The Best of Smash Hits: The 80s [Hardcover]

Mark Frith (Editor), Neil Tennant (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2007

In its heyday in the mid to late 1980s, Smash Hits enjoyed a circulation of more than one million passionate readers. The Best of Smash Hits is for all those readers: a glorious, full-color celebration of all the best bits, and even better—some of the worst. Packed with such fascinating pop cultural documentation as the legendary Morrissey and Pete Burns joint interview, a minute-by-minute account of Live Aid, fashion tips from Max Headroom, and memories from those who worked on the publication, this is a must for any 1980s music fans. This collection is the definitive salute to the magazine that once asked David Bowie, "You're not very good at acting, are you?"

Editorial Reviews

Review

[A] frothy celebration of the pop mag's Eighties heyday. Mrs Thatcher interview included! OBSERVER MUSIC MONTHLY [SMASH HITS] was bright, funny, irreverent and never afraid to ask important questions such as, "If you were a domestic appliance, what would it be?" This pick of the best bits presses all the right nostalgic buttons Q A fitting tribute to its surreal genius TIME OUT Rest assured there's THE BEST OF SMASH HITS to help jog your memory. And what a handsome volume it is, too: 200 pages of classic features, lovingly recreated with some sample song lyrics and pullout posters thrown in for good measure. Edited by Mark Frit Paul Burston, INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

About the Author

Mark Frith is the former editor of Smash Hits and current editor of Heat magazine.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group (September 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031602709X
• ISBN-13: 978-0316027090
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 9 x 11.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #936,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FRESH NEW BLAST FROM THE PAST!, August 16, 2008

By 

Nivek Tek "Horrorguy" (LA, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Best of Smash Hits: The 80s (Hardcover)

When people say "do you remember the 80's?", many things might come to mind.

The Go Go's, Pac Man, Neon, legwarmers worn as everyday fashion, but one of my most favorite things, was a little magazine out of the UK called Smash Hits.

Smash Hits was the Bible for the 80's pop music scene.

From music to fashion, bizarre interviews and strange, but true, pop star horror stories, candid pop celeb photos, painfully honest, but sometimes hysterical record reviews, and even a pen pal section, which served as a place to find a kindred spirit, or ten, that you could gab to, and share the latest gossip about Madonna, Morrissey, Pete Burns, or just about any pop or new wave band that was worth mentioning.

The absolute best part of all, was that for a time, Neil Tennant of 80's icons, The Pet Shop Boys, mightily wielded his poison pen across the pages of this beloved magazine, and is now also the brains behind this fabulous book!

The Best of Smash Hits 80's is 192 pages of full color bliss.

Make no mistake,this is NOT a documentary styled book, that talks about the heyday of what was once Smash Hits, it looks and reads like one HUGE issue of Smash Hits!

As a big fan and avid collector of Smash Hits, and our version here in the US, Star Hits, I can tell you, that you will never find a more comprehensive collection of the best moments of one of the most amazing magazines to ever cover pop music.

So, whether you want a simple stroll down memory lane, or want to see what all the fuss is about, The Best of Smash Hits: The 80's is for you!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fluorescent Hairspray, May 8, 2009

By 

Mars Velvet (Green Tree, Blue Earth...Deep Space) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best of Smash Hits: The 80s (Hardcover)

Smash Hits was the greatest music magazine and Icon for the 1980s! As an American, I was lucky to order a few coveted copies but was a regular with its sister stateside magazine, Star Hits. The tone of the magazine was different from most rock mags. Cynical, witty and sarcastic punches slipped in the parentheses often making fun of the pop star. Examples abound in Billy Idol (Sir William Idol), David Bowie (Dame), and "Pur-leez" (a reaction to something ludicrous uttered by a star).

The book the Best of Smash Hits really captures the moment. The book contains classic reprinted interviews and features (with Robert Smith, Boy George, Adam Ant, Duran Duran, etc.), a Top 20 Facts about Smash Hits section (such as No. 14: When Smash Hits ran a contest for a Tommy Boy Beanie, only one entry was submitted, by pop star Green Gartside!), Stupid Questions posed to Pop Stars ("what color is happiness"), Pop Stars Shopping Lists (Strawberry Switchblade have a fondness for Mr. Kipling Cakes), and Lyrics, Classic Ads (who could forget the Fluorescent Hairspray?), a Band Aid/Live Aid expose, and the complete covers of every issue of Smash Hits in the 1980s.

Though most of my issues of Smash Hits from the past are aging and tattering apart, I at least have this omnibus of 80s outrageousness only "the Hits" could provide! The book itself is glossy and fully illustrated with great color pictures on very nice art paper. So if Nik Kershaw still makes you scream, or Sade makes you swoon, or Bananarama make you go bananas.... then you Need This Book! The Best of Smash Hits 80s Edition!

Need more info about this book? Articles include Neil Tennent's experience with working as assistant editor of Smash Hits before becoming half of Pet Shop Boys. Classic pin-up and poster reprints of Wham, Bananarama, Human League, Spandau Ballet, A-Ha, Rick Astley, etc. Another interesting feature is about some of Smash Hits' Weirdest Cover Stars. There are so many great articles and pics, I could go on.... Smash Hits Rule!

5.0 out of 5 stars great gift for the 80s enthusiast in your life, January 4, 2012

By 

Prince Charming (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Best of Smash Hits: The 80s (Hardcover)

every page filled with high quality photos and sometimes corny articles just as they were written back in the 80s. there is a focus on uk bands mostly new-wave, in america, some of these bands weren't quite popular here but anyways it is still a great read. nice touches were including actual advertisements from the 80s and the back there is a two sided poster with john taylor on one side and wham on the other side. anyone who was a teenager in the 80s and liked the music will love this book.