Loaded Magazine August 1994 Issue 4 Brookside Barry Grant Beth Swimwear Special SKU 1488

Original Loaded Magazine – August 1994, cover price £2.00.

This is an especially early copy of Loaded, identified inside as Issue Four – August 1994, making it an interesting example from the magazine’s first year of publication.

The issue captures the original mid-1990s Loaded formula of British television, music, sport, celebrity interviews, fashion, travel, humour and lifestyle features, with strong period photography and editorial design throughout.

Front Cover

The cover centres on the Brookside feature billed:

“The Power and the Glory – Barry and Beth and the brilliance of Brookside”

The large monochrome cover portrait features the male lead from the feature, with the female Brookside subject pictured alongside.

Other cover highlights include:

• Swimwear Special
• Primal Scream
• O.J. Simpson
• Vic Reeves
• James
• Michael Winner
• Fawlty Towers
• Stüssy
• Music, fashion and entertainment coverage

The original cover design has the distinctive oversized orange Loaded masthead against a purple, orange and monochrome photographic layout.

Issue Details / Early Loaded Interest

An interior editorial page clearly identifies this as:

Issue Four – August 1994

The editor is listed as James Brown, and the editorial introduction discusses the issue's mixture of travel, World Cup coverage, celebrity scandal, music and fashion.

For collectors of British men's magazines, Britpop-era culture and early Loaded, the fact that this is only the fourth issue is a particularly notable feature.

Contents

The photographed contents pages show a wide-ranging issue.

Prominent features include:

• Barry Grant / Brookside – major feature beginning around page 18
• O.J. Simpson – feature beginning around page 24
• Stüssy fashion feature
• Potholing / adventure feature
• Michael Winner
• Rio / Brazil coverage
• Vic Reeves & Mike Leigh
• James – music / World Cup related feature
• Large fashion and swimwear special
• Primal Scream – American tour diary
• Reader correspondence
• Sport coverage
• Comedy
• Music
• Books
• Television
• Film
• Clubs
• Glastonbury material
• Period technology/computer coverage

The contents layout is very representative of early Loaded, combining celebrity portraits, music imagery, television personalities and fashion photography in a deliberately busy collage style.

Brookside Feature

The Brookside material is one of the central themes of the issue.

The contents page specifically lists:

“Barry Grant – Confessions of Brookside's Godfather”

The cover also promotes both Barry and Beth, making this particularly relevant to collectors of 1990s British television memorabilia and Brookside-related material.

Swimwear Special

The magazine contains a substantial swimwear/fashion feature, advertised prominently on the front cover.

A photographed opening spread is headed:

“Go Ahead Trunks Make My Day”

and is described as Loaded's first annual swimsuit shoot.

The feature combines male and female models, beachwear and swimwear styling, photographed in the irreverent editorial style associated with early Loaded.

Music Content

Music is strongly represented throughout the issue.

Notable artists/features visible or listed include:

• Primal Scream
• James
• World Cup-era music coverage
• Glastonbury
• Club listings and entertainment material

The Primal Scream section is presented as an American tour diary, adding particular interest for collectors of early-1990s British indie and alternative music press.

O.J. Simpson

The contents advertise an O.J. Simpson feature beginning around page 24, reflecting one of the biggest international news stories of the period.

Vic Reeves / Mike Leigh

A feature on Vic Reeves and Mike Leigh is also included, described in the contents as an unusual pairing/interview feature.

Michael Winner

Film director Michael Winner receives his own feature, adding further British film and celebrity interest.

Condition

Pre-owned vintage magazine with noticeable age and handling wear.

Based closely on the supplied photographs:

• Front cover remains complete and highly readable.
• Colours are still reasonably strong for a 1994 magazine.
• There is visible surface rubbing, scuffing and general handling wear across the cover.
• The spine shows clear wear, rubbing and small creases.
• Left-hand cover edge has noticeable age-related wear.
• Bottom-right front-cover corner has significant creasing/folding and edge damage.
• Lower cover edge shows rubbing and small knocks.
• Upper corners show some softening and wear.
• Several visible surface creases run through the front cover.
• Internal pages show age-related toning/yellowing, particularly around the margins and page edges.
• Some interior page corners are creased or slightly curled.
• The lower-right corners of some photographed interior pages show visible folding and handling wear.
• There is general page waviness consistent with age and storage.
• The magazine has clearly been read and handled.
• Interior printing remains bright and the photographed articles remain very readable.
• Centre/spine area appears intact in the photographs, although age-related wear is visible.
• No major detached section is apparent from the supplied images.
• Rear cover appears comparatively tidy but still shows normal surface and edge wear consistent with the rest of the magazine.

Overall, this is a well-used but collectable early Loaded issue, with clear cosmetic wear appropriate to a magazine now over 30 years old. Its appeal is strengthened by being Issue Four from August 1994.

Please inspect all photographs carefully, as they show the exact copy being supplied and form an important part of the condition description.

Postage & Packaging

The magazine will be packed carefully to help protect it in transit. Depending on parcel size, it will be protected using stiff cardboard reinforcement, bubble wrap and/or a suitable cardboard box.

Particular care will be taken around the spine, corners and already-worn lower-right area to help minimise further bending or crushing during transit.

SKU 1488