Sun rises under new boss Rupert Murdoch in 1969

There is a fascinating piece from the archives in the Guardian today on the run-up to the launch of Rupert Murdoch's Sun on the 17th November 1969.

Written by Geoffrey Moorhouse, and published on the 15th November 1969, it described how the old Sun had "swapped its indebted position within the International Publication Corporation for lean and hungry times among Mr. Rupert Murdoch's ambitions".

Moorhouse told how the new Sun will be "tabloid and unrecognisable" and be produced from the News of the World building in Bouverie Street.

He reports how the new editor Larry Lamb is enthusiastic about his new boss who "at the News of the World is apt to sit in his shirt sleeves among a pool of proofs at the top of the sub-editors' table: which probably marks him as unique among his his kind."

This is how the Guardian reported the launch of the original Sun, born out of the Daily Herald, on 15 September 1964.

"The first editions of the Sun, successor of the Daily Herald, and the first new mass sale daily newspaper to be published in Britain for 34 years, rolled off the presses in Covent Garden at 10 40 p.m. last night.

"The front page gives prominence to a policy statement which claims that the "Sun" is politically independent, informative and gay - "a paper for those with a zest for living."...After seeing the first edition of the new newspaper - the initial print order is 3,500,000 - Mr Hugh Cudlipp, its chief architect, said he believed the first issue of a newspaper, like a bride, was never perfect. 'But I think this is an excellent start,' he added."

Pics: Rupert Murdoch with the launch issue of the new Sun on 17 November, 1969. The splash is: 'Horse Dope Sensation': Second pic, the launch issue of the original Sun.