[Misc] Loaded: Lads, Mags and Mayhem (BBC)

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

"...Maggie Thatcher naked on a cold day. Maggie Thatcher naked on a cold day..."*






*I'm aware there's a small cohort on here for whom that would have the opposite of the intended effect

small, you say.....

 

[chaileyjem]

Surely they weren’t the only game in town though? If Loaded et al had some dominance it’s because they were good at promoting themselves and other publications weren’t. It was a very niche market. Who likes going out on a Friday, getting off their tits and then going to football the next day? Me and my mates. Who doesn’t? Everyone else.

Not that niche . They were some of the biggest selling magazines in the country. Both Loaded and FHM at their peaks were selling a combined 1.2m copies a month (in/around 1998) . FHM peaked at 775K a month in 1999.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Dunno about that - I think Neville Brody would like a word. The Face was hugely influential when it came to magazine design.

I haven't watched the programme yet. My old work colleague Andy Sherwood was the last editor of old style Loaded. It wasn't a happy ship by then - but as he supports Palace, he should be used to having a miserable time. He's living it up in Abu Dhabi now, so he made a decent escape. But no chance of any Loaded type escapades there

I still have copies of the first few issues of The Face. Unfortunately I cut out lots of the pix to make collages to stick on the wall. Vandal!

 

[chaileyjem]

I worked a bit for them in the early days when I was at 90 Minutes and they basically took over our office. Still friends with a lot of them but have to say the fact they're still banging on about it gets a bit tiresome.

TBF - James Brown said he'd turned down 40 different requests to do a documentary until this request came in in the last couple of decades. He didn't really talk about Loaded for years until he wrote his memoirs a couple of years ago (which this documentary had the rights to).

 

[Wozza]

Dunno about that - I think Neville Brody would like a word. The Face was hugely influential when it came to magazine design.

Yeah, in fairness, probably a big difference between trendy magazines in that there London compared to the 'geek' magazines I worked on from 92.

Perhaps @Comrade Sam will tell us which jobs he interviewed for?

 

[Wozza]

I worked a bit for them in the early days when I was at 90 Minutes and they basically took over our office. Still friends with a lot of them but have to say the fact they're still banging on about it gets a bit tiresome.

Hmmmm... I think James is fully justified to boost about creating a genuinely landmark magazine.

(Way more jarring that the pretty shite 90min.com piggybacks off the 90 Minutes name, I reckon!)

 

[GJN1]

Edited Four Four Two briefly (and very well) a few years ago. He's a very thoughtful , interesting football fan (Leeds) and good bloke . Rents out that lovely Sussex beach house he was interviewed in, in the doc.

Stayed there several times. It is lovely.

Not sure he was so thoughtful when he got sacked from GQ for including Rommel in his Most Fashionable Men of the Century list, what with Conde Nast being owned by a Jewish family.

 

[GJN1]

Not that niche . They were some of the biggest selling magazines in the country. Both Loaded and FHM at their peaks were selling a combined 1.2m copies a month (in/around 1998) . FHM peaked at 775K a month in 1999.

I was working at FHM when it did 1 million copies a month for a couple of issues. Then four of us left (before the Gail Porter one) when the publisher said they would cover the cost of the food for our staff Xmas lunch but not the booze.

 

[Gwylan]

Yeah, in fairness, probably a big difference between trendy magazines in that there London compared to the 'geek' magazines I worked on from 92.

Perhaps @Comrade Sam will tell us which jobs he interviewed for?

The problem was that the designers for those geeky magazines all thought they were working for The Face

Actually, the Guardian redesign was just as influential, suddenly there was Garamond everywhere