The malevolent creature which threatened to destroy the throbbing, swinging heart of London, slain by Australian journalist Pete Steedman in a David versus Goliath battle. *********************************************
After the dangerous trip to Morocco in the dodgy Bedford van with his partner , model Julie Reiter, and intrepid architect/cartoonist , Peter Burleigh , Pete Steedman , back in London , quickly recovered from the delayed trauma of his late night thrashing with the Tree of Life in Tangiers.
What happened to the wretched van which required rocking before engaging the starter motor teeth ? Little Darwin asked Burleigh for details and any photographs taken on the sabbatical . Back came an email from the savant , now residing on an island off NSW, with a large boat that starts first kick, writing a trilogy, and plotting other literary gems .
A box of colour slides he took during the trip had been lost in moves from England to Canada and Australia . The Bedford had been sold to an Australian student in London who responded to Burleigh's proposition ,"Trust me, I'm an Australian too." It started first time when he drove it so Burleigh's luck held. "He never came back with a complaint and for all I know is still somewhere in Alfgarnettstan rocking the van back and forward ."
Steedman was soon knee-deep in the ebb and flow of the stimulating London scene , deeply involved with counter-culture and underground publications . Every waking hour seemed packed with adventure, rare experiences . There were parties galore , nightclub sessions with celebrities, lots of hard work and encounters with a seemingly endless cavalcade of liberated, talented , interesting and off the planet people.
For example, when he and Julie resided in the large Maidavale Rothschild mansion , the American photographer, Annie Leibovitz ,on her first assignment for Rolling Stone , bunked down with them. Photos of John Lennon from this shoot started her rise to international fame . A partner of the late American writer and intellectual, Susan Sontag, an exhibition of her photographic work was held at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art recently and she was interviewed by Virginia Trioli on the ABC’s Artscape last month.
Today Leibovitz provides regular striking covers for Vanity Fair, one such assignment , with Cate Blanchett , in February 2009 , presented the Oscar and Academy Award winning actor in various dress and poses from a diaphanous Cleopatra to a beanpole Pierrot.
On their return from Morocco, Pete and Julie found a permanent pad in a Mayfair studio/penthouse which John Varnom, Richard Branson’s close associate, and Steedman’s best mate in England, put him onto when another tenant moved out. Steedman quickly summed up the potential of the place , tore out the wiring and negotiated the rent down to eight guineas a week and a rewiring. Nowadays you would have to be a potentate to afford a Mayfair address .
Varnom and Steedman spent considerable time together in long lunches , some of the topics discussed at these sittings actually involved serious business, including how to expand Virgin’s record business , re-establishing Student magazine (edited by Branson),and other ventures involving the use of Branson’s newly purchased manor house.
They and their partners , all into good tucker and fine wine, had many nights out experiencing the wide range of food styles available in London. Pete and Julie also went with Varnom to Blackpool (Varnom being a boy from Manchester),which Steedman loved as it reminded him of his early youth growing up in Brunswick,Melbourne. Varnom is now a renowned writer of French cooking books and a record producer.
Among those who called on Pete and Julie in their Mayfair pad were Lindall Hobbs - the Melbourne journalist who became a film director in the UK and Hollywood - and actor ,comedian Dudley Moore, he having to clamber up five floors with his withered leg .
Steedman indulged his interest in fast cars and motorcycles. Taking a Shelby Cobra , for a spin in Maidavale, it took off like a jet , he ran out of road , nearly ending up on top of Branson’s houseboat. Like Arthur Dailey, he had a Cromwell Road lock up where he stashed his assorted motors, which included Lancias and a Maserati, the latter obtained by his attempted carer , Peter Burleigh, going guarantor, the vehicle mentioned on the front cover of Oz , the one which featured Steedman and the topless model brandishing firearms. There is a complicated story involving a Thunderbird. Apart from these salubrious cars, Steedman also had two mini-vans for use around London .
