Creem (which is always capitalized in print as
CREEM despite the magazine's
nameplate appearing in lower case letters), "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine", was a monthly
rock 'n' roll publication first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. It suspended production in 1989 but received a short-lived renaissance in the early 1990s as a glossy tabloid.
Lester Bangs, often cited as "America's Greatest Rock Critic", became editor in 1971. The term "
punk rock" was coined by the magazine in May 1971, in
Dave Marsh's
Looney Tunes column about
Question Mark & the Mysterians. The same issue introduced "
heavy metal" as the name of a genre in a review of
Sir Lord Baltimore by "Metal"
Mike Saunders.