RIP: Smash Hits -- and Neil Tennant's Chest Wig !

[Naughty Zoot]

I found these 2 articles relating to Neil's former Day Job.

The lasting legacy of Smash Hits
By Caroline Briggs
BBC News entertainment reporter

The first ever Smash Hits was prepared on a kitchen table

Smash Hits, which is to close after 28 years, was the bible for many teenagers discovering their musical tastes in the 1980s and 1990s.

Every fortnight, Smash Hits thumped through the letterbox dishing out gossip, interviews, pull-out posters - and perhaps most importantly - lyrics to the top tunes of the day.

The whole kit and caboodle was served up in a typically playful house style that would go on to set a new standard in magazines.

In 1981, it is rumoured that the then Smash Hits editor David Hepworth sent a memo to record companies saying he intended "to reverse the entire direction" of pop music publishing in favour of trivia, demanding to know the colour of their artists' socks.

The approach worked.

Before long, Smash Hits' irreverent and witty style was pulling in a regular readership of half a million readers.

Nicknames

Hepworth - and the two editors before him - had gathered together a sharp team of writers, including Mark Ellen, who is now editor of Word Magazine, and Neil Tennant, who would go on to front the Pet Shop Boys.

They helped shape the tongue-in-cheek style of the magazine that triumphed throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.

Where else would the pop royalty of the day be known as Dame David Bowie, Sir Clifford of Richard and Fab Macca Wackythumbsaloft?

SMASH HIT EDITORS 1970s/1980s
Nick Logan (Chris Hall)
Ian Cranna
David Hepworth
Mark Ellen
Steve Bush
Barry McIlheney

Bros were nicknamed Matt, Luke and Ken - after third member Craig was declared irrelevant - while Brother Beyond were somewhat shortened to The 'Yond.

"Corky O'Reilly! It's Kylie" and "Legs akimbo!" were often used phrases among it vernacular.

Pop stars were not pandered to on the pages, but asked both probing and silly questions of the "do you have smelly feet?" ilk.

They often received equally silly replies.

But the magazine also succeeded in appealing to the teenager with a wide taste in music, as anyone who was anyone in the charts making it onto the hallowed pages.

Morten Harket's Bottom

Interviews with artists like The Cure and the Cocteau Twins were sandwiched comfortably between gossip on pop acts like Duran Duran and Wham!

Letter writers to Black Type mused on the songwriting ability of their favourite stars, wrote poems, and argued amongst themselves.

SMASH HIT EDITORS 1990s/2000s
Richard Lowe
Mike Soutar
Mark Frith
Kate Thornton
Gavin Reeve
John McKie
Emma Jones
Lisa Smosarski
Lara Palamoudian

They signed their letters Morten Harket's Bottom, Neil Tennant's Chest Wig, or Jesus and Mary's Chainstore.

Smash Hits was the brainchild of former NME man Nick Logan who called his protegee pop bible Disco Fever.

The first test issue - featuring Belgian one-hit-wonder Plastic Bertrand on the cover and Sham 69 as the centre spread - was put to together on Logan's kitchen table.

But unsure of how it would go down, Logan refused to print his name as editor, using instead the pseudonym Chris Hall - a combination of the names of his children Christian and Hallie.

After just three issues, Smash Hits moved from monthly to fortnightly, and its impact was immediate and lasting.

I think these days, a lot of pop music is invented in boardrooms at record companies

Mark Frith, former editor

During the 1980s, appearing on the Smash Hits cover equalled BBC show Top of the Pops in determining when an act had finally arrived.

Morrissey wearing a hearing aid and holding a kitten inside his cardigan was just one of the memorable covers of the time.

Even footballer Paul Gascoigne made the cover when Gazza-mania gripped the country during the 1990 world cup.

"End of an era"

Smash Hits not only launched the careers of the pop stars on its pages, but it also gave its creative editorial team a leg up the ladder.

Founding editor Logan went on to launch The Face in 1980, while broadcaster and columnist Miranda Sawyer was also one of the magazine's early writers.


Celebrity Big Brother's Preston will be the last cover star

Perhaps the most high-profile editor was X-Factor presenter Kate Thornton who took the helm in 1996 aged just 21.

She said the magazine's closure was "the end of an era" but added that "times were changing".

In recent years the magazine was sold with free gifts from notepads to coloured pens for its increasing pre-teen readership, as teenagers turned to new technology to influence their musical direction.

Mark Frith, who now edits Heat magazine, said the music industry itself may also be to blame for the demise.

"I think these days, a lot of pop music is invented in boardrooms at record companies and it kind of ticks all the boxes and appeals to the right demographic," he said.

"Where are the characters coming through now and making pop music? It's not just there.

"I think Smash Hits particularly thrived on those kind of people."

and

Smash Hits folds after 28 years
By Simon Freeman




Preston, Paris and Chantelle loom large on the cover of the final edition (EMAP/PA)

Smash Hits, the teeny-bopper's bible since the dawn of punk, closed down abruptly today with publishers blaming the increasingly sophisticated tastes of its young audience.

Since its launch in 1978 - with new wave band Blondie gracing the front cover - the magazine has kept afloat on a fortnightly diet of boy bands, innocent gossip and questionable fashion tips. Today, the managing director of publishers Emap said that its "time had passed".



