Oz Magazine - An Introduction

 
 

Oz Magazine, along with International Times was THE underground magazine during the late Sixties in England.

Originating from Australia where it was founded by Richard Neville and Martin Sharp it came to England in February 1967 where the first issue hit the streets of an unsuspecting London.

Oz ran for 48 issues and was printed in a variety of shapes and sizes during its time, this of course caused us hell while scanning these and if you look close enough you will see the 'joins' on some of the more awkward shaped issues....

Misinterpreted by many as a 'Psychedelic' magazine, Oz actually had more in common with Private Eye being VERY anti-establishment but with its target audience firmly focused on the emerging underground scene it scored a massive hit. Until then there was only really the Indica Bookshop run by Miles for this kind of literature so it's success was virtually guaranteed.

From the outset it was full of anger, radical ideas and left wing political ideals but by the time Issue No.3 arrived it was obviously becoming visually very psychedelic.

Australian artist Martin Sharp had started experimenting with LSD and the stunning cover of Issue No.3 is testament to his new found influences featuring a joint smoking Mona Lisa and some very suggestive looking bananas!!

Issue No.4 featured superb artwork from one of London's finest, Hapsash and the Coloured Coat but perhaps the most famous cover of all was Martin Sharp's Bob Dylan cover for Issue No.7.

It was not all psychedelic beauty though, sometimes the covers were enough to stop you in your tracks as result of their powerful imagery (Issue No.10) or were just down right controversial (Issue No.25 and 28).

Anyway for your enjoyment we give you a visual feast in the form of cover art from our (almost complete) collection of Oz Magazine.

 
 

**** Click on covers for enlarged version ****

 
 
Oz Magazine Issue 1 Oz Magazine Issue 2 Oz Magazine Issue 3 Oz Magazine Issue 4

Issue 1

Issue 2

Issue 3

Issue 4

       
Oz Magazine Issue 5 Oz Magazine Issue 6 Oz Magazine Issue 7 Oz Magazine Issue 8

Issue 5

Issue 6

Issue 7

Issue 8

       
Oz Magazine Issue 9 Oz Magazine Issue 10 Oz Magazine Issue 11 Oz Magazine Issue 12

Issue 9

Issue 10

Issue 11

Issue 12

       
Oz Magazine Issue 13 Oz Magazine Issue 14 Oz Magazine Issue 15 Oz Magazine Issue 16

Issue 13

Issue 14

Issue 15

Issue 16

       
Oz Magazine Issue 17 Oz Magazine Issue 18 Oz Magazine Issue 19 Oz Magazine Issue 20

Issue 17

Issue 18

Issue 19

Issue 20

       
Oz Magazine Issue 21 Oz Magazine Issue 22 Oz Magazine Issue 23 Oz Magazine Issue 24

Issue 21

Issue 22

Issue 23

Issue 24

       
Oz Magazine Issue 25 Oz Magazine Issue 26 Oz Magazine Issue 27 Oz Magazine Issue 28

Issue 25

Issue 26

Issue 27

Issue 28

       
Oz Magazine Issue 29 Oz Magazine Issue 30 Oz Magazine Issue 31 Oz Magazine Issue 32

Issue 29

Issue 30

Issue 31

Issue 32

       
Oz Magazine Issue 33 Oz Magazine Issue 34 Oz Magazine Issue 35 Oz Magazine Issue 36

Issue 33

Issue 34

Issue 35

Issue 36

       
Oz Magazine Issue 37 Oz Magazine Issue 38 Oz Magazine Issue 39 Oz Magazine Issue 40

Issue 37

Issue 38

Issue 39

Issue 40

       
Oz Magazine Issue 41 Oz Magazine Issue 42 Oz Magazine Issue 43 Oz Magazine Issue 44

Issue 41

Issue 42

Issue 43

Issue 44

       
Oz Magazine Issue 45 Oz Magazine Issue 46 Oz Magazine Issue 47 Oz Magazine Issue 48

Issue 45

Issue 46

Issue 47

Issue 48

       
Oz poster from Issue 5

Poster from Issue 5