So Smash Hits is no more. What a shame. Where will be without Smash Hits editorial alumni like Neil Tennant, Mark Frith and, er, Kate Thornton. Ah, those happy days I spent memorising the lyrics to Baggy Trousers and Shuddupa Your Face from its hallowed pages. The free badges on the cover.
But it does make me wonder what kids who are into pop music are reading now. Is it really all online? Or is it different kinds of magazines?
I was in a local grocery store the other day and the middle aged woman in front of me was buying some food with her son, who was, I’d guess, around ten. Then he went over and picked up a copy of Nuts which she duly bought. This particular issue featured a topless photo of ‘Chantelle’ on the cover with a tiny text-box covering her nipples. Now call me an old prude if you like, but is this what kids are encouraged to read by their parents? At the very least, they ought to be sneaking out and buying this stuff without their mum seeing they’ve got it. Perhaps I should be pleased that the child’s obviously reading something. I’m scared to think that his family spend their evenings sat around the telly watching the latest free striptease DVD covermounted on Loaded or Maxim too.