Launched by NME writer Nick Logan, who went on to found style magazine The Face, Smash Hits has clung on despite declining circulations since its 1980s heyday of half a million, as readers migrate to the internet. Its biggest selling issue was published in 1989 and featured Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan on the front.

Its brand - deeply engrained in the consciousness of a generation of pop fans - has now become its strongest asset.

As a consolation to fans of the magazine which brought Billie Piper, Kate Thornton and the Pet Shop Boys to the world, Emap has said that it will continue to use the name for its website and its television and digital radio stations as well as a new line of child's debit cards.

Logan recalled today how he assembled the first editions on his kitchen table and refused to put his name to its editorship, instead using the alias Chris Hall.

Neil Tennant once worked there as a writer and claimed that had he not become a star with the Pet Shop Boys, he would have pursued his ambition to become editor.

During the golden years in the 1980s, the magazine launched the careers of a wave of journalists, including Mark Frith, now editor in chief of Heat! magazine. Frith claimed that the huge influence of the pop music bible could still be seen in newspapers, Sunday supplements and television.

He said: "People have an incredibly sentimental feeling towards Smash Hits. The words Smash Hits have been written in the corner of a poster they have had stuck to their wall as a kid, or they have sung along to lyrics from Smash Hits, or they have entered a competition or been along to a Smash Hits concert.

"Anyone that grew up with Smash Hits or was lucky enough to work on it will always have a special place in their hearts for it. It has been a pioneering force in pop and we can look back fondly on the last 28 years

"Today’s teens want faster, deeper information about music and can now satisfy their hunger by accessing information on a whole range of new platforms including TV, the internet, mobiles and so on."

Marcus Rich, managing director of Emap Metro, said: "Smash Hits revolutionised the world of teen publishing when it was launched in 1978, but 28-years later, the world is a very different place and the magazine’s role and relevance on the news stand changed.

"The audience was getting younger, predominantly pre-teen, as teenagers migrated to new platforms to satisfy their interest in music. This was coupled with declining advertising revenues in the teen entertainment magazine sector.

"The closure of the magazine allows us to concentrate our resources on developing the Smash Hits brand on these emerging platforms. Ensuring that resources are concentrated on core areas with potential growth sadly means the occasional closure of old favourites whose time has passed."

The final issue of the magazine will be published on February 13.

An Emap spokeswoman said that the publication’s editor, Lara Palamoudian, was moving to another project within the company, and Emap would be trying to find positions for the magazine’s remaining nine staff.

[Syncratic]

'... as well as a new line of child's debit cards. '

That's nice of them.

[kdpsb]

ñac ñac, PSB owe part of their life to Smash Hits

[Deschanel]

Wow, thanks for the news- in the early and mid 80's when i was a teen i think Smash Hits turned me gay, - those seductive pinups of Duran Duran you know!

But seriously- Smash Hits was published in the US after 1984 as Star Hits, and you know- I adored it. It was the only magazine that would have articles about PSB, Madonna, New Order, Morrissey, and ten thousand other Brit/Euro bands of that era. Great pictures.

And before the internet, that was all a lonely teen like myself had to connect with what i thought was the incredibly glamourous world of British pop.

I guess i can forgive them for also pushing Sigue Sigue Sputnik and Johnny Hates Jazz on impressionable teens like me but..times do change.

RIP Smash Hits..thanks for Marilyn's beauty tips from 1984, though i'm not a drag queen..

Curiousity Killed the Cat anyone?

[psb-freak]

Neil´s chest wig. Well tha person must be very unique. There´s not so much hair on Neil´s chest.

[Issey Miyake]

Did anyone catch Neil on the BBC news last night, they said he used to be an editor, they showed a video clip whilst he worked at smash hits.

[SilentRose]

Neil´s chest wig. Well tha person must be very unique. There´s not so much hair on Neil´s chest.

i'm pretty sure i have that issue! have to go look it up

i mean...i know smash hits has pretty much sucked after the 1992 but i loved that magazine for what it used to be

[psb-freak]

Did anyone catch Neil on the BBC news last night, they said he used to be an editor, they showed a video clip whilst he worked at smash hits.

Did you record it ????????????????? Would looooooooovvvvveee to see it.

[Dipso]

It is on the BBC website. Click on Watch News In Video and then Entertainment.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

[psb-freak]

It is on the BBC website. Click on Watch News In Video and then Entertainment.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Cuuuuute !!!! Thanks. Neil looks so young there. Does anyone know hot to download it on computer?

[Steve Fett]

Neil had quite a hairy chest in that pic (I think it was in ATTITUDE magazine too). I was surprised actually - i didn't think he'd be hairy ! Not that i'm complaining...

[Janet Street-Porter]

Cuuuuute !!!! Thanks. Neil looks so young there. Does anyone know hot to download it on computer?

Sorry. Your hard drive has exceeded its' prescribed legal limit of PSB nudity.

[shaunh7]

Is Kate Thorton only 31!!!! mmmmmmm

It wasn't Smash hits that nicknamed him out of Bros Ken, it was Viz.

[GalataPSB]

It is on the BBC website. Click on Watch News In Video and then Entertainment.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Cuuuuute !!!! Thanks. Neil looks so young there. Does anyone know hot to download it on computer?

Wanna see his photos???

[psb-freak]

That helps a lot. Thanks.