Jeff Smart
The voice of Illegal
Jeff Smart ran Illegal, the Commodore 64 cracking scene's most important diskmag — making him one of the scene's editors and chroniclers at the height of its activity.
If the cracking scene had a press, Jeff Smart was one of its editors. He ran Illegal, the Commodore 64 diskmag that, in association with Triad, carried the scene’s news, charts, rumours, and feuds — including the famous final-issue verdict that crowned Ikari the world’s best cracking group.
In a community that mostly spoke in scrolltexts, the person editing the magazine held real influence: they set the agenda, ran the polls, and shaped how the scene argued about itself. Jeff Smart was one of those people.
Fast facts
- Scene name: Jeff Smart.
- Known for: Editing Illegal, the C64 cracking scene’s leading diskmag.
- Associated group: Triad.
- Role: Editor, chronicler, agenda-setter.
The editor’s influence
Crack intros announced; diskmags discussed. By steering Illegal, Jeff Smart sat at the centre of the cracking scene’s self-understanding — and, unintentionally, became one of its most valuable archivists. The opinions and charts he published are now part of the historical record of how the scene actually worked.