James Rensenbrink (1932–2013), a former employee of two
New Jersey newspapers and one
Louisiana newspaper, founded
The Aquarian in 1969.
The Aquarian initially concentrated on radical politics and uncompromising ecological writings, raging against media monopolies as well as antiquated marijuana laws. In the beginning,
The Aquarian promoted hippie culture and healthy lifestyles, dropping issues sporadically from 1969 to 1974 at the cost of 15 cents per issue in 1969, 10 cents by 1971, then becoming free by 1972. In 1973,
The Aquarian hit stride, mixing its sociopolitical views and drug culture coverage with new popular music features, as well as covering underground nightspots like
CBGB The October 1973 issue included a photo of
Mick Jagger on its cover, an in-depth interview with the
Eagles, and a review of the
Allman Brothers Band at Trenton's State Fairgrounds. The February 20, 1974, issue had a pink-hued front cover, while the next issue on March 14, 1974, featured an out-of-shape man in blue and red Superman cape plus the first Classified section, bringing a stabilized 25-cent price to customers. By 1977,
The Aquarian became a full-time weekly at a cost of 50 cents. By January 5, 1983,
East Coast Rocker provided full-time music coverage inside
The Aquarian while the concurrent
New York Arts Weekly concentrated on non-music items and poetry for its strictly New York City audience. On July 18, 1984, the first "Records in Review" section appeared, rating new recordings on a scale of 1 to 10. For issue 614, dated February 12, 1986,
The Aquarian changed to a smaller, more accessible 8x12 size. By issue 623 (April 16, 1986),
The Aquarian proudly boasted that it was currently "The Only Weekly Music Newspaper in the U.S." An important historical date was July 16, 1986, when issue 637 temporarily marked the end of
The Aquarian in favor of the more conveniently named
East Coast Rocker, offering its first issue on July 23, 1986. of
The Aquarian in 2020. Since then, they have been solely online at theaquarian.com. In August of 2022, Valentino Petrarca took over as editor-in-chief of the magazine. == Notable former staff ==