Ritz Newspaper
Encyclopedia
Ritz Newspaper, colloquially Ritz Magazine, sometimes simply Ritz, was a British magazine
focusing on gossip
, celebrity
and fashion
. It was launched in 1976 by David Bailey and David Litchfield, who acted as co-editors. Published on newsprint
and described by Litchfield as "the Lou Reed
of publishing", it sold 25,000 copies a month at its peak in 1981. It ran for fifteen years, though at the beginning of the 1990s it lost readership to glossy titles such as Tatler
. It closed temporarily in October 1988. Redesigned in A4 format on matt art stock paper by Art Director Tony Judge, it relaunched early in 1989 with funding from the property developer Neville Roberts, finally closing in the early 1990s.
The founder gossip
columnists covering the London social scene were Nicholas Haslam
, Frances Lynn
, Stephen Lavers and Amanda Lear
.
Haslam, an Old Etonian society
decorator, wrote about his British
aristocratic and Hollywood movie star
friends under the pen name
Paul Parsons. Lynn wrote the 'Bitch' gossip
column about café society
. Lavers, who moonlighted as Head of Films at A&M Records
was the Music
and Media columnist. Lear gossiped about the international glitterati. Lavers and Lear even interviewed each other. Richard Young
was initially hired as Lynn's photographer, but eventually took photographs for all the columns. The four gossip columnists sometimes attended the same parties and wrote about each other. Haslam invited Lynn to all the parties he organised for his celebrity
friends like Andy Warhol
, so that she could report about them in her column.
Film producer Cat Villiers (then known as Catkin Villiers) began her career on the staff of the periodical.
Although Ritz Newspaper's policy was to avoid paying their contributing editors, established writers like Clive James
and Peter York contributed to the magazine, as occasionally did established pop and rock stars such as George Michael
.
, and other celebrity
fashion models modelled, and Patrick Lichfield and other top photographers, worked for Ritz.
interviews were in Question and Answer format, and included David Cassidy
, Sammy Davis, Jr.
, Gore Vidal
, Paul McCartney
and Frank Zappa
.
advertising campaigns. Olympus Cameras
, Leonard the society hairdresser, and Manolo Blahnik
all took out regular campaigns. Schumi advertised in every issue of Ritz, except for the first issue.
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
focusing on gossip
Gossip
Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others, It is one of the oldest and most common means of sharing facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and variations into the information transmitted...
, celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
and fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
. It was launched in 1976 by David Bailey and David Litchfield, who acted as co-editors. Published on newsprint
Newsprint
Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper most commonly used to print newspapers, and other publications and advertising material. It usually has an off-white cast and distinctive feel. It is designed for use in printing presses that employ a long web of paper rather than individual sheets of...
and described by Litchfield as "the Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
of publishing", it sold 25,000 copies a month at its peak in 1981. It ran for fifteen years, though at the beginning of the 1990s it lost readership to glossy titles such as Tatler
Tatler
Tatler has been the name of several British journals and magazines, each of which has viewed itself as the successor of the original literary and society journal founded by Richard Steele in 1709. The current incarnation, founded in 1901, is a glossy magazine published by Condé Nast Publications...
. It closed temporarily in October 1988. Redesigned in A4 format on matt art stock paper by Art Director Tony Judge, it relaunched early in 1989 with funding from the property developer Neville Roberts, finally closing in the early 1990s.
Gossip
Gossip
Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others, It is one of the oldest and most common means of sharing facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and variations into the information transmitted...
columnists covering the London social scene were Nicholas Haslam
Nicholas Haslam
Nicholas Ponsonby 'Nicky' Haslam is a British interior designer and socialite and founder of the London-based interior design firm NH Design Inc.-Background:...
, Frances Lynn
Frances Lynn
-Biography:Lynn was born in St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington in London, and was educated at Malvern Girls' College.In 1977, Lynn started her journalistic career when she became the film editor and gossip columnist for the now defunct Ritz Newspaper, published by David Bailey. Interview subjects...
, Stephen Lavers and Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear is a French singer, lyricist, composer, painter, TV presenter, actress and novelist....
.
Haslam, an Old Etonian society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
decorator, wrote about his British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
aristocratic and Hollywood movie star
Movie star
A movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...
friends under the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
Paul Parsons. Lynn wrote the 'Bitch' gossip
Gossip
Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others, It is one of the oldest and most common means of sharing facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and variations into the information transmitted...
column about café society
Café Society
Café society was the collective description for the so-called "Beautiful People" and "Bright Young Things" who gathered in fashionable cafes and restaurants in New York, Paris, and London beginning in the late 19th century...
. Lavers, who moonlighted as Head of Films at A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
was the Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and Media columnist. Lear gossiped about the international glitterati. Lavers and Lear even interviewed each other. Richard Young
Richard Young (photographer)
Richard Young is an English society and celebrity photographer. His photography career started in 1974 and since then, he has photographed personalities such as Princess Diana of Wales, Elizabeth Taylor, and Mick Jagger.-Early life:...
was initially hired as Lynn's photographer, but eventually took photographs for all the columns. The four gossip columnists sometimes attended the same parties and wrote about each other. Haslam invited Lynn to all the parties he organised for his celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
friends like Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, so that she could report about them in her column.
Film producer Cat Villiers (then known as Catkin Villiers) began her career on the staff of the periodical.
Although Ritz Newspaper's policy was to avoid paying their contributing editors, established writers like Clive James
Clive James
Clive James, AM is an Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet and memoirist, best known for his autobiographical series Unreliable Memoirs, for his chat shows and documentaries on British television and for his prolific journalism...
and Peter York contributed to the magazine, as occasionally did established pop and rock stars such as George Michael
George Michael
George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
.
Fashion
Ritz Newspaper was a showcase for fashion photography. David Bailey took the pictures. His wife, Marie HelvinMarie Helvin
Marie Helvin is a fashion model, who worked extensively with David Bailey—to whom she was married between 1975-85—in the 1970s and 1980s she appeared in many fashion stories for British Vogue and posed for a series of nude photographs made by David Bailey, which were published in his 1980 book...
, and other celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
fashion models modelled, and Patrick Lichfield and other top photographers, worked for Ritz.
Celebrity
The majority of the CelebrityCelebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
interviews were in Question and Answer format, and included David Cassidy
David Cassidy
David Bruce Cassidy is an American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his role as the character of Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical/sitcom The Partridge Family. He was one of pop culture's most celebrated teen idols, enjoying a successful pop career in the 1970s, and...
, Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
, Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
.
Advertising
Ritz Newspaper specialised in celebrityCelebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
advertising campaigns. Olympus Cameras
Olympus Corporation
is a Japan-based manufacturer of optics and reprography products. Olympus was established on 12 October 1919, initially specializing in microscope and thermometer businesses. Its global headquarters are in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, while its USA operations are based in Center Valley, Pennsylvania,...
, Leonard the society hairdresser, and Manolo Blahnik
Manolo Blahnik
Manuel "Manolo" Blahnik Rodríguez CBE, , is a Spanish fashion designer and founder of the self-named, high-end shoe brand.-Biography:Born to a Czech father and a Spanish mother and born and raised in the Canary Islands , Blahnik graduated from the University of Geneva in 1965 and studied art in Paris...
all took out regular campaigns. Schumi advertised in every issue of Ritz, except for the first issue.