Smash Hits Online
Smash Hits, a pop music magazine aimed at teenagers, was originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued every other week for most of that period.
The magazine was at its peak in the 1980s, launching the career of many journalists including Heat’s 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, Sian Pattenden, 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.
Many issues from the late 1970s to the early 1980s have been digitized as a collection at the Internet Archive Magazine Rack as Smash Hits Magazine.
These issues include color and black and white photos, interviews, announcements, lyrics, and clothing ads as well classified ads for pen pals, or “Biro Buddies.”
The wonderful work of archivists have preserved far more material than we usually see. Our goal here is to unearth and present some of the stuff we never saw in school.