Because of his known experience as the founding editor of Melbourne’s Broadside magazine and deep involvement with and influence on Australian university magazines, his understanding of web offset tabloid printing , he had the reputation of being a “newspaper doctor” who could help underground and counter-culture publications.
This was at a time when another Australian, Rupert Murdoch, nicknamed the Dirty Digger , had only recently taken over News of the World and was having a major influence on the mainstream British print media.
Called in by the Oz magazine principals , under attack on many fronts by the Establishment, Steedman was asked for advice on the future of Ink, a new, hard- hitting weekly tabloid newspaper that had been launched with the assistance of Ed Victor. Steedman was an ideal person to run the rule over the new venture . Looking at the books, he told the editors Ink was fatally flawed and if he came aboard he could only guarantee about 12 issues , depending on current sales and advertising revenue. There would have to be dramatic improvements if it were to survive the predicted short run. After negotiations, he was made managing editor of the newspaper.
He was critical of its content and the way the publication was headed , saying nobody seemed to have any newspaper experience , yet people had grand titles. Attracted to its staff were individuals whom he described as third or fifth generation arty descendants of some old duke or duchess who were swirling about the Oz crew in legions. Ink was intended to be a bridge between the underground press of the 1960s and the national newspapers of the day. However, he felt it clung too much to the counter- culture approach of the 1960s, with little hard political news, and a confusing use of colour and graphics –similar to Oz - making it difficult to read and detracting from the seriousness of issues it was covering.
The front page lead in the first edition, he said , had been a furphy fed to the paper and did nothing to impress potential readers . The staff found this gruff, straight-talking colonial something of a shock when he voiced his views. Steedman was taken aback years later when he read Stephen Alomes book WHEN LONDON CALLS : The Expatriation to Britain of Australian Creative Artists, which said that the “macho Melburnian” Peter Steedman had perfunctorily disposed of two or three women typesetters at Ink .
This, said Steedman, was “ bullshit”. People with no skills or talent for a tabloid had to go to maintain the viability of the paper. The possibility of running Ink articles in the Sunday Review , Melbourne , edited by Richard Walsh ,formerly of the Australian Oz magazine, came under discussion. In a letter to Walsh, Steedman doubted if Ink would sell in Australia . Ink eventually ran out of money and ink due to the impact of the draining Oz obscenity case . But Steedman had delivered the 12 editions.
While still involved with Ink, respected “ newspaper doctor” Steedman helped another struggling publication, Frendz,which had first been published by Alan Marcuson , a South African, in December 1969 as Friends of Rolling Stone ; later retitled Friends, it closed after a dispute and reappeared as Frendz . The publication, situated in the seedy, run down area of Portobello Road, Notting Hill Gate ( scene of the l958 race riots) , was closely associated with the underground media , including Oz and Time Out.
During Steedman’s involvement with Frendz , he said the office and the surrounding stream of colourful humanity was like something out of Dickens, Oliver Twist , with many “ freaks” , conmen – all lovable individuals. One of the many musos who visited Frendz was the pint- sized singer, songwriter, guitarist and poet, Mark Bolan, founder of the Tyrannosaurus Rex band who helped create glam rock by wearing top hats, feather boas and glitter on his cheeks. A son was named Rolan Bolan. When Mark became popular on both sides of the Atlantic he was given a white Rolls Royce, but hated driving, and was killed, aged 29, when his partner,driving a Mini Cooper, crashed. David Bowie and Rod Stewart attended his funeral.
Another stand out character was “ Barney Bubbles”, a renowned British graphic artist , who produced innovative record sleeves. He leased a three-storey old building next to the Frendz office and designed some covers for the magazine. His downstairs studio was named TEENBURGER DESIGNS . A heavy user of LSD , hounded by the Inland Revenue Department , he committed suicide on the anniversary of his parents’ wedding.
