Everybody’s (Australian magazine)
Encyclopedia
Everybody's was an Australian tabloid-style magazine of the 1960s. It has no relationship to the early 20th century British or American magazine
s of the same name.
. It evolved from an earlier ACP tabloid magazine, Weekend, which flourished in the 1950s. Weekend was edited by Donald Horne
for many years and one of its most famous staffers was renowned journalist and rock writer Lillian Roxon
, who wrote for the magazine for several years in the mid-1950s before moving to New York. According to Roxon's biographer Robert Milliken, Weekend had a dubious reputation in "polite society" and was considered very downmarket since it regularly featured lurid stories, often with sexual overtones. Roxon's mother was reportedly horrified by the idea of her daughter working for such a publication and concealed the fact from friends and family.
When Weekend was relaunched as Everybody's, it also replaced the venerable women's magazine The Australian Woman's Mirror, which was first published in 1924 and ceased publication in mid-1961. Copies of Everybody's from this period indicate that it was definitely a "women's" magazine in its early days, featuring almost exclusively women on the covers, with typical content including celebrity stories, cooking, interior decorating and fashion.
'. In 1963 Everybody's hailed her (somewhat inaccurately) as 'Australia's only woman cartoonist', although she was definitely the best known.
Australian pop culture historian Jeffery Turnbull described Everybody's as:
Everybody's enjoyed a comfortable relationship with Festival Records
, which was owned by ACP's rival News Limited
(now News Corporation
), and it did much to promote Festival artists such as Jimmy Little
, whom it named "Australian Pop Star of the Year" in 1964. The magazine also covered a range of social trends; in 1964 it examined the "new beach cult" and fretted about the "surfies" -- "they come from good homes, they are well educated, why then, do they turn into common larrikins?" Everybody's also included cartoons, most notably The Phantom
by Lee Falk
.
The magazine also played a role in launching the career of TV and pop personality Denise Drysdale
.
, which was launched by a group of former Monash University
students. Although Everybody's enjoyed the advantage of being published by a large company and had an established national readership, its position in the teenage market was quickly usurped, and from 1967 until its closure in 1974, Go-Set reigned supreme as Australia's pop culture 'bible'.
In 1966 Everybody's attempted to expand its operations by starting up its own Everybody's record label, with the intention of selling singles via the magazine. The new label was a joint venture between Clyde Packer
and Harry M. Miller
and was managed by American-born entrepreneur, producer and songwriter Nat Kipner. The new label was not well received by commercial radio stations, however, and some Sydney stations reportedly refused to play the label's inaugural single—Tony Barber's "Someday" -- because it was seen as blatant cross-promotion for the magazine. As a result the label was hastily relaunched as Spin Records
, which and it became one of the most significant local pop labels of the late 1960s.
By the late 1960s the focus of the Australian pop scene was firmly in Melbourne and while Go-Set
(which was also based in Melbourne) evolved with the times and developed close links with the local pop scene, Everybody's essentially retained the one-dimensional "fanzine" style it had developed in the early 60s. Its circulation gradually declined, out-competed by the 'hipper' style of Go-Set, and it ceased publication during 1968.
Everybody's Magazine
Everybody's Magazine was an American magazine from 1899 to 1929.The magazine was founded by Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker in 1899, though he had little role in its actual operations....
s of the same name.
History
First issued in 1961, Everybody's was published by Australian Consolidated PressAustralian Consolidated Press
ACP Magazines , a subsidiary of the Nine Entertainment Co., is an Australian media company. It publishes the Australian Women's Weekly and the Australian edition of Woman's Day....
. It evolved from an earlier ACP tabloid magazine, Weekend, which flourished in the 1950s. Weekend was edited by Donald Horne
Donald Horne
Professor Donald Horne was an Australian journalist, writer, social critic, and academic who became one of Australia's best known public intellectuals....
for many years and one of its most famous staffers was renowned journalist and rock writer Lillian Roxon
Lillian Roxon
Lillian Roxon was a noted Australian journalist and author, best known for Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia . Her niece Nicola Roxon, the Australian politician, is currently the federal Minister for Health....
, who wrote for the magazine for several years in the mid-1950s before moving to New York. According to Roxon's biographer Robert Milliken, Weekend had a dubious reputation in "polite society" and was considered very downmarket since it regularly featured lurid stories, often with sexual overtones. Roxon's mother was reportedly horrified by the idea of her daughter working for such a publication and concealed the fact from friends and family.
