''International Times'' (''it'' or ''IT'') is the name of various

underground newspaper The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant (governmental, religious, or institutional) group. In specific rec ...

s, with the original title founded in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1966 and running until October 1973. Editors included John "Hoppy" Hopkins, David Mairowitz, Roger Hutchinson, Peter Stansill,

Barry Miles Barry Miles (born 21 February 1943) is an English author known for his participation in and writing on the subjects of the 1960s London underground and counterculture. He is the author of numerous books and his work has also regularly appeare ...

Jim Haynes James Almand Haynes (10 November 1933 – 6 January 2021) was an American-born figure in the British "underground" and alternative/counter-culture scene of the 1960s. He was involved with the founding of Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre, the pape ...

and playwright Tom McGrath. Jack Moore, avant-garde writer William Levy and

Mick Farren Michael Anthony Farren (3 September 1943 – 27 July 2013) was an English rock musician, singer, journalist, and author associated with counterculture and the UK underground. Early life Farren was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and aft ...

, singer of The Deviants, also edited at various periods. The paper's logo is a black-and-white image of

Theda Bara Theda Bara ( ; born Theodosia Burr Goodman; July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955) was an American silent film and stage actress. Bara was one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema's early sex symbols. Her femme fatal ...

, vampish star of

silent films A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, whe ...

. The founders' intention had been to use an image of actress

Clara Bow Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the ...

, 1920s ''

It girl An "it girl" is an attractive young woman, who is perceived to have both sex appeal and a personality that is especially engaging. The expression ''it girl'' originated in British upper-class society around the turn of the 20th century. ...

'', but a picture of Theda Bara was used by accident and, once deployed, not changed.

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

donated to the paper as did

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

through his Committee on Poetry foundation. The ''IT'' restarted first as an online archive in 2008, a move arranged by former ''IT'' editor and contributor Mike Lesser and financed by Littlewoods heir James Moores, and in 2011 relaunched as an online magazine publishing new material, following a suggestion by Lesser to poet and actor

Heathcote Williams John Henley Heathcote-Williams (15 November 1941 – 1 July 2017), known as Heathcote Williams, was an English poet, actor, political activist and dramatist. He wrote a number of book-length polemical poems including ''Autogeddon'', ''Falling ...

. Irish poet Niall McDevitt served as the first online editor of ''IT'', a position later held by Heathcote Williams (editor-in-chief) until his death in 2017. Current editor-in-chief is Nick Victor; Current contributing Editors include Rupert Loydell, Elena Caldera, Claire Palmer, and David Erdos. With regular contributions from Alan Dearling, Kushal Poddar, Colin Gibson, Roxanne Fontana, Oz Hardwick, Robert Montgomery, Dessy Tsvetkova, Neil Partrick, AC Evans, Steve Waling, Jeff Cloves, Robert Sheppard, Jan Woolf, Steve Spence, Leon Horton, Terrence Sykes, Darren Cullen, Sayani Mukherjee, Bernard Saint, Mike Ferguson, Simon Collings, Monalisa Parida and many, many others. Online manifestations can be found at https://internationaltimes.it/ https://www.facebook.com/intltimes/ https://twitter.com/home

History

''International Times'' was launched on 15 October 1966 at

The Roundhouse The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue situated at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhous ...

at an 'All Night Rave' featuring Soft Machine and

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

. The event promised a 'Pop/Op/Costume/Masque/Fantasy-Loon/Blowout/Drag Ball' featuring 'steel bands, strips, trips, happenings, movies'. The launch was described by

Daevid Allen Christopher David Allen (13 January 1938 – 13 March 2015), known professionally as Daevid Allen, sometimes credited as Divided Alien, was an Australian musician. He was co-founder of the psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine (in the UK, 1966) ...

of Soft Machine as "one of the two most revolutionary events in the history of English alternative music and thinking. The ''IT'' event was important because it marked the first recognition of a rapidly spreading socio-cultural revolution that had its parallel in the States." From April 1967, and for some while later, the police raided the offices of ''International Times'' to try, it was alleged, to force the paper out of business. A benefit event labelled ''

The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream was a concert held in the Great Hall of the Alexandra Palace, London, on 29 April 1967. The fund-raising concert for the counterculture paper ''International Times'' was organised by Barry Miles, John "Hoppy" Hopkins ...

'' took place at

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...

on 29 April 1967. Bands included Pink Floyd,

The Pretty Things ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are an English rock band formed by singer Arthur Brown in 1967. The original band included Vincent Crane ( Hammond organ and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwood (bass). This early incarnation w ...

, Soft Machine,

The Move The Move were a British rock band of the late 1960s and the early 1970s. They scored nine top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of their car ...

