Smash Hits - 25 March - 7 April 1987 with Barry McIlheney

Welcome aboard The Giddy Carousel of Pop. Hold tight for a top pop ride! Simon and Gavin chat to former Smash Hits editor Barry McIlheney about his time at Ver Hits (October 1986 to January 1989) and the 25 March - 7 April 1987 issue in particular. In just three years, Barry went from being a library assistant living with his mum in Belfast to editor of Britain's brightest pop mag, via spells at Hot Press and Melody Maker. It was under his editorship that Smash Hits achieved its highest-ever circulation figures, but it wasn't all plain sailing. From upsetting rock royalty to putting the wrong pop star on the cover, Barry takes us behind the scenes of what life was like at Ver Hits. Artists discussed include The Mission, Janet Jackson, David Bowie, Terence Trent D'Arby, Curiosity Killed The Cat, Mel & Kim, The Blow Monkeys, Bruce Willis, Michael Jackson, U2 and Genesis. Tom Hibbert takes a trip to Downing Street to meet Margaret Thatcher and Gavin dons his detective's cap and tracks down an RSVP pop kid.Read along with us! Find scans of the issue here http://likepunkneverhappened.blogspot.com/2017/03/march-25-april-7-1987.html and here http://michaelmouse1967.wixsite.com/smashhits-remembered/217---25th-march---7th-april-1987And check out the playlists of pretty much all the songs featured in this issue of Ver Hits: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6dtx6oKHsXkoX7QgWk34rg?si=TntHiPUCTJajZ8NzJIg9PAYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfs58mqeRNuFlkbulM8Y8ytV-lxhZB_GLHOSTS: Simon Galloway and Gavin Hogg GUEST: Barry McIlheney CONTACT DETAILS: Twitter: https://twitter.com/GiddyPopPodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/GiddyPopPodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/giddypoppod/Website: https://giddypoppod.home.blog/Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/giddypoppod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

Welcome aboard The Giddy Carousel of Pop! We are a Smash Hits appreciation podcast dedicated to the swingorilliant British pop magazine which ran from 1978 to 2006. In each episode, we take an old issue of Ver Hits (usually from the 1980s but may slip a year or two either side of that) and discuss what’s on its pages, looking at who’s riding high on the carousel and who’s heading down the dumper. We always have a guest to help us along the way, so we’ll be talking to the readers, the writers, and who knows, maybe even the odd pop star who appeared in its pages. Hang on tight!