Yet another interesting Notting Hill identity was political activist, journalist Caroline Coon, who founded Release, an agency set up to provide legal advice and representation for young people on drug charges, at one stage burnt down by opponents.In the 1970s, Coon became involved with the punk scene and wrote about bands for Melody Maker and did artwork for groups such as The Clash and The Police. The BBC comedy series, The Goodies, contained a Coon parody , with a character called Caroline Kook. She became one of the witnesses for the defence in the Oz obscenity case , covered in an earlier Little Darwin post.
In a strongly worded letter to The Guardian newspaper editor , Steedman said the Oz directors believed they were the victims of a police vendetta . Drug Squad detectives and dogs had been used in raids on Oz and the home of Richard Neville, the editor. Every copy of Oz had been confiscated ; also seized were most of the files, subscription lists, advertising data and the accounts ledgers. Why, he asked, were police so vehement in opposing bail for Neville, who had no previous convictions?
Receiving extensive media coverage at the time was Michael X. Born Michael de Freitas, in Trinidad, he claimed to be the most famous blackman in Britain. Involved in prostitution, drugs, pimping, he had been an enforcer for the slum landlord , Peter Rachman. De Freitas changed his name to Michael X following the visit of American civil rights Black Power leader , Malcolm X , to London. After setting up the BLACK HOUSE , an alternative lifestyle commune, backed by a young millionaire , Nigel Samuel, Michael X claimed to be head of the British black nationalists’ organisation. He attracted donations from Muhammad Ali, Sammy Davis Jnr. and John Lennon and Yoko Ono gave a bundle of their hair to be auctioned .
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Off to Amsterdam in a Lancia Aurelia went Steedman for the inaugural Wet Dream Film Festival in 1970.The event was organised by SUCK magazine, the first European sex publication, Germaine Greer a contributing editor. Greer and Richard Neville were some of the international judges at the festival . Steedman was involved with the security of the raunchy films and their movement from venue to venue for screening .
Steedman went to the Isle of Wight Rock Festival from 26-31 August, 1970, at which guitarist Jimi Hendrix was the headline performer. Operating from a tent , Steedman was production manager for the four daily editions of Freak News , copy provided by a collective of underground magazines, Richard Neville being editor and one of the contributors. Tasty Jamaican food was provided by one of Michael X’s former bodyguards.
In a written account of the festival,Steedman said those outside the fenced concert area ,wound up by some French anarchists , crashed the perimeter , but were pushed back by the “oppressed masses” who reckoned that if they’d paid, so should everybody. The “anti-capitalist” dream seemed to have faded, was his ironic observation. In any case, the event became so chaotic that it was eventually thrown open to one and all.
The attendance was estimated at 700,000- more than at Woodstock . There were major problems associated with getting so many people to and from the island . The rich yachting fraternity who regarded the island as their special resort objected to the invasion by so many “ hippies and freaks”. Hendrix, who looked haggard and worn out during the festival, died soon after , on September 18. Janis Joplin followed three weeks later .
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The strange world of Michael X began to unravel soon after the festival. There were arrests when it was claimed a person had been detained in a spiked slave collar in the Black House and money demanded. A mysterious fire burned down the house and John Lennon set up the bail for Michael X and four colleagues charged with extortion in January 1971.
Michael X , facing charges of extortion and robbery , fled to Trinidad and started another commune which was again destroyed by fire in February 1972. Investigating police found two bodies –Joseph Skerritt ,a barber, a member of Michael X’s so called Black Liberation Army, said to have been hacked to death with a machete for refusing to attack a police station, and Gale Benson , socialite daughter of a Conservative MP,also reportedly attacked with machetes and buried alive.
Benson was said to have been “mesmerised” by Hakim Jamahl, who called himself God, and had been associated with Malcolm X in the London Black House commune . Despite an appeal for clemency by radical lawyer William Kunstler, paid by John Lennon, Michael X was hanged for the murder of Skerritt . A celebrity committee, which included Angela Davis ,Dick Gregory and Kate Millett, was set up to “save” Michael X. The case was the subject of a chapter in Geoffrey Robertson’s legal memoir,The Legal Game.
