Smash Hits
Encyclopedia
Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP
. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnight
ly for most of that time. The name survives as a brand for a related spin-off
digital television channel
, digital radio station, and website which have survived the demise of the printed magazine.
, who had previously edited the New Musical Express during one of its most creative periods and went on to create '80s fashion bible The Face
.
After releasing a test issue in September 1978, with Plastic Bertrand
on the front and a centre spread of Sham 69
, the first issue was published in November 1978 and featured Blondie
on the cover. The publication was initially monthly but switched to fortnightly after only three issues, which it remained until its demise. The backbone of the magazine in its early years, and one of its major early selling points, was the publication of Top 20 song lyrics.
editor Mark Frith
. Other well-known writers have included Dave Rimmer
, Ian Birch, Mark Ellen
(who went on to launch Q, Mojo
and Word), Steve Beebee
, Peter Martin
, Chris Heath
, Sylvia Patterson, Tom Hibbert, and Miranda Sawyer
. Neil Tennant
of the Pet Shop Boys
also worked as a writer and assistant editor, and once claimed that had he not become a pop star, he would likely have pursued his ambition to become editor.
's spin off magazine Top Of The Pops
. Emap
's other biweekly teen magazine of the period Big! (which featured more celebrities and stars of TV programmes like Home And Away
and Beverly Hills, 90210
) was closed and this celeb focus was shifted over to Smash Hits, which became less focused on Teenpop and more of an Entertainment magazine. The magazine also shifted size a number of times in subsequent relaunches including one format that was as big as an album with songwords to be clipped out on the card cover. Television presenter and journalist Kate Thornton
was editor for a short time.
The magazine was also available in Continental Europe, especially in Germany where the issues could be bought at train stations or airports, whilst the title was licensed for a French version in the 90s. There were other licensed versions in the magazine's history. In 1984 an Australian version was created and proved just as successful for that new market as the original had back in Britain, whilst in the US, a version was published during the Eighties under the title Star Hits, drawing articles from the British version.
It was published by Emap
, who also use the name for one of their digital television
services, and for a digital radio
station. The brand also covered the annual Smash Hits Poll Winners Party
, an awards ceremony voted for by readers of the magazine.
In February 2006, it was announced that the magazine would cease publication after the 13 February edition due to declining sales. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4673136.stm The digital television, digital radio, and website services will continue.
In July 2009 a one-off commemorative issue of the magazine was published as a tribute to singer Michael Jackson
. Further one-off specials were released in November 2009 (Take That
) and December 2010 (Lady Gaga
).
licensed the brand for a number of compilation albums, including a tie in with the Now That's What I Call Music brand for Now Smash Hits
, a retrospective of the early 1980s (80 - 87).
5.95 Inc. GST
and NZ$
6.50. On 30 March 2007 it was announced that the Australian edition would cease publication due to low readership . The editor at that time was Emma Bradshaw. The issue that was scheduled to be released on 9 May 2007 was cancelled.
EMAP
Emap Limited is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences...
. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnight
Fortnight
The fortnight is a unit of time equal to fourteen days, or two weeks. The word derives from the Old English fēowertyne niht, meaning "fourteen nights"....
ly for most of that time. The name survives as a brand for a related spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
digital television channel
Smash Hits TV
Smash Hits! is a British commercial television channel provided by Box Television. The channel broadcasts general pop music in shows such as Chartbusters, which is recent music and Pop Domination, which is new and old music. It also shows other programmes such as themed countdowns and charts such...
, digital radio station, and website which have survived the demise of the printed magazine.
Beginnings
Smash Hits was founded in 1978 by Nick LoganNick Logan
Nick Logan is an English journalist and magazine editor born in Lincoln in 1947.-Biography:Logan started his journalistic career in the 1960s writing reviews and articles for the NME...
, who had previously edited the New Musical Express during one of its most creative periods and went on to create '80s fashion bible The Face
The Face (magazine)
The Face was a British music, fashion and culture monthly magazine started in May 1980 by Nick Logan.-1980s:Logan had previously created the teen pop magazine Smash Hits, and had been an editor at the New Musical Express in the 1970s before launching The Face in 1980.The magazine was influential in...
.
