Rip it up and start again? My generation had our hopes and opinions forged in the crucible of punk rock. We thought we invented anti-establishment but unfortunately it turns out a load of hippies got there first. OZ magazine was sticking the finger up at conventional society long before Malcolm McLaren turned rebellion into money. This front cover from August 1969 was completely illegal; as were many other OZ covers and indeed much of the content. They simply didn’t care. They just got on with the job of publishing hard-to-find information about women’s rights, gay rights, drugs, abortion and a lot more. Back then it was the ‘counter-culture’; now it’s our lives. OZ paved the way to acceptance and equality and got busted, beaten up, put on trial and came back for more. They are my new Valentines. Talking of which, tomorrow is the big day…
OZ Publications, 1969. First edition.
