I miss magazines in general. I might have written some of this before, maybe even early on this thread, but goddam it I want to reminisce again.
i consumed magazines constantly from the age of about 8 when I got the beano each week till I left school at almost 18. I know I’m as responsible as anyone for their demise but it still makes me sad.
Talking of top of the pops magazine, we must shout out the OG of pop magazines, smash hits. I never loved those ones tho; found them a bit cheap and unsubstantial but they are still worth recognising. When I got into guitar music in early teens I started buying NME every week and did so religiously from about 04-07. I barely if ever missed an issue for those years, I loved that tradition. The frustration when it couldn’t be found and the buzz of seeing it on the shelf somewhere new. I also bought q or one called the word sometimes in those years if they had bands I liked in the issue.
I can also relate to the preteen girl ones. I think I had a shout subscription at some point. That and mizz were the gateway drug of those magazines. My favourite thing in mizz was the “cringe“ stories where different stories were rewarded different amounts of cash depending how embarrassing they were judged to be. I’m sure the vast majority if not all were made up. I knew a girl at school who claimed to get one in there like that.They always seemed to involve tripping and exposing your knickers to your “crush” in some way.
Then came the more ‘sophisticated’ like Sugar, Bliss which was one of the best. And J-17. at first I thought I would have to be 17 to read it , but it was more suitable for my 12 year old self the name just clever simple marketing to make me feel mature . These magazines are largely responsible for selling an unrealistic image of what my adult life , which I thought meant 18 onwards, would be like (confident, successful, affluent, stylish etc) but I don’t say that resentfully. They served a purpose and probably were quite informative about certain things. Misinformative as well it must be said, which really sticks at that age Eg who else was under the impression that tampons were supposed to be flushed and nbd? until about a year or two ago,aged 28 or 29, I didn’t know I shouldn’t be doing it. I distinctly remember their flush-ability repeatedly listed as a pro of using them.
now it's sad seeing those that remain turn into a shell of their former glory. the worst part of the nme’s death rattle stage wasnt that it was free or half as thick and dominated by ads, it was that it was forced to cover mainstream acts like Justin Bieber who it’s unimaginable would come close to a cover spot before. And it started including tv and films too. Basically it lost its niche and had to be more bland and generally appealing, so wasn’t the same magazine beyond the name.
i wonder what 13 year old girls read for the stories and sex education etc we had. Do they watch it on YouTube or God forbid, tik tok instead?!
