Loaded (magazine)
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| Editor-in-Chief | Andy Sherwood |
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| Categories | Men's magazines |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Publisher | Vitality Publishing |
| First issue | 1994 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Website | www.loaded.co.uk |
| ISSN | 1353-3479 |
Loaded, first published in 1994, is a British magazine for men that is considered to be the "original lads' mag".[1][2] Its motto is "For men who should know better".[3]
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[edit] History
Loaded was founded in 1994 by Mick Bunnage, Tim Southwell and James Brown,[4] a former deputy editor of the music weekly New Musical Express.[5] It was first published by IPC. The title of the magazine is believed to be named after the Primal Scream song of the same name.[citation needed] In its early days, the magazine's readership was once memorably described as "50% Sun readers and 50% Guardian readers".[citation needed] Brown has described the irreverent comic Viz as an inspiration for Loaded[6] (and he later bought the comic when he founded the company I Feel Good).[7] Brown's fanzine Attack On Bzag can be seen as a precursor for Loaded,[citation needed] as can music journalist John Robb's Rox fanzine, which heavily influenced Brown and Loaded[citation needed] with its frenetic style and humorous use of captioned photos.
Loaded captured the lad culture[8] of the 1990s like no other magazine;[9] its glorification of British male "rogues" (Liam Gallagher, Oliver Reed, Paul Gascoigne etc.) was only outstripped by its fondness for titillating photoshoots with nubile C-, B-, and occasionally A-list celebrities. However, early covers led on male icons for film and TV - Gary Oldman was on the first cover.[9]
The Loaded style has been cloned numerous times, most obviously by Emap's FHM[10] and Maxim,[10] which became the biggest-selling men's magazine in the US for Dennis Publishing. Loaded also influenced women's monthlies, with Emap launching Minx, "For girls with a lust for life". In January 2004, IPC launched the weekly Nuts, announced as the world's first men's weekly, and Emap quickly followed with Zoo.
Loaded won the prestigious PPA Magazine Of The Year Award an unprecedented two times in a row, in 1995 & 1996. In 2007, Loaded was voted 49th in Industry website goodmagazine.com's Top 51 Magazines of All Time list, for the "Smartest, Prettiest, Coolest, Funniest, Most Influential, Most Necessary, Most Important, Most Essential, etc."[11] Despite its influence, sales have dropped in recent years: in the first six months of 2007, Loaded recorded a 35% drop in circulation compared to the first half of 2006.[9] However, in February 2010, Loaded received an ABC circulation figure that was down "just 2% over the period," compared with what Media Week called "eye-popping falls" for its competitors.[12]
Launch Deputy Editor & later Editor, Tim Southwell, wrote about the early years of Loaded in Getting Away With It (Ebury Press, 1998).[citation needed] James Brown discussed the title at length and the impact it had on '90s culture in the documentary Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop
[edit] Controversial journalism
Loaded has historically attracted talented, yet troubled writers.[citation needed] James Brown said, “I was told you need 99 straight guys and one weirdo to make a magazine. I did it the other way, I chose 99 weirdos.”[13]
Flying under the flag of ‘Gonzo journalism’, originated by Hunter S. Thompson, many articles are written under the influence of alcohol and drugs.[citation needed] Loaded writer Martin Pashley was banned from the state of Florida, USA, for accidentally destroying a vending machine during a story on the soda business .[citation needed] Writer Jon Wilde was punched in the face by snooker player Alex “Hurricane” Higgins, and again by chef Keith Floyd in July 1996, during interviews for the magazine.[14]
In April 2008, Loaded were forced to issue what The Times called the "apology of the month"[15] to Heinz, stating, "We now accept that Heinz has never produced swastika-shaped spaghetti nor did it support the Nazi regime in any other way," after a mis-informed article.[citation needed]
[edit] Loaded today
Loaded was edited by Martin Daubney, from August 2003 to October 2010.[16]
Between 2003-2006, Loaded won numerous industry awards for design and journalism, including 'best designed fashion pages' at the Magazine Design Awards, for a spread of dogs photographed wearing jewellery.[citation needed] Loaded staff writer Jeff Maysh won five industry awards for journalism, including MJA Feature Writer of the Year,[17] and PTC New Monthly Consumer Journalist of the year.[18]
Speaking of the relaunched Loaded, Daubney said: "We spent a lot of time talking to our sweet readers, and they said: ‘we love all the great stuff at the heart of the mag: the football, the features, the girls’... We’ve also roped in our celebrity mates - from Richard Bacon on the movies and Vinnie Jones casting an unflinching eye over the sports agenda, to Ross Kemp providing his monthly missive from the front line of modern man.”[19]
Following Daubney's departure, long-serving senior staffer Andy Sherwood became acting editor in October 2010.[citation needed]
IPC Media sold Loaded, along with SuperBike, to Vitality Publishing in 2010.
[edit] Notable contributors
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Writers: |
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Loaded bounces back | Media | MediaGuardian Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Phwoarr: the naked truth about bad lad mags - People, News - Independent.co.uk Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ BBC News | UK | Lads' reading matter Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Loaded magazine founder James Brown has joined Sumo.tv | Media | MediaGuardian Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Interview: James Brown, the former editor of Loaded magazine | Business | The Guardian Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ All in the worst possible taste | | guardian.co.uk Arts Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ BBC News | BUSINESS | 'Lad-father' tackles Viz sales slide Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Alok Jha: Lad culture corrupts men as much as it debases women | Comment is free | The Guardian Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ a b c New Statesman - The dark world of lads' mags Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ a b The rise and rise of the laddery from `Loaded' | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com[dead link]
- ^ GOOD Magazine | Goodmagazine - The 51 Best* Magazines Ever Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ John Reynolds "Magazine ABCs: More pain for established lads' titles", Media Week, 11 February 2010 Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ "James Brown, Loaded (Inspiring Entrepreneurs - Hot off the Press)", British Library, YouTube Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ "Famous Loaded Cock-Ups", Jeff Marsh website Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Martin Waller "Watchdog’s wails put Michael O’Leary in a spin at Ryanair [:Loaded Apology]" The Times, 5 April 2008 Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Martin Daubney: My Life In Media", The Independent, 9 October 2006 Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ "I hit the jackpot - with help from lottery winner's auntie", Press Gazette, 14 August 2007 Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ About Loaded, Official website Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Loaded Relaunched Jeff Marsh website Archived 22 January 2011 at WebCite
