It, International Times, 1966-1996

International Times (it or IT) was an underground paper founded in London in 1966. Editors included John Hopkins, David Mairowitz, Pete Stansill, Barry Miles, Jim Haynes and playwright Tom McGrath. Jack Moore, avant-garde writer Bill Levy and Mick Farren, singer of The Deviants, also edited at various periods.

Within a short time of the first issue, the name International Times was changed to IT after litigation threats from the London Times. The paper’s logo was a black-and-white image of Theda Bara, vampish star of silent films. The founders’ original intention had been to incorporate an image of the actress Clara Bow because she’d been known as The IT girl, but an image of Theda Bara was used by accident and, once deployed, was never changed. Paul McCartney donated to the paper.