When Weekend was relaunched as Everybody's, it also replaced the venerable women's magazine The Australian Woman's Mirror, which was first published in 1924 and ceased publication in mid-1961. Copies of Everybody's from this period indicate that it was definitely a "women's" magazine in its early days, featuring almost exclusively women on the covers, with typical content including celebrity stories, cooking, interior decorating and fashion.
Notable Contributor
Noted Australian cartoonist, illustrator and artist Marie "Mollie" Horseman (1911–1974) was the Everybody's staff artist during the early 1960s. Her numerous illustrations (either anonymous or signed "Vanessa") included a weekly full-page colour cartoon of the "Sexy Man" type and the serial Girl Crusoe (1964), a parody of the popular 'good girl cheesecake' comic (see 'good girl artGood girl art
Good girl art is found in drawings or paintings which feature a strong emphasis on attractive women no matter what the subject or situation. GGA was most commonly featured in comic books, pulp magazines and crime fiction...
'. In 1963 Everybody's hailed her (somewhat inaccurately) as 'Australia's only woman cartoonist', although she was definitely the best known.
Becoming a Pop Culture Magazine
As the 'Beat Boom' in popular music took off in Australia in 1963-1964 Everybody's began to cater for the burgeoning teenage market. Its content increasingly featured stories and pinups of local and international pop music, movie and TV personalities, although it still made regular excursions into tabloid territory, as evidenced by 'teaser' cover slogans like "Black Mass in Color: Shock Witchcraft Pictures", "The World's Most Topless City", "Trade Secrets of a Female Impersonator", "The World's Most Famous Nudes", "Those nude films", "What goes on in the suburbs?" and "Jayne Mansfield Tells All: Those Lewd Film Star Orgies".Australian pop culture historian Jeffery Turnbull described Everybody's as:
- "... really the ultimate magazine for Australia’s popular culture throughout the pre-Go-SetGo-SetGo-Set was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble...
, early ‘Sixties because it covered the biggest stars of the period and wasn’t afraid to feature young Australian rock stars. It was published by the Packer organisation in Sydney but its circulation was national and in fact international, as it reached New Zealand readers. It did, however lean towards the Sydney scene. Kiwi musicians Mike RuddMike RuddMike Rudd is a New Zealand born musician and composer who has been based in Australia since the late 1960s, and who is best known as the leader of respected Australian progressive rock bands Spectrum and Ariel in the 1970s....
(Spectrum and Ariel) and Glyn Mason (Ariel, Chain, Copperwine, Stockley See & Mason) have both spoken of the influence which Everybody’s had on New Zealanders in informing them of the swingin’ scene in Australia. Just to read about what was happening in Australia was enough to convince them to relocate across the Tasman Sea with their respective New Zealand Bands, Chants R & B and Larry’s Rebels."
Market
- "Everybody’s was not effectively targeting the teen market as such, but aimed itself more towards the young adult profile and was a quality pictorial although at times it delved into the sort of stories that the lower quality tabloids liked to feature. From about 1964, it incorporated Disc magazine -– an insert specially dedicated to pop music and this was only really superseded when Go-Set came along. It covered everything from Australian lifestyle to views on current issues as well as fashion. Its format was colourful and bold and at times, it wasn’t afraid to feature the more insalubrious aspects of the new teen culture."
- "Possibly for the first time, Aussie rock and pop artists were featured -- often on the cover. In 1967, The Masters Apprentices were presented with a trophy from Everybody’s as the “Most Original Band” for that year. Everybody’s was, like Pix, PeoplePeople (magazine)In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
and Australasian PostAustralasian PostAustralasian Post, or "Aussie Post," was Australia's longest-running weekly picture magazine.The origins of Australasian Post date back Saturday 3 January 1857 to the first volume of the publication Bell's Life in Victoria and Sporting Chronicle...
open to featuring the more liberalised attitudes towards sex. Towards the latter part of the ‘Sixties, this magazine found a strong challenger in Go-Set which began to focus even closer on the teen readership market. By 1968, all eyes were on the Melbourne scene and Everybody’s succumbed to the punches delivered by its new challenger, ceasing publication in that year.".
Everybody's enjoyed a comfortable relationship with Festival Records
Festival Records (Australia)
Festival Records was an Australian music recording and publishing company which was founded in Sydney in 1952 and operated until 2005....
, which was owned by ACP's rival News Limited
News Limited
News Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The publicly listed company's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, Pay TV, National Rugby League, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television production trading assets.News Limited...
