V. Vale

Who is V. Vale?

V. "Valhalla" Vale is a writer, keyboard player and, as Vale Hamanaka, was a member of the initial configuration of Blue Cheer, prior to that band becoming famous as a power trio. He is the publisher and primary contributor to books and magazines published by his company, RE/Search Publications. "Valhalla" Vale, who is the host of the television talk show Counterculture Hour on Public-access television cable TV channel 29 in San Francisco. He studied English at UC Berkeley, and is a Japanese-American.

In 1977, while working at City Lights Bookstore, with $100 donated each by Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, he began publication of Search and Destroy, a San Francisco-based zine documenting the then-current punk subculture. In 1980, he began publication of RE/Search, a tabloid format zine focusing on various counterculture and underground topics, with financial help from Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records and actress/film director Betty Thomas. At the same time he also started his own typesetting business, allowing for a day job to fund his publishing exploits and guaranteeing high quality typography and design for his magazines and books.

The 1980s saw the expansion of RE/Search books from tabloid-formatted zines to academically-modeled books. "Valhalla" Vale published and contributed to many books on the subjects of pranks; obscure music and films; industrial culture; authors J.G. Ballard and William S. Burroughs; modern primitives; and many other underground topics. In 1991, Vale sold his typography business to focus on publishing full time.