Frank the Dealer
Get your Gruntruck and Mudhoney fix
Imagine that you and a friend are haggling over a colossal trading card transaction, a deal that could define your future card collecting trajectory and entire existence as a hardcore fan. But you aren’t dealing with a Rod Carew for a Tom Seaver here, you’re trading a Mudhoney for two Gruntrucks and a Hammerbox. Seattle music scene trading cards. This is the innovative concept envisioned and realized by Frank Harlan, founder of the Northwest Trading Card Company. In a recent interview, Frank describes his unique marketing strategy. “It’s hysterical, the bands submit their own snapshots and get to write their own hype!” To elaborate, Frank’s lengthy faxed brochure proclaims, “each band card reflects an individual look, attitude and sound, of course the sound part isn’t available on the trading card but the rest is there.”
While most other cards are based on professional sports or serial killers, Frank’s concept originated from the production of Seattle’s Bombshelter Videos TV show back in 1987. “Because we were broadcasting live, we were getting into all these places where we never would have been if we were cable access or radio. I hosted the show using the name Bill Board as kind of a protest.” Frank described Bombshelter Videos as an alternative to the rigid, narrow-minded standards MTV and other large video channels had in the late 1980’s “Basically, if you got a rejection letter from MTV we’d put your video on without even watching it,” he laughs. “We were doing what they were afraid to do and broadcasting free to the public!” Then around 1990, the grunge sound began airing on MTV and Seattle bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden began receiving massive media attention. Frank says, “The grunge thing was breaking and MTV was taking all the credit for it. It was crazy, I mean you never would have seen Rage Against the Machine on MTV five years ago.” In all UNfairness to MTV, it does seem ironic that an incredibly original and creative music scene was exposed on an international level two years after the emergence of am innovative broadcast TV program focusing on the same Northwest music scene.
Unfortunately, while MTV was overplaying the shit out of the biggest Northwest acts, hundreds of other aspiring groups were largely overshadowed and ignored. That’s when Frank’s vision of the Northwest Band Trading Cards came into focus. “I knew of a local company that made trading cards for little league baseball teams, so I made up a card of the Bill Board TV series. As the scene took off, local bands began putting their cards out also.” The novelty of the Northwest bad cards was enhanced by the unique underground promotion in which particular bands would make their cards available only in select coffee houses, laundromats and tattoo parlors around Seattle. As the cards became coveted collectors items by hardcore fans and groupies, the idea for a first complete set was put in motion. “All these other bands said how can we get involved in this?” Frank knew he was on to something special and began to make phone calls and do bidding, finally landing a deal to package a product in February, 1993. “Volume one of Northwest Bands and Labels had 4,500 boxed sets of 40 cards each. In 1993 there was a lot more going on here than MTV was telling everybody. The trading cards were a way to help break a few new bands.” The question of whether the trading cards were really an effective marketing tool was put to rest when Frank began receiving phone calls from big label reps about bands they saw on the cards. “A and R actually called and asked ‘what do you think about the bands on these cards?’ I always liked to plug a band if I think they’ve got something special,’ he says.
Frank emphasizes that the Northwest region which includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia have a wide variety of musical talent besides the well known grunge scene. “This region has everything from pop rock, country, rap, experimental noise, everything. I think the fans are not as cliquish here, they want to see the variety.” The second and third sets of band cards reflected this diversity in sound as well as improvement in design and packaging. “You want to be respected by the trading card community and make sure the fans always get a good product. In the beginning we looked at old rock n roll cards which were okay, but it was like they would just copy baseball cards by listing only dry data or cheesy promotion on the back of their cards. On our cards you can find out how to contact the manager as well as mail order the CD.” Since many of the bands write their own information, collectors gain insight and often hilarious perspectives on the odd personalities of each band.
Lastly, it should be said that if the hardcore groupies aren’t satisfactorily stimulated, Frank has a new set in development where the bands share more than their thoughts with their fans. “We have one more set coming out called ‘Live and in the Raw Special Edition’ where groups appear nude or performing live.”
Author Notes:
A great resource and archive of the Seattle bands and Grunge scene is 10 Things Zine
Article originally published in CAKE Magazine circa 1993.