, and Sam Gopal Dream. Despite police harassment, the paper continued to grow, with financial help from

, a personal friend of editor

. Published fortnightly, it became the leading British underground paper, its circulation peaking at around 40,000 copies in late 1968/early 1969, before another police raid, along with competition from newer publications such as '' Time Out'' led to declining sales and a financial crisis. In response to another raid on the paper's offices, London's alternative press on one occasion succeeded, somewhat astonishingly, in pulling off what was billed as a "reprisal attack" on the police—prompting the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' headline ''Raid on the Yard''. The paper ''Black Dwarf'' published a detailed floor-by-floor guide to

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

, complete with diagrams, descriptions of locks on particular doors and snippets of overheard conversation in the offices of Special Branch. The anonymous author, or "blue dwarf," as he styled himself, described how he perused police files, and even claimed to have sampled named brands of

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden c ...

in the

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

's office. A day or two later ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' announced that the "raid" had forced the police to withdraw and re-issue all security passes. In 1970 a group of people from ''IT'', led by photographer Graham Keen, launched ''

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

'', "The First English Adult Comic Paper."

Later publications

''IT'' first ceased publication in October 1973, after being convicted for running contact ads for gay men. The name was revived by another publisher in May 1974 for three issues until October. In 1975, ''Maya'', another underground publication, temporarily renamed itself ''IT - the International Times'', until that title closed after the November issue. A new title of the same name launched the following month, continuing until March 1976 when it went into hiatus until resuming in January 1977, ceasing in August of that year. Publications with the ''International Times'' title were published from January to December 1978, and again from April 1979 to June 1980. A single 'festival issue' was produced in June 1982. The title was again revived in 1986, with three issues from January to March, the last time a paper publication of the IT name was printed. In 2016, the 50th anniversary of the first copy of the magazine, further editions of a paper version of IT began to be published starting with issue Zero. Issue Zero was edited by Heathcote Ruthven sub editors were Emily McCarthy, Heather Williams, David Graeber and Heathcote Williams. Designed by Darren Cullen. Issue 2 Guest Edited by Decolonising Our Minds. Issue 3 Edited by Robert Montgomery, Art director Martin Tickner, designer Asel Tambay, IT Editor Claire Palmer, Editor-at-Large Heathcote Williams, Editor-in-Excelcis Mike Lesser, Patron and Editor-in-Excess Nick Victor, Coordinator and Contributing Editor David Erdos, Contributing Editors Niall McDevitt, Elena Caldera, Keith Rodway, Rupert Loydell. International Times has also published two books. Both are poetry collections – ''Royal Babylon'' by Heathcote Williams, an attack on the British Monarchy, and ''Porterloo'' by Niall McDevitt, a book satirising the Conservative Party and registering the counterculture of 2011-12.

Contributors

Many people who became prominent UK figures wrote for ''IT'', including feminist critic

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and public intellectual, regarded as one of the major voices of the radical feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literat ...

, poet and social commentator

Jeff Nuttall Jeffrey Addison Nuttall (8 July 1933 – 4 January 2004) was an English poet, publisher, actor, painter, sculptor, jazz trumpeter, anarchist and social commentator who was a key part of the British 1960s counter-culture. He was the brother of l ...

, occultist

Kenneth Grant Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byna ...

, and DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

. There were many original contributions from underground writers such as

Alexander Trocchi Alexander Whitelaw Robertson Trocchi ( ; 30 July 1925 – 15 April 1984) was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist. Early life and career Trocchi was born in Glasgow to Alfred (formerly Alfredo) Trocchi, a music-hall performer of I ...

;

William Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

and

. Leading editorial contributors to the late 1970s ''IT'' were

, Max Handley, Mike Lesser,

Eddie Woods Eddie Woods is an American poet, prose writer, editor and publisher who lived and traveled in various parts of the world, both East and West, before eventually settling in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where in 1978 he started ''Ins & Outs'' magazin ...

(Amsterdam editor), an
Chris Sanders
In 1986 ''IT'' was relaunched by Tony Allen and Chris Brook. After three issues (Volume 86; issues 1,2,3) Allen left, and Brook continued with one more issue (Volume 86; issue 4). After various one-off issues into 1991, 2000 saw Brook and others create
web-based presence
��initially through the alternative server 'Phreak', c. 1996. There are currently two archive sources online: 1)
a comprehensive archive scanned by previous contributors and editors
an
a less extensive archive with some commentary

''International Times'' archive

''International Times'' (''NIIT'') ''Archive'' is a free online archive of every issue of the ''International Times''. It runs from a precursor to ''IT'', The Longhair Times, released on

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

1966 to an erroneously labelled 'last issue'—a Xeroxed single sheet issue in 1994. The continuum of this journal, in fact, includes issues and web presence from the last editorial group (IT#4 Vol 1986) until the present day. The ''IT Archive'' was launched on 16 July 2009 at the Idea Generation Gallery."Launch of the International Times Archive"
''Qype'', 14 July 2009 The ''IT Archive'' was founded by Mike Lesser supported by fellow contributors and editors of ''IT'' including

, John "Hoppy" Hopkins, Dave Mairowitz, Peter Stansill and

amongst others.

References

*Turner, C. (27 April 1997
Personal memories of ''The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream''

External links