music press

Simon and Gavin welcome you aboard The Giddy Carousel of Pop!

In this episode we go all the way back to February 1979 to dissect issue 4 of Smash Hits. The last of the mag’s initial monthly issues, it only takes a moment to realise that this actually hit the streets in the January of 1979, tying up the loose ends of 1978 with its mix of pop, punk and disco before moving to fortnightly publication the following month, clearly marking out its future musical territory along the way.

Academic, author and broadcaster Simon Philo joins us to peruse its pages, with artists discussed including: Elvis Costello, Leo Sayer, Generation X, Olivia Newton John, Boomtown Rats, Rachel Sweet, Earth Wind & Fire, The Jacksons, Elton John, Paul Evans, Manhattan Transfer, Bay City Rollers, Sid Vicious, Funkadelic, Racey, Sally Oldfield, The Beach Boys and many more. We even take a look at the horoscopes!

You can read the issue for yourself thanks to Like Punk Never Happened and Smash Hits Remembered and also check out the music from its pages on our Spotify and YouTube playlists. It’s the next best thing to taping it off the radio!

Listen to the podcast by clicking the player or one of the links below.

Or, if you listen to podcasts on an Amazon Alexa or Echo, just ask it to play ‘The Giddy Carousel of Pop podcast’, and it will!

LINKS TO THE ISSUE
Like Punk Never Happened: https://tinyurl.com/w89cw6b
Smash Hits Remembered: https://tinyurl.com/tbx9gmn

PLAYLIST LINKS
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/t6wlpo5
YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/ue2ru7x

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The Giddy Carousel is part of the We Made This network of podcasts.

Former Smash Hits editor David Hepworth joins Simon and Gavin on The Giddy Carousel of Pop, looking at the Smash Hits of 4-17 March 1982, in part one of a wide-ranging conversation that takes us behind the scenes of the magazine, the people who worked on it, the pop stars who appeared in it, and the invaluable part played by its readers.

Artists discussed in part one include ABC, Gary Numan, Paul Weller, Orange Juice, Toni Basil and Vice Squad/Beki Bondage. Or, pages 1 to 19! Part two of the podcast will be out on January 14.

Listen to the podcast by clicking one of the links below.

Or, if you listen to podcasts on an Amazon Alexa or Echo, just ask it to play ‘The Giddy Carousel of Pop podcast’, and it will! If you can’t find us, let us know and we’ll get it sorted.

MAGAZINE SCANS
Like Punk Never Happened: https://tinyurl.com/yjvedge2
Smash Hits Remembered: https://tinyurl.com/ydnmoa5c

PLAYLISTS
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ygpwkmk6
YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/yzuakcro

The Giddy Carousel of Pop is part of the We Made This network of podcasts.

*L-R: Gavin Hogg, David Hepworth, Simon Galloway*

David joined Smash Hits as a writer in early 1979, becoming its editor from 1981-1983 and subsequently managing editor, being involved with the magazine in some capacity for pretty much its whole lifespan. He went on to oversee the launch of many other titles during the 80s and 90s including Just Seventeen, Q, Mojo and Empire to name a few, and in 2003, The Word magazine. He was also a presenter on Whistle Test, the BBC TV music show, and part of the tv presentation team for the Live Aid concert in 1985, when Bob Geldof swore at him live on air in front of millions of viewers!

These days, he’s the author of a string of best-selling music books, the latest of which is The Rock & Roll A Level, and he also co-hosts the Word In Your Ear podcast alongside his former Smash Hits colleague Mark Ellen.

Find him here http://www.davidhepworth.com/ and on Twitter @DavidHepworth.

The Giddy Carousel of Pop – a Smash Hits podcast

Episode 5: Smash Hits – February 1979 (issue 4)

Episode 4: Smash Hits – 4-17 March 1982 with David Hepworth (part 1)