Oz magazine started in Australia in 1963 and, almost by chance, came to London in 1966. Its radical content of libertarianism, obscenity, pornography and anti-establishment free-thinking constantly pushed at the limits of permissiveness.
Much of its psychedelically inspired artwork was by Martin Sharp.
Tolerance of the magazine ended in 1970 with the ‘school kids’ issue, and the proprietors were prosecuted for obscenity. Oz won but other underground papers such as IT (International Times) launched in 1966, did not survive the costs of litigation.
Co-founder Richard Neville passed away on 4 September 2016, aged 74.
