experimental hits

a few months ago, i was bored so i started playing around with the features on this laptop that was soooo generously donated to The Cause. i call this technique 'glass cutting.' i sort of randomly choose some shots, arrange them, then used a cropping tool to slice out an area that looked cool to me. the colors, values, subject matter... all sorts of things are in play... but i'm not actively thinking about them at the time. yeah, at the time i'm just effing around. but i like the end result. kind of like little psychedelic sticks of gum. as you can see, we've got a hitchcock poster, marilyn monroe, and a cover of 'smash hits' starring billy idol.

stars and hits

i've gotta give my brother jean-lucien big credit for this one; on account of he found it, tricked it, and sent it to me. again, its a super-cool magazine cover, and once again, its hard for me to remember if i had this one. i know i probably had at least one friend who had it. if jean-luc and i did have it, it was early enough that we were more concerned with getting the pin-ups on the wall, and less concerned with preserving the magazine intact-for-the-future. obviously, the duran duran lads are the big stars here. and real quick, while we've got the lads in front of us, let's see who wins the horserace! mmm, you know, i might meet some differences of opinion on this one, but i'm gonna have to say nick. yeah, in my opinion, sweet nick rhodes wins the prize. but it should be said that its a pretty good picture of all of them. okay, judgement out of the way, let's see what other features this issue boasts. hey, according to the upper-left corner, we get a groovy pull-out of the lads in spandau ballet. and for some reason, i think its funny that the words 'sony walkman' are on the cover at all. like as if a walkman was a dude. dig it. (click to enlarge)

wham it up!

hey, you know i still have that 'goodtime' slumber party jetlag, but i wanted to post something, just to mark my place. and i figured i couldn't go wrong with a well-preserved 'star hits' cover. this one is from june, 1984. and, as you can see, the cover boys are the blokes from wham! man, i know there was probably a time when i thought one-or-both of them was good-looking, but man, those days are over. i mean, a photo of a washer and dryer combo would give me a similar turn-on. now, don't get me wrong, i thought wham! made some pretty good music. i know i had the tape. and george michael, solo... that stuff was even better. but enough about the wham! lads, let's take a peek at the front-page features. hey, there's a free poster of a power station-era john taylor. hey, you know it was probably on it, my pink teenage wall. and there's also a julian lennon centerfold. i think i can bet a big wad of 'time travelin' cash money that that picture was NOT on my wall at any time. i never thought he was all that cute. and i still don't. then, near the bottom it says something about madonna in the movies. (little did we know then of the crap-ola to-come.) what else? mick jagger in bed? i don't think i knew any 80's-girls who cared at all about his 'dinosaur' photo opportunity. and i'm not even going to comment on david lee roth 'in the flesh.' looks like we also get some U2, and sade. not bad. but you can keep, keep, keep the alison moyet and simple (yeesh!) minds.

idol ...worship?

no, i don't think i ever 'worshipped' billy idol. i think i can go as far as to say i did 'dig some of ' his stuff. so, i've been diving for fresh images all night, with 'kill bill' playing over my shoulder. so this might be the only thing i post tonight. i'd love to have more for you, but i've gotta replenish my stock sometimes. so i know i couldn't go wrong with a star hits cover. let's see... this one features 'stars in swimsuits.' and there's a shot of john 'skinnyshanks' taylor. i've seen him in a swimsuit. and then i woke up. what else? madonna showing her belly button. (som'm new for her, man...!) and hit songs from the nerds of 'tears for fears' and the non-group 'power station. (hey, i guess that's not fair. i mean, robert palmer and tony thompson were in that 'non'-group.) so dig it.

hit me

yeah, its late, and i'm getting tired. and i'm supposed to do my crazy laundry in the morning. hey, life goes on, right? okay, so here's hoping you'll find something to dig about this old cover for star hits magazine. i don't think i can read the date on it, but judging from the pop-heads featured, i'd guess it was early-to-mid 1986. but even that doesn't explain why howard jones is on the cover. i wish the picture quality was a little bit silkier, but hey, i work with what i've got. let me zoom in... okay, it says something about a howard jones contest? you get to interview him for 'star hits?' man, i pass. like, i only have 'less than three' questions for him. then at the top it says something about the monkees, (which indicates to me that it was 86'-at-the-least, considering that was the summer MTV re-ran the classic series.) and i also see them mentioning one of duran duran's best albums, 'notorious.' (including great songs like 'skin trade,' 'meet el presidente,' and 'a matter of feeling.' and i think 'serious?') honestly, its a great record that still 'holds up.' then, if you look close, over howard's right shoulder, you can see something about madonna meeting billy idol. (which is wild, because i don't even think 'madge' would willingly breathe the same air as billy idol these days. ) but man, at the time, you know there was nothing like 'star hits.' am i right, lovers?

n is for new wave

again, i think this one speaks for itself. i wish people out there would make quality scans of all their old duran-era 'star hits,' 'smash hits,' 'tiger beat,' and like, i think there was one called 'no.1' in the UK. not only is the big headshot of john taylor really cute, but even more interesting if you 'click to enlarge,' are all the other features mentioned. for instance, i think i can read something about an 'a-ha contest,' AND a 'depeche mode contest.' what kind of contests could these have been? i mean, i guess you'd get records, posters, pins, and other junk. i'm quite sure i never entered one. i think, even at 14 years old i was like, '...hey, unless i get to meet-and-hang-out-with the band,' then i'm not going to bother.' oh, and by the way, the caption about: 'notice, no spandau' was added by me. ahhh, i wish i had been rich enough at the time to always buy two copies of 'star hits,' one to cut the pin-ups out of, and one to keep intact for posterity. actually, in retrospect, it was a high quality fan magazine, i mean, they really put a lot of work into each issue. (sorry the color is a little garish, i did the best i could.)