1964–65 In March 1964,
the Beach Boys released the album
Shut Down Volume 2 which came with an inner sleeve announcing the invitation, "Join the Teen Set on Capitol." The inner sleeve gave instructions for joining the Teen Set
fan club, based in Hollywood, California. It promised "Details in the next great issue of
the Teen Set magazine." The first magazine issue of
the Teen Set was ready in October 1964, released as a free insert to the live album
Beach Boys Concert. The magazine informed the reader about various aspects of the Beach Boys. The second issue was ready in March 1965, printed in a massive run of 500,000, produced by
Lou Kimzey and his Kimtex Corporation. The first 350,000 copies of the magazine were given free with the purchase of a specified teen-oriented Capitol album, including the recent February releases of
the Lettermen's
Portrait of My Love, and an album by the easy listening
Hollyridge Strings (playing orchestral versions of
Beatles songs), as well as the March releases of
Dick Dale's ''Live at Ciro's'',
Bobby Rydell's
Somebody Loves You, and
The Beach Boys Today! The remaining magazine copies were sold at newsstands for 35¢, and they were popular enough for Capitol to move forward with a quarterly publishing schedule. Capitol later reported that they had sold 90,000 of the 150,000 copies set aside for newsstand sales. Artists profiled in
the Teen Set volume 2 were
Donna Loren, Bobby Rydell,
Peter & Gordon and, of course, the Beach Boys. Featured artists in November 1965 included UK acts such as
the Beatles, singer
Ian Whitcomb, actor/oboist
David McCallum and
the Rolling Stones, showing that the
British Invasion would be sustained by Capitol through
TeenSet. The magazine geared up for a change from quarterly to monthly publication in 1966.
Sue Cameron introduced
the Mothers of Invention and
Buffalo Springfield to
TeenSet in the November 1966 issue, an article titled "Hollywood Group Scene" that also included
the Association pop-folk group, and the Everpresent Fullness, a band that saw brief success with
Warren Zevon's adaptation of the old
Jim Jackson blues song "Wild About My Lovin'".
Michael Vosse kept up interest in Zappa by featuring him in an article published in January 1967. In December 1966,
TeenSet published "On Tour with the Beatles", showing Sims in close contact with the Beatles as they toured the US. (This turned out to be their final tour.) Sims wrote exciting concert experiences and the daily routine of touring, sharing inside glimpses of the band. In November 1966, Buffalo Springfield first played their song "
For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)" at the
Whisky a Go Go. Sims heard the song and immediately took a liking to the band, determining to include something about them in every issue. The song played on Los Angeles radio at the end of 1966, then started climbing the charts in early 1967.
TeenSet was invaluable in helping to keep the band in the public eye during 1967–1968, featuring the band in a layout published in January 1967. Sims later said, "They just knocked me out. It was obvious they loved playing with each other and respected each other's musicianship. They were a joy to behold." Gold caught up with the Jimi Hendrix Experience in April 1967 in London, with the interview published in August. When Beatles' manager
Brian Epstein died in August, Marilyn Doerfler wrote a remembrance of him, published in the December 1967 issue of
TeenSet. Doerfler had previously written in July about a poorly conducted publicity appearance by
the Monkees, and she had accompanied Sims on the Beatles final tour.
WCFL sponsorship In mid-1967, Chicago radio station
WCFL sponsored a series of
TeenSet issues in the Chicago area, adding their call letters to the top of the magazine as sold in Chicago. The "WCFL Presents" version of
TeenSet carried four additional pages of local Chicago music events and advertisements, aimed at the station's fan base. WCFL disc jockey
Jim Stagg had previously covered the Beatles final US tour with Sims.
1968–69 In January 1968,
TeenSet included "giant wall size" posters of
Ringo Starr and
Micky Dolenz, and the price had risen to 50¢ per issue. Carol Gold reported on the UK filming of
Magical Mystery Tour film which she had watched in September 1967. The magazine was shifting its aim to reach older high school girls and young women in college. Writer
Jerry Hopkins interviewed
Frank Zappa and
the Mothers of Invention, and published stories about them in
Rolling Stone and
TeenSet. His September 1968 article in
TeenSet, "That's Funny, You Don't Look Like The Musician Of The Year", talked about how the group was known for their onstage antics, or "atrocities". Hated by some of their audiences, Hopkins joked that the group was "both hailed and stoned", implying the audience was praising and
stoning (throwing rocks at) them. The next month,
TeenSet included a foldout poster of Zappa, a psychedelic rendering of multiple exposures. in 1968,
Jacoba Atlas interviewed
Jimi Hendrix in
Benedict Canyon, providing enough material for a two-part article. The second half of the interview discussed Hendrix's political views including his thoughts about the
Black Panther Party and the
Black Power movement; it appeared in the January 1969 issue made controversial because the cover showed white singer
Grace Slick in
blackface giving the
Black power salute.
TeenSet sponsored the magazine's "first annual" (only) ice skating Christmas party in late 1968, held at
Topanga Plaza Ice Capades Chalet. With three Canadians in the band, Buffalo Springfield appeared very expert and relaxed on the ice compared to
Hearts & Flowers and
the Merry-Go-Round. In March 1969,
TeenSet published with a question mark next to the magazine name (
TeenSet?), which turned out to be the final issue. The cover showed two dolls with pasted-on heads: a naked black
G.I. Joe with Jimi Hendrix's head, and a naked
Barbie with
Mia Farrow's head. Shea also wrote "Morality Is Not Good for You" in the same issue, under the name "Alexander Eulenspiegel". Sims listed this two-page article in the table of contents as "The New Morality. It may be just the absence of the old morality." In May 1969 the magazine was published with a new name,
AUM, an initialism for Adult Underthirty Magazine, also referring to the Hindu meditation word
Om. The cover photograph by
Ed Caraeff showed four of
the GTOs including
Pamela Des Barres, each holding a different past issue of
TeenSet. The editorial by Sims said the magazine's new title was pronounced "awm". Continuing with the magazine were writers Jacoba Atlas, Jerry Hopkins, "Alexander Eulenspiegel" (Robert Shea) and more. The July issue of
AUM was the magazine's final appearance, featuring a cover painting titled "Aquarius Theatre" by
the Fool, a Dutch artist duo. ==Legacy==