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Because of his reputation in London as the newspaper medico, Steedman was hired as business manager of Time Out , a weekly guide to London , with radical political content . It had been started in 1968 by a school dropout, Tony Elliott, with 70 pounds ($l40) . (In Little Darwin’s earlier review of the TV series , PAPER GIANTS , the Cleo magazine story, we pointed out that Ita Buttrose’s secretary announced that she was leaving Australia and going to London to work on a struggling publication, Time Out. Last year , Elliott sold half the Time Out company, a global publishing business, to a private equity group which valued the enterprise at 40 million pounds- a great return on the initial investment of 70 quid) .
Steedman produced the first integrated transport Time Out Guide to London and managed major political campaigns promoted by the magazine. Apart from providing a comprehensive coverage of entertainment, dining out and the arts,it was “ into” politics, breaking a lot of mainstream stories. It covered the vicious war in Northern Ireland ,under tight government censorship, from a different angle and had dealings with the fiery nationalist, Bernadette Devlin.
In 1971 Steedman played a major part in Time Out’s TV 4 Campaign to prevent the proposed fourth TV channel going into commercial hands. Vested media interests like Lord Harlech and others started a lobbying campaign called ITV2, so that it would be identified in people’s minds as the new channel. Steedman worked with unions and other groups involved in broadcasting and urged the government to make it a public access station. This effort kicked off with a conference in the Central Polytechnic and rapidly gained momentum. The government took fright and put off making a decision for a number of years.
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Steedman headed Time Out’s London for the People Campaign which opposed the redevelopment of historic Piccadilly Circus. He got together a group of activists and said they had to personalise the issue and embarrass the people behind the plan .
There was a problem when it was discovered that they were all Jews , and the campaign could be branded anti-Semitic. Nevertheless, he said the personalised attack had to be maintained. People paraded displaying posters with pictures of the men responsible for the project stating, “All good friends together knocking down Piccadilly to share a multi-million pound bonanza.”
A leaflet said Covent Garden was already under the hammer. Bloomsbury was being sold as a job lot. The auctioneer was now feasting his eyes on Piccadilly Circus. The people who lived and worked in the city were never asked what they wanted, their opinions held worthless by supposed public servants. “ We must stop the destruction of London for the profit of speculators and the prestige of the city planners .” A handful of men would share nearly 100 million pounds out of the proposed development.
A striking Time Out poster, see head of post, drawn by gonzo artist Ralph Steadman ,who illustrated several Hunter S. Thompson epics, including Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, was a parody of the famous statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus. Instead of the lean, naked Greek God of Love archer, it depicted a grotesque, menacing figure clutching the almighty pound sign, the spire of an old building it was knocking over jammed up its rectum. Steadman and Steedman-what a dynamic duo. The developers had no hope of getting their evil way.
The campaign was so successful that brothel owners in Soho formed resident action groups. In three weeks 100,000 signatures against the project were collected . New Society wrote about the campaign and termed it “a component of the cottage industry of community action”. It was another hectic, creative, productive and dangerous period in Steedman’s life. Julie unwittingly added to the danger when, a bit tired and emotional , she made comments which angered an associate of the Richardson Gang , and almost got Steedman "killed" .The Richardsons had been rivals of the notorious Kray brothers and were known to pin victims to the floor with six inch nails and remove their toes with bolt cutters.
Steedman had made contact with many East End crims as he formed the brothel owners of Soho into a political force to oppose the redevelopment of Piccadilly Circus. They invited him to be a guest at a special dinner celebrating one of their favourites who had just been released after a long stretch in the Scrubs (Wormwood Scrubs prison ). Infuriated by Julie’s comments, the mobster indicated he wanted to take Pete apart . Only quick thinking , rapid talking and bluffing by Steedman probably saved him from being dumped in the Thames or nailed to the floor in a warehouse for a painful pedicure.
