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Encyclopedia > Smash Hits
The cover of a May 1981 edition of Smash Hits magazine
The cover of a May 1981 edition of Smash Hits magazine

Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at children and young teenagers, and originally published in the United Kingdom. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time. Spin off digital television, digital radio, and website services have survived the demise of the printed magazine. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ...

Contents

Beginnings

Smash Hits was founded in 1977 by Nick Logan, who previously edited the New Musical Express during one of its most creative periods and went on to create '80s fashion bible The Face. Nick Logan is a British journalist and magazine editor born in Lincoln in 1947. ... The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a weekly magazine about popular music published in the UK. It is unlike many other popular music magazines due to its intended focus on guitar-based music and indie rock bands, instead of mainstream pop acts. ... Influential British magazine The Face was started in May 1980 by Nick Logan out of his publishing house Wagadon. ...


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. Plastic Bertrand (born Roger Marie Francois Jouret, 24 February 1954) is a Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter, best known for his 1977 international hit single Ça plane pour moi. // He was born in Brussels of a French father and Ukrainian mother. ... Sham 69 are an English punk rock band from Hersham, Surrey. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Blondie is an American rock band that first gained fame in the late 1970s and early 1980s. ...


Smash Hits was at its peak in the 1980s, launching the career of many respected journalists including Heat's editor Mark Frith. Other well-known writers have included Dave Rimmer, 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. heat is a British entertainment magazine published by EMAP Consumer Media, and edited by Mark Frith. ... Mark Ellen is a music journalist and broadcaster. ... Q is a music and entertainment magazinepublished monthly in the United Kingdom. ... Mojo is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. ... Steve Beebee is a journalist, author and broadcaster, best known for his work with Kerrang! magazine. ... Chris Heath is a British writer who was a regular contributer to the popular English music magazine Smash Hits in the eighties and early nineties. ... Miranda Sawyer is an award-winning writer and broadcaster grew up in Wilmslow, Cheshire, before moving to Oxford to read Law and then on to London to begin her career as a journalist. ... Neil Tennant (right) with collaborator Chris Lowe (left) Neil Francis Tennant (born July 10, 1954 in North Shields, Tyne and Wear, England) is an English musician, who, with his colleague Chris Lowe, makes up the successful pop duo, Pet Shop Boys. ... The capitalization of song titles in this article may be disputed. ...


In the 1990s the magazine's circulation slumped and it was overtaken by the BBC'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 television 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 British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion... Top of the Pops magazine is a monthly publication published by the BBC. It features chart information, star gossip, fashion and beauty advice, quizes, songwords and posters. ... EMAP plc (LSE: EMA) is a British media company, specialising in the production of magazines, and the organization of business events and conferences. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Beverly Hills 90210 was a popular primetime television soap opera that aired from October 1990 to May 2000 on the Fox Network in the United States and subsequently on various networks around the world. ... Teen pop or Swedish pop is a Western genre of music which is marketed to preteens and teenagers. ... Kate Thornton (born February 7, 1973 in Cheltenham) is a English journalist and television presenter. ...


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 licenced 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. 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The cover of a May 1981 edition of Smash Hits magazine Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at children and young teenagers, and originally published in the United Kingdom. ...


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. EMAP plc (LSE: EMA) is a British media company, specialising in the production of magazines, and the organization of business events and conferences. ... Digital television (DTV) is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound by means of digital signals, in contrast to analog signals used by analog (traditional) TV. DTV uses digital modulation data, which is digitally compressed and requires decoding by a specially designed television set, or a... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Smash Hits Poll Winners Party was an awards ceremony which ran from 1988 to 2005. ...


In February 2006, it was announced that the magazine would cease publication after the 13 February edition due to declining sales. [1] The digital television, digital radio, and website services will continue. For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...


