Spy magazine and Star Hits magazine anthologies

A lot of people have found my blog because they were searching for information on Spy and Star Hits magazines.  Sadly, all that they found was my nostalgic post about them.

I felt it was my duty to provide some better information for those of you who loved these magazines as much as I did. If you’re really desperate to relive the glory days, there are two books I can recommend to you. I own them both and have gotten many hours of enjoyment from them.

First up, is Spy, The Funny Years.  This book contains a history of the magazine, with lots of interesting behind-the-scenes gossip and anecdotes, along with reprints of some of the best articles that you remember from back in the day.  The only bad thing is that the reprinted articles have even tinier type than the original magazine.  I have incredibly bad eyesight so it was problematic for me to read the reprints.  This is where Google Books steps in with their archives.

However, I don’t always have the opportunity to read on my computer. I don’t have a Kindle or iPad or anything like that. This is why I prefer having a book to read instead. Maybe someday I will give in and get an e-reader, but I would rather have a book. I’m very old-fashioned in that way (and many other ways). So if you want a nice, big, solid, comforting book to read, you will not be sorry you read this one. It has all the old favorites like Separated at Birth, Logrolling in Our Time, Blurb-O-Matic, and some memorable articles.  One of my favorites was when they sent tiny checks (under a dollar) to millionaires such as Michael Jackson, and kept track of who cashed them.  They kept sending smaller and smallers checks, and I think Donald Trump cashed all of them, if I remember correctly.  (Does anyone really think he is a credible Presidential candidate???)

I haven’t forgotten about you Star Hits fanatics, either.  As most of you should know, Smash Hits was the mother of Star Hits, and both magazines printed the same articles for the most part.  Therefore, you should feast your eyes on this:

I have four words for you…FOREWORD BY NEIL TENNANT.  That is all I needed to see before I went into a frothing fit of joy.  You can get this book pretty cheaply on Amazon.  I got mine for less than $5, including shipping.

What do you get for the price of a Starbucks coffee?  You get a ridiculous two-sided poster, one side of which features the boys from Wham in ridiculous beach gear, and the other side of which features John Taylor of Duran Duran wearing a cow-pattern jacket and striking a ridiculous shape.  I laughed at it until tears ran down my face, but things like this seem a lot funnier when you’re a loony like me.

You also get the aforementioned Foreword by Neil Tennant, and the interview he did with Duran Duran before he was in Pet Shop Boys.  This book also features the LEGENDARY interview with Pete Burns and Morrissey when they were BFFs and made toast together, and sent each other flowers.   There are articles on Robert Smith, Depeche Mode, Adam Ant, and lots of other 80’s icons both obscure and infamous.  I was delighted to find that they included lyrics to songs (it’s not Star Hits without song lyrics), and the best of the Black Type/Bold Type.

If that preceding paragraph didn’t make you spontaneously combust, then maybe this book isn’t for you.  I think if you’ve read this far, you’re probably already clicking the link to buy it, though.

I hope this helps those of you Googling for information on these esteemed publications.  The next step would be for me to actually buy a scanner and start scanning Star Hits back issues into the internet myself.  This is not likely to happen, but know that if I win the lottery, I will make that my job.