Smash Hits was a magazine well known to those who lived their youth in the 1980s and 1990s. It would take its place in newsstands every fortnight and was especially bought by music-loving young people. We would see Smash Hits in the hands of young people on the bus, train, subway.
Smash Hits no longer exists today. Because its last edition was published on February 13, 2006, it said goodbye to its young readers and ended its publishing life. Smash Hits director Marcus Rich wrote in his farewell article: “Smash Hits was an “old favorite” whose “time has passed”. “The audience for the magazine was getting younger… as teenagers migrated to new platforms to satisfy their interest in music,”
Rich added: “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 closure of the magazine allows us to concentrate our resources on developing the Smash Hits brand on these emerging platforms.”
All about Smash Hits magazine
Smash Hits was a British Teen / pop music magazine aimed at young adults, that was originally published by EMAP. It ran from September 1978 to February 2006 and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand for a spin-off digital television channel, now named Box Hits, and website. A digital radio station was also available but closed on August 5. 2013.
The fortnightly magazine regularly sold 500,000 copies in the early 1980s, but its biggest-selling edition featuring Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan was bought by more than one million readers in 1989.
Smash Hits featured the lyrics of latest hits and interviews with big names in music. It was initially published monthly, then went fortnightly. The style of the magazine was initially serious, but from around the mid-1980s onwards became one of ever-increasing irreverence. Its interviewing technique was novel at the time and, rather than looking up to the big names, it often made fun of them, asking strange questions rather than talking about their music.
Created by journalist Nick Logan, the title was launched in 1978 and appeared monthly for its first few months. He based the idea on a songwords magazine that his sister used to buy, but which was of poor quality. His idea being to launch a glossy-looking magazine which also contained songwords as its mainstay. The publisher was Emap, which was a small-time publisher based in Peterborough and the magazine was originally titled Disco Fever, before they settled on Smash Hits.
Smash Hits launched the career of many journalists including Radio Times editor Mark Frith. Other well-known writers have included Dave Rimmer, Mark Ellen (who went on to launch Q, Mojo and Word), Steve Beebee, Chris Heath, 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.
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 1990s. 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 United States, a version was published during the 1980s 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.
The magazine’s sales peaked during the late 1980s. In the early part of the decade it was regularly selling 500,000 copies per issue, which had risen to over one million by 1989. Sales began to drop during the 1990s and by 1996 it was reported that sales were dropping roughly 100,000 per year. By the time of its demise, it was down to 120,000.
Final years of publishing
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 TV series including Australians based Home and Away and United States imported Beverly Hills, 90210) was closed and this celeb focus was shifted over to Smash Hits, which became less focused on teen pop 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.
In February 2006, it was announced that the magazine would cease publication after the February 13 edition due to declining sales. The digital music video channel, digital radio, and website services still 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), December 2010 (Lady Gaga)[8] and November 2019 (Max Martin), the latter was a free magazine at certain London Underground stations to mark the debut of Martin’s West End musical & Juliet.
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