Smith, the GoGo’s Jane Wiedlin, photographer Greg Gorman (who shot the mag’s Billy Idol premiere issue cover), Drew Barrymore, Michael Des Barres, KROQ disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer and the ever-inevitable Angelyne.

Dress Mode: On men, the classic record industry uniform: black cotton jacket over a T-shirt (preferably from an early Rolling Stones tour), faded blue jeans and silver-toed Santa Fe-style cowboy boots. On women, it was Madonna-esque: for example, a rhinestone encrusted bustier comboed with cut-off Levis’ worn over fishnet stockings and black pumps. In terms of exhibited flesh, there was little doubt this was Hollywood.

The Chow: Seemingly endless trays of sushi, Thai toast and egg rolls from Tommy Tang’s. There was an open bar in the VIP room, but only some brands of vodka and beer were gratis in the main room. This prompted one non-VIP guest to whine over his $2.50 mineral water, “They’re penalizing me for being sober.”

Quoted: “It’s about time someone did a music magazine as visually stimulating as MTV,” said Creem publisher/editor Marvin Jarrett, 31.

Sign of the Times: “You can tell we’re getting older,” said KROQ’s Bingenheimer. “Now they’re printing the magazines in type we can read.”

Glitches: Very low star turnout. The guest list was batting about five for 45.

Triumphs: The magazine was well-received. And at least now they’re not obliged to put the party no-shows on the cover.