Smash Hits (1987)

The boys of The Peggy Mount Calamity Hour continue their turbulent odyssey of past periodicals as voices begin to break, clothes start to matter more, and you can be entirely judged on liking an incorrect song from the hit parade. Yes, it's a return to the awkward years of enforced superficiality as 1980s teen culture comes under the beeroscope.

And it rarely gets more awkward than this issue of legendary music mag, Smash Hits. Seemingly penned by a range of journalists who despise music, the Autumn 1987 advertisement-directory also features content-free articles, fictionalised interviews and lyrics for songs which never existed. For a relic of the pre-internet era, it's all remarkably meta...

How many pints is Rick Astley going to neck as he tries to shake his interviewer? How many write-ups is Doctor Velvet going to take extreme exception to? And how many pounds is Blackout likely to spend on a Personal Cassette Player™?

You can press Play here, or dial 0898 [REDACTED] to find out...

The Peggy Mount Calamity Hour is a free podcast from iPorle Media, which holds production copyright. Opinions and recollections expressed are not to be taken as fact. The title and credit music is by Doctor Velvet. Audio segments from television programmes are presented for review and informational purposes only under fair use, and no ownership of these is claimed or implied by this show. Email enquiries to peggymountpod@gmail.com