Loaded, first published by IPC in 1994, is the oldest British "lads' mag " - “For men who should know better”. Its founder was James Brown , a former deputy editor of the music weekly New Musical Express. In its early days, the magazine's readership was once memorably described as "50% Sun readers and 50% Guardian readers". Brown has described the irreverent comic Viz as an inspiration for Loaded (and he later bought the comic when he founded the company I Feel Good).

Loaded captured the lad culture of the 1990s like no other magazine; its glorification of British male "rogues" (Liam Gallagher, Oliver Reed, Paul Gascoigne &c.) 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.

The Loaded style has been cloned numerous times, most successfully by Emap's FHM, which overhauled it in the sales stakes, and Maxim, which became the biggest-selling men's magazine in the US for Dennis Publishing. An offshoot, Eat Soup, quickly failed however. 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 .

Deputy editor Tim Southwell (Brown's former boss at New Musical Express) wrote about the early years of Loaded in Getting Away With It (Ebury Press, 1998).

See also

• Ralph
• FHM
• Maxim

External links

• Official Website
• Loaded: the lad's mag