Smash Hits was a pop music magazine aimed at teenagers and young adults, featuring lyrics, photographs, interviews and news related to music acts in the UK (Later offshoots arrived in the US and Australia).
Ex-NME editor Nick Logan came up with the idea of producing a pop magazine with lots of posters and songwords. He couldn’t decide whether to call it Smash Hits or Disco Fever. Fortunately, the suits at publishers Emap opted for the former!
After some initial monthly test issues late in the final months of 1978 – the first cover star in September was Belgian nutjob Plastic Bertrand of Ca Plane Pour Moi fame – the magazine started publishing in earnest in 1979, switching to a fortnightly schedule.
Its infectious enthusiasm and obsessive love of pop was tempered with irreverent – sometimes caustic – wit, and bolstered by giveaways of stickers, badges and posters.
In the Smash Hits universe, readers were “viewers”, the word “please” became “pur-lease“, and the highest form of praise was one louder than “ber-illiant”, ie: “swingorilliant”.
Some of these phrases were created by early-80s Assistant Editor Neil Tennant, later to leave the magazine and become one-half of top pop “outfit” the Pet Shop Boys.
Several pop stars also acquired new names, such as “Dame” David Bowie, Lord Frederick of Mercury, Lord Clifford of Richard etc. For reasons now lost in time, members of U2 – despite being the biggest band in the world in the late 80s – would forever be known as Bobo, The Hedge, Adam “Clear Off!” Clayton, and The Other One . . .
By 1988, the magazine reached a readership of one million per issue – just in time for the tenth anniversary.
The last issue of Smash Hits was published in 2006.
TRIVIA
A young chap named Jim Moir from Darlington made it to the final three candidates for a position as staff writer of Smash Hits in 1987. He was deemed “not funny enough”. Devastated, he went on to become a top comedian and TV personality under his new name of Vic Reeves.
After some initial monthly test issues late in the final months of 1978 – the first cover star in September was Belgian nutjob Plastic Bertrand of Ca Plane Pour Moi fame – the magazine started publishing in earnest in 1979, switching to a fortnightly schedule.
