Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road

August 26, 2003 12:21 AM

Hippie Atrocities and Beautiful Freaks -- Oz Magazine was, for a ten year run during the Sixties and Seventies, Australia's, and later England's, premier underground satire 'zine. Featuring contributions from (among others) Lenny Bruce and Germain Greere, and subject to two obscenity trials--one in Australia and another, more famous one following the editors' exile to England--it evolved, in its English incarnation, a wicked, witty and of course, thouroughly psychedelic design aesthetic. There are galleries of cover art here and here, and a Shockwave adaptation of the infamous School Kids issue here. [warning: some images NSFW.]
posted by arto (6 comments total)

Good stuff arto. Thanks.

Felix Dennis& is now a publishisher – who begat Maxim magazine – and poet. And a right [libel!] if the stories from his employees are even half true...
posted by i_cola at 1:44 AM on August 26, 2003

...publishisher??? Need a cup of tea...
posted by i_cola at 1:46 AM on August 26, 2003

Great stuff - thanks arto.
posted by plep at 2:39 AM on August 26, 2003

Would Private Eye have done so well if Oz had not folded?
I think Oz looks like a bit more fun than Private Eye. Establishment gone awry are more acceptable than oiks from the colonies. More reliant on having a boat to rock than wanting to skinny-dip.
posted by asok at 4:37 AM on August 26, 2003

There is more about Oz magazine to be found at Richard Neville's site.
posted by Tarrama at 8:17 AM on August 26, 2003

...publishisher??? Need a cup of tea...

Tempting to suggest a little hashishish instead, given the subject matter. Or is that the problem?
posted by arto at 8:39 PM on August 26, 2003