After releasing a test issue in September 1978, with Plastic Bertrand
Plastic Bertrand
Plastic Bertrand is a Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter, best known for the 1977 international hit single "Ça plane pour moi".-Early life and bands:...
on the front and a centre spread of Sham 69
Sham 69
Sham 69 is an English punk band that formed in Hersham in 1976.Although not as commercially successful as many of their contemporaries, albeit with a greater number of chart entries, Sham 69 has been a huge musical and lyrical influence on the Oi! and streetpunk genres. The band allegedly derived...
, the first issue was published in November 1978 and featured Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
on the cover. The publication was initially monthly but switched to fortnightly after only three issues, which it remained until its demise. The backbone of the magazine in its early years, and one of its major early selling points, was the publication of Top 20 song lyrics.
Peak
The magazine was at its peak in the 1980s, launching the career of many journalists including Heat'sHeat (magazine)
Heat is a British entertainment magazine published by German company Bauer Media Group. it is one of the biggest selling magazines in the UK, with a regular circulation over half a million. Its mix of celebrity news, gossip and fashion is primarily aimed at women, although not as directly as in...
editor Mark Frith
Mark Frith
Mark Frith is employed as a British journalist and editor of London listings magazine Time Out from 24 July 2009 until 8 July 2011, when he was succeeded as editor by Tim Arthur. He is a former editor of celebrity gossip magazine Heat.His career was launched by pop music based magazine, Smash Hits...
. Other well-known writers have included Dave Rimmer
Dave Rimmer
Dave Rimmer is a music journalist and critic who has written books and articles about a number of pop and rock artists. He wrote for SMASH HITS and FACE in the 1980s, and wrote a book about 1980s pop entitled Like Punk Never Happened. His second book Once Upon a Time in the East, is about Eastern...
, Ian Birch, Mark Ellen
Mark Ellen
Mark Ellen is an award winning magazine editor, journalist and broadcaster who lives in West London.Whilst at Oxford University in the 1970s, he briefly played bass in the band Ugly Rumours alongside Tony Blair...
(who went on to launch Q, Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
and Word), Steve Beebee
Steve Beebee
Steve Beebee is a journalist, author and broadcaster, best known for his work with Kerrang! magazine. Beebee is one of the magazine's longest serving writers. He is known for championing bands for their genuine entertainment qualities as opposed to their tendency to fit in with present fashions and...
, Peter Martin
Peter Martin
Peter James Martin is an English former cricketer who played in 8 Tests and 20 ODIs for England from 1995 to 1998.Nicknamed "Digger", Martin was primarily a fast-medium swing bowler...
, Chris Heath
Chris Heath
Chris Heath is a British writer who was a regular contributor to the popular English music magazine Smash Hits in the eighties and early nineties....
, Sylvia Patterson, Tom Hibbert, and Miranda Sawyer
Miranda Sawyer
Miranda Sawyer is an English journalist and broadcaster.She grew up in Wilmslow, Cheshire with her brother Toby, who is an actor. She has a degree in Jurisprudence from Pembroke College, Oxford...
. Neil Tennant
Neil Tennant
Neil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
of the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
also worked as a writer and assistant editor, and once claimed that had he not become a pop star, he would likely have pursued his ambition to become editor.
Final years of publishing
In the 1990s the magazine's circulation slumped and it was overtaken by the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's spin off magazine Top Of The Pops
Top of the Pops (magazine)
Top of the Pops magazine is a monthly publication published by BBC Magazines. It features chart information, star gossip, fashion and beauty advice, quizzes, song lyrics and posters. It is a supplementary magazine for the TV show Top of the Pops....
. Emap
EMAP
Emap Limited is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences...
's other biweekly teen magazine of the period Big! (which featured more celebrities and stars of TV programmes like Home And Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...
and Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American drama series that originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox and was produced by Spelling Television in the United States, and subsequently on various networks around the world. It is the first series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
) was closed and this celeb focus was shifted over to Smash Hits, which became less focused on Teenpop and more of an Entertainment magazine. The magazine also shifted size a number of times in subsequent relaunches including one format that was as big as an album with songwords to be clipped out on the card cover. Television presenter and journalist Kate Thornton
Kate Thornton
Kate Thornton is an English journalist and television presenter. Early in her career, she was notable for her articles at the Daily Mirror and for her role as editor of Smash Hits magazine...
was editor for a short time.
The magazine was also available in Continental Europe, especially in Germany where the issues could be bought at train stations or airports, whilst the title was licensed for a French version in the 90s. There were other licensed versions in the magazine's history. In 1984 an Australian version was created and proved just as successful for that new market as the original had back in Britain, whilst in the US, a version was published during the Eighties under the title Star Hits, drawing articles from the British version.