Damage Controversy

In 1997, Smash Hits debated whether or not to put the boyband Damage on the front cover of an issue of their publication. They felt that, as the band were black, this may mean that they would suffer a loss of sales for that issue. It was mistakenly thought that Smash Hits had never previously had a band with an all black line up on the cover when in fact the likes of Sade, Neneh Cherry and Five Star had featured on the front page.[citation needed] 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A boy band (American English) or boyband (British English) is a style of somewhat to mostly prefabricated pop group featuring about between three and six young male singer/dancers, but normally five. ... This article is about a British boy band. ... Sade can mean: Sade (movie) starring French actor Daniel Auteuil. ... Neneh Cherry performing live in Vienna (ca. ... Five Star on the cover of their 1990 single Hot Love. Top row, from left to right: Denise, Lorraine, and Doris. ...


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 Hepworth
  • Mark Ellen
  • Steve Bush
  • Barry McIlheney
  • Richard Lowe
  • Mike Soutar
  • Mark Frith
  • Kate Thornton
  • Gavin Reeve
  • John McKie
  • Emma Jones
  • Lisa Smosarski
  • Lara Palamoudian
  • Rahan Uddin

David Hepworth (born 1950; Yorkshire) is a journalist and music writer responsible for the launch of many British magazines. ... Mark Ellen is a music journalist and broadcaster. ... Kate Thornton (born February 7, 1973 in Cheltenham) is a English journalist and television presenter. ...

Compilation Albums

EMAP licensed the brand for a number of compilation albums, including a tie up with the Now That's What I Call Music brand for Now Smash Hits, a retrospective of the early 1980s (80 - 87). EMAP plc (LSE: EMA) is a British media company, specialising in the production of magazines, and the organization of business events and conferences. ... Now Thats What I Call Music! (often shortened to Now!) is a long-running series of Various Artists compilation albums released in the UK by Polygram/EMI/Virgin Records; spinoff series were later started in the United States and elsewhere. ... Now Smash Hits is a compilation album released in 1987. ...


Australian Edition

The Australian edition of Smash Hits magazine began in November 1984 as a fortnightly. Over the years it became a monthly and then a bi-monthy. In 2007 the magazine retailed for AU$5.95 Inc. GST and NZ$6.50. On the 30th March 2007 it was announced that the Australian edition will cease publication due to low readership. The editor at that time was Emma Bradshaw. The issue that was scheduled to be released on 9th May, 2007 has since been cancelled. Look up November in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... GST may stand for: The Goods and Services Tax, a value-added tax imposed by several countries; The Generation-skipping transfer tax, imposed by the United States on certain transfers by gift, inheritance, or bequest. ... March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (90th in Leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... May 9 is the 129th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (130th in leap years). ...

Image:Lastsmashhits.jpg
The cover of the last Smash Hits magazine in Australia

See also

Smash Hits TV is a British commercial television channel provided by EMAP. It mainly broadcasts general mainstream pop music on a jukebox system, where viewers call a premium rate telephone number to select a music video to play. ... MTV UK and Ireland is a version of MTV Europe which serves the United Kingdom and Ireland. ...

External links

  • http://www.smashhits.net
  • Guardian Culture Vulture on the demise of Smash Hits

  Results from FactBites:
 
Smash Hits falls victim to fans' eclectic tastes and internet | | Guardian Unlimited Business (781 words)
Smash Hits, the magazine that postered teenage bedrooms across Britain for nearly 30 years, is to close after its mix of pop lyrics and heart-throb interviews lost its appeal with young readers.
Smash Hits has seen its circulation decline from a height of 1m in 1989, when Kylie and Jason graced the cover, to 120,000 as it lost out in the competition for "bedroom time" to the internet and mobile phones.
He added that the closure of Smash Hits due to its teen audience moving onto digital platforms was not a gloomy portent for the magazine industry.
Smash Hits at AllExperts (773 words)
Smash Hits was founded in 1978 by Nick Logan, who previously edited the New Musical Express during one of its most creative periods and went on to create '80s fashion bible The Face.
Smash Hits was at its peak in the 1980s, launching the career of many respected journalists including Heat's editor Mark Frith.
In 1997, Smash Hits was criticized for debating whether or not to put the boyband Damage on the front cover of an issue of their publication.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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