BBC Radio 4 are broadcasting a tribute to Smash Hits magazine

BBC Radio 4 are broadcasting a tribute to the late pop magazine Smash Hits on Thursday, 20th December. The show promises contributions from “founder and legendary magazine maker Nick Logan, editors David Hepworth and Mark Ellen, writers Miranda Sawyer and Sylvia Patterson, and from regular Smash Hits cover girl, Toyah” and will be fronted by Neil Tennant, a Smash Hits journalist before his (slightly bigger) career in the Pet Shop Boys kicked off.

Smash Hits was a pop music magazine that ran from 1978 to 2006. Known for its irreverent writing style and wry humour, the magazine had a huge influence on the way that pop music is written about today. Those unfamiliar with the publication would be advised to read Alexis Petridis’ eulogy of the magazine printed in The Guardian in 2006, or to read many of the back issues which have been uploaded to an ongoing archive project.