(now News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
), and it did much to promote Festival artists such as Jimmy Little
Jimmy Little
Jimmy Little AO , is an Australian Aboriginal musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist, whose career has spanned six decades. For many years he was the only Aboriginal star on the Australian music scene...
, whom it named "Australian Pop Star of the Year" in 1964. The magazine also covered a range of social trends; in 1964 it examined the "new beach cult" and fretted about the "surfies" -- "they come from good homes, they are well educated, why then, do they turn into common larrikins?" Everybody's also included cartoons, most notably The Phantom
The Phantom
The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip created by Lee Falk, also creator of Mandrake the Magician. A popular feature adapted into many media, including television, film and video games, it stars a costumed crimefighter operating from the fictional African country Bengalla.The Phantom is...
by Lee Falk
Lee Falk
Lee Falk, born Leon Harrison Gross , was an American writer, theater director, and producer, best known as the creator of the popular comic strip superheroes The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, who at the height of their popularity attracted over a hundred million readers every day...
.
- "When The Phantom finished in the last issue of The Australian Woman's Mirror in June 1961, it was almost immediately picked up in Everybody's. The last story to appear in the Woman's Mirror was "The River Gang" (S54) but only the first eight weeks of the 20-week story were published. It is not known if this story was completed in Everybody's magazine. However, the next story "The Honeymooners" (S55) certainly was, and the weekly magazine continued with the Phantom Sunday strips in sequential order. The one exception was "The Astronaut and the Pirates" (S61) which was initially skipped before making an appearance a few years later. As with the Woman's Mirror, the Phantom strips in Everybody's magazine were about 16 months behind the original US newspaper appearance date. The last known Phantom story to appear in Everybody's magazine was "Rex King" (S68) in 1967. The magazine was cancelled in 1968 although it is not known if The Phantom continued until the end."
The magazine also played a role in launching the career of TV and pop personality Denise Drysdale
Denise Drysdale
Denise Anne Christina Drysdale, is an Australian television personality and comedian. She is often affectionately called Ding-Dong.-Childhood:...
.
- "Barry Bell at Channel 9Nine NetworkThe Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
had taken some photos of me in a bikini for 'Everybody's Magazine', and that magazine had gone over to Vietnam, and American soldiers saw me, got in touch with Everybody's Magazine, and so they gave me 'Girl of the Year' ".
Competition
Everybody's dominance was challenged in early 1966 with the appearance of a new Melbourne-based weekly pop magazine, Go-SetGo-Set
Go-Set was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble...
, which was launched by a group of former Monash University
Monash University
Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
students. Although Everybody's enjoyed the advantage of being published by a large company and had an established national readership, its position in the teenage market was quickly usurped, and from 1967 until its closure in 1974, Go-Set reigned supreme as Australia's pop culture 'bible'.
In 1966 Everybody's attempted to expand its operations by starting up its own Everybody's record label, with the intention of selling singles via the magazine. The new label was a joint venture between Clyde Packer
Clyde Packer
Robert Clyde Packer , usually known as "Clyde", was the son of Australian newspaper magnate Frank Packer and the elder brother of media baron Kerry Packer...
and Harry M. Miller
Harry M. Miller
-Early career:Born in New Zealand, Miller grew up in Grey Lynn, Auckland, and moved to Australia in 1963, where he established a company called Pan Pacific Productions with Keith and Dennis Wong, owners of the noted Sydney nightclub "Chequers"...
and was managed by American-born entrepreneur, producer and songwriter Nat Kipner. The new label was not well received by commercial radio stations, however, and some Sydney stations reportedly refused to play the label's inaugural single—Tony Barber's "Someday" -- because it was seen as blatant cross-promotion for the magazine. As a result the label was hastily relaunched as Spin Records
Spin Records
Spin Records was an Australian popular music label of the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was established in late 1966 by Clyde Packer and a group of partners including entrepreneur Harry M. Miller. The label's first A&R manager was Nat Kipner who produced several early Spin releases...
, which and it became one of the most significant local pop labels of the late 1960s.
By the late 1960s the focus of the Australian pop scene was firmly in Melbourne and while Go-Set
Go-Set
Go-Set was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble...
(which was also based in Melbourne) evolved with the times and developed close links with the local pop scene, Everybody's essentially retained the one-dimensional "fanzine" style it had developed in the early 60s. Its circulation gradually declined, out-competed by the 'hipper' style of Go-Set, and it ceased publication during 1968.