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Freedom and Responsibility in the Media was the name of one highly successful campaign in which Steedman was a key player . Jointly organised by Time Out and The Other Cinema ,it consisted of a one day forum in the Roundhouse and brought together politicians, BBC governors, unionists, journalists and others to discuss vital issues of the day. A leaflet advertising the forum said issues such as Ulster , race and community relations, access to the media, the structure of broadcasting, film distribution, the publishing crisis and the rise of alternative media were some of the subjects to be discussed. It asked what the role of the media was in society at the time .Was it to educate, inform and report, to act as a forum for ideas or, as was often the case, distorted to suit certain political philosophies. (These questions are applicable in 2011 ).
The leaflet said further details were available from Pete Steedman who organised the forum for Time Out and The Other Cinema . Co-sponsors were Rolling Stone, 24 Frames, Visual Programme Systems, Fair Enterprises, Free Communications Group, Kestrel Films, National Union of Students, Ink, Leslie Elliott, Freedom Movement, Frendz, Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians ,Michael White, 7 Days, Quipu Productions, David Hockney, Photographers Gallery , Moore Harness, Vaughan Films, Anthony Balch Films, Victor Herbert , Morning Star,Ron Bishop. Incredibly, the National Union of Journalists did not support the conference.
Censorship in Britain,especially in relation to the war in Northern Ireland was debated as were the ownership of papers in a small number of hands , the influence of advertising on reporting, self censorship by reporters ,etc . In respect of films, the restrictions placed on the screening in Britain of the Peter Watkins controversial 1966 film ,The War Game, which dealt with the aftermath of a nuclear attack on the UK, was discussed. The BBC stopped its transmission on the 25th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and it was not shown in full in Britain until 1985.
The well attended event was opened by Anthony Sampson,of The Observer , author of Anatomy of Britain, who told the conference there was a crisis in the media .An illustrated paper was produced during proceedings containing a summary of speeches. Steedman used the forum to also showcase the emerging technology developing in the newspaper game and wrote, edited, laid out and printed the publication , within 30 minutes of the end of proceeding .
It included coverage of a lively exchange when Women’s Lib attacked the male chauvinist attitude of the media and its “tits boost sales” policy. Time Out and the rest of the alternative media , it was said, should be forced to realise that they were not radical at all. The paper was cashing in on hip revolution by pandering to trendy liberals. A girl with a megaphone at one stage shouted : "Fuck off Nick!"
An interjector - gender not indicated- fanned the fiery debate by saying : “The ultimate aim of the alternative media is bigger and better boobs; that’s all.”The cover of the newspaper reflected this interplay with a photographic insert of a man seated next to a woman, he with the bubble text: Fuck this for a lark–I am joining Women’s Liberation .
At the foot of the introduction in the newspaper was a statement which said Pete Steedman had done a lot of work in setting up the forum, and that he hoped people would sign the visitors’ book so that he could boast about how many people were present.
A “Dear Peter” letter from a BBC governor , Tony Morgan , written two days after the conference, said it was a shame the promising forum discussions had been disrupted by the Women’s Lib outburst and that the chairman had not exercised more control. Morgan’s two hours at the Roundhouse had convinced him he needed to learn a great more about the BBC before passing any judgements on its current modus operandi. He asked Steedman to give him three or four months before they next met , perhaps not so formally, and certainly in more congenial surroundings.
Morgan said he had been unaware of the depth of feeling against the BBC-deserved or not. Peter Watkins had promised to stop by for a meal one evening at which time he (Morgan) hoped to learn much more about the frustration he so obviously felt. The letter ended: "Thank you for inviting me . It was not time wasted, I can assure you."