It was published by Emap
EMAP
Emap Limited is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences...
, who also use the name for one of their digital television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
services, and for a digital radio
Digital radio
Digital radio has several meanings:1. Today the most common meaning is digital radio broadcasting technologies, such as the digital audio broadcasting system, also known as Eureka 147. In these systems, the analog audio signal is digitized into zeros and ones, compressed using formats such as...
station. The brand also covered the annual Smash Hits Poll Winners Party
Smash Hits Poll Winners Party
The Smash Hits Poll Winners Party was an awards ceremony which ran from 1988 to 2005. Each award winner was voted by readers of the Smash Hits magazine. It ended with the closure of the magazine in February 2006....
, an awards ceremony voted for by readers of the magazine.
In February 2006, it was announced that the magazine would cease publication after the 13 February edition due to declining sales. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4673136.stm The digital television, digital radio, and website services will continue.
In July 2009 a one-off commemorative issue of the magazine was published as a tribute to singer Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
. Further one-off specials were released in November 2009 (Take That
Take That
Take That are a British five-piece vocal pop group comprising Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams. Barlow acts as the lead singer and primary songwriter...
) and December 2010 (Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
).
Editors
- "Chris Hall" (pseudonym of Nick Logan who refused to use his name as editor, instead inventing the name from those of his children Christian and Hallie)
- Ian Cranna
- David HepworthDavid HepworthDavid Hepworth is a journalist and music writer responsible for the launch of many British magazines.Born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, Hepworth attended the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield and Trent Park College of Education, Barnet...
- Mark EllenMark EllenMark Ellen is an award winning magazine editor, journalist and broadcaster who lives in West London.Whilst at Oxford University in the 1970s, he briefly played bass in the band Ugly Rumours alongside Tony Blair...
- Steve Bush
- Barry McIlheneyBarry McIlheneyBarry McIlheney is a British journalist, editor, broadcaster and publisher. Born in Belfast in 1960, Barry is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and London's City University.-Journalism and management career:...
- Richard Lowe
- Mike Soutar
- Mark Frith
- Kate ThorntonKate ThorntonKate Thornton is an English journalist and television presenter. Early in her career, she was notable for her articles at the Daily Mirror and for her role as editor of Smash Hits magazine...
- Gavin Reeve
- John McKie
- Emma Jones
- Lisa Smosarski
- Lara Palamoudian
Compilation albums
EMAPEMAP
Emap Limited is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences...
licensed the brand for a number of compilation albums, including a tie in with the Now That's What I Call Music brand for Now Smash Hits
Now Smash Hits
Now That's What I Call Music, Smash Hits was a compilation album released in 1987. The album is part of the Now! series, and is a collaboration with Smash Hits magazine, a successful pop music based magazine at the time...
, a retrospective of the early 1980s (80 - 87).
Australian edition
The Australian edition of Smash Hits magazine began in November 1984 as a fortnightly edited by James Manning. The magazine blended some content from the parent publication with locally generated material. Eddy Sarafian, who was later to edit the successful competitor TV Hits for Attic Futura Publications, was also on staff at the time the magazine was founded. Robyn Doreian, later editor of Attic Futura's Hot Metal was graphic designer for Smash Hits and in the early 1990s Lisa Anthony, formerly editor of Attic Futura's Hit Songwords, would become Smash Hits editor for a brief period. Australian Smash Hits was originally published by Fairfax Magazines and was later purchased by Mason Stewart Publications. Over the years it became a monthly and then a bi-monthly. In 2007 the magazine retailed for A$Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
5.95 Inc. GST
Goods and Services Tax (Australia)
The GST is a broad sales tax of 10% on most goods and services transactions in Australia. It is a value added tax, not a sales tax, in that it is refunded to all parties in the chain of production other than the final consumer....
and NZ$
New Zealand dollar
The New Zealand dollar is the currency of New Zealand. It also circulates in the Cook Islands , Niue, Tokelau, and the Pitcairn Islands. It is divided into 100 cents....
6.50. On 30 March 2007 it was announced that the Australian edition would cease publication due to low readership . The editor at that time was Emma Bradshaw. The issue that was scheduled to be released on 9 May 2007 was cancelled.
External links
- http://www.smashhits.net
- Guardian Culture Vulture on the demise of Smash Hits