During research for this post , Little Darwin was able to peruse a batch of documents from Steedman’s action-packed time in London, which add weight to the strong belief that there is potential for a TV series about his time and influence in the evolving newspaper world both in Australia and Britain,with its cavalcade of extraordinary people and events .
Minutes of a Time Out editorial meeting held May 16,1972 mentioned that the paper was putting questions to Cuban leader Fidel Castro regarding a forthcoming visit to Moscow.The cover of a future edition would feature Derry, Northern Ireland , and there was discussion about alterations to the masthead, films, the sports page, classified advertisements and a Great Western Festival .
At the directors’ meeting the following day, Steedman was authorised to provide a thorough report for the next meeting on promotion and distribution and also to find a new building for the paper from which to operate. His advice on a new photocopier said it would have to be kept under lock and key to prevent use by “freaks” at all hours of the day and night. The machine, which he described as “this amazing monster,” designed “ to replace 500 English workers and create one for an Australian,” would save a lot of time and , if used properly, “there would obviously be more time to spend in the pub.” Instructions were given to lock the darkroom and Steedman was given the job of getting a better camera. The minutes contained an unusual direction that two named individuals were to be asked to “ fuck off”.
As part of a campaign to bring the troops home from Northern Ireland , Steedman found himself like epic movie producer, Cecil B . DeMille on the fourth floor of a building coordinating the movement of columns of protestors converging on Trafalgar Square from various directions for cameramen . All this frenzied , successful campaigning took place over nine months which Steedman, on reflection , said had to be the most productive period in his varied life.
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Somehow , Steedman had time to slip away to a Greek isle to see a friend in a pub when the country was in the hands of the military junta which had seized the democratic country, backed to the hilt by the US during the Cold War period. While there he was trailed by secret police and gathered information about the ill treatment and torture of detainees under the colonels' rule.
With an expanding international transport business , Australian entrepreneur,Gordon Barton, lobbed in London and visited Steedman, discussing various Australian matters, including politics. In his lifetime Barton challenged restrictive colonial laws which hindered interstate trade , reshaped the nation’s transport industry , challenged the Federal government’s favourable treatment of Reg Ansett ( depicted in a cartoon as The Adoration of Ansett ), attempted to reform the Liberal Party, founded the Australia Party , which evolved into the Australian Democrats . Barton bought The Nation and merged it with the Sunday Review , resulting in Nation Review , a campaigning paper with strong political comment and cartoons. Strongly opposed to the Vietnam War, Barton,in the early days of the Australia Party, had conferred with Steedman, at the forefront of opposition to the conflict and conscription through Melbourne university magazines .
Barton negotiated to run an anti-war article from the American Ramparts magazine, a Catholic publication, and Steedman arranged with him to print another 20,000 copies to insert in the Melbourne University magazine Farrago and other publications.
Barton paid for a full-page advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald opposing the Vietnam War the day LBJ arrived in Sydney in October 1966. Steedman wrote to Barton on April 24, 1972 saying he planned to be back in Australia in time to see the McMahon Government fall .He hoped Nation Review, which he opined needed a revamp, was paying its way, and proved “to be a good weapon” in the elections.
Steedman told Barton he had several plans , including setting up a paper based on Time Out . While not looking for a job,Steedman said there was only one qualification, apart from ideology, that it must pay well. “Gone are the days when the talented Left could be bought for a copy of the Manifesto .” The letter ended, “ Best wishes and I’ll see you about August .”
In need of rest and resuscitation –Pete especially, receiving attention from British security - after their full on life in London, Pete and Julie , she pregnant, decided to return home to Melbourne. Customs were unreasonable about the Maserati, so it had to be left behind. Pete and Julie arrived back just in time for the 1972 election which saw Gough Whitlam swept into office as PM. NEXT : More publishing house calls by the doctor , a growing involvement in the cut and thrust of Victorian politics , Cyclone Tracy and into Federal parliament where he monstered National Party members about their close relationship with cuddly sheep.
