Hit Parader

Last updated
Hit Parader
HitParader logo.png
Categories Music magazine
First issue1942
Final issueDecember 2008
Company Charlton Publications (1942–91)
CountryUnited States
Based in Derby, Connecticut
LanguageEnglish
ISSN 0162-0266

Hit Parader was an American music magazine that operated between 1942 and 2008. A monthly publication, it focused on rock and pop music in general until the 1970s, when its focus began turning to hard rock and heavy metal. By the early 1980s, Hit Parader focused exclusively on heavy metal [1] and briefly produced a spinoff television program entitled Hit Parader's Heavy Metal Heroes. The magazine reached its circulation peak in the mid-to-late 1980s selling a half-million copies every month as heavy metal music achieved high levels of popularity and commercial success.

Contents

History

Early years

Hit Parader was launched in 1942 [1] by Charlton Publications, based in Derby, Connecticut. Publishing its first issue on September 16, 1942, the magazine's original mission statement read as follows:

Hit Parader is designed to appeal to boys and girls in school, in colleges, and in the armed services... and the millions who listen to radio every day, the people who go to the movies and dances, the jukebox addicts, the people who buy phonograph records and sheet music for home use, and even the people who whistle while they work. [2]

Along with the likes of Billboard , Down Beat and Song Hits, Hit Parader was among the first and longest-lasting American music magazines. The magazine's title referenced the popular music "hit parade", a list of current hit singles determined either by sales or airplay. In its early years, the magazine largely consisted of lyrics to the hit songs of the day, a practice that remained until 1975 when licensing of the rights became too expensive. From that point onward it featured interviews, color photos, and feature articles on popular rock musicians. [3]

Emergence of rock music

For much of the 1960s, Jim Delehant worked as a staff writer and editor for the magazine. According to his recollection, Hit Parader covered "an extremely boring music scene" in the early 60s prior to the emergence of hugely popular rock groups such as the Beatles and the Beach Boys in 1964. At that time, it was a common practice among music magazines to write fake articles pieced together from sources such as bios and publicity material distributed by the record companies. Hit Parader employed traveling rock journalists who spent time with the artists and wrote legitimate feature articles about them. [4] In addition to Delehant's contributions, Hit Parader also published articles by music journalists Ellen Sander, Keith Altham and Derek Taylor. Over the following decade, its contributors included Nick Logan, Barbara Charone, Lenny Kaye, Jonh Ingham and Alan Betrock. [1]

Transition to hard rock and heavy metal

During the 1970s, Hit Parader frequently covered hard rock acts such as Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, David Bowie, Blue Öyster Cult, the Kinks, Three Dog Night, the Who, Cheap Trick, Kiss, and Van Halen. As the decade progressed the magazine began covering punk and new wave artists as well. [5] The magazine typically featured song lyrics, artist photos, feature articles, album reviews, interviews, reader mail, bits of trivia on popular rock acts, and readers' polls.

Secher era

Longtime editor Andy Secher joined the magazine as an assistant editor in 1979 when the staff consisted of essentially two people. Secher was hired on the strength of an interview he had done with AC/DC which appeared in the New York Daily News and has said that Hit Parader's mission at that time was to simply survive month to month. During this period, editor Lisa Robinson had begun taking the magazine in the direction of new wave music, traveling to England four times a year to interview The Clash and positioning Hit Parader to be on the cutting edge of what Secher would later refer to as "the whole Avant-Garde, New Wave movement". The magazine struggled, however, printing 200,000 monthly copies but only selling approximately 30% of them. In 1980 Secher replaced Robinson as the magazine's editor and Shelton Ivany came on board as editor-in-chief, and it was under their leadership that Hit Parader moved away from new wave music for good, becoming the first monthly publication to focus exclusively on hard rock and heavy metal. [6] [5]

"...we were the first magazine in the world to focus exclusively on hard rock/heavy metal. We were a bit lucky in that the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was just kicking in, and the West Coast Metal Explosion was about to launch. Our timing was very good. We've stayed loyal to hard rock throughout the years because that's where my interest remains. Trends, bands and fans have come and gone, but hard rock has stayed strong." - Andy Secher in 2004 [5]

The move paid immediate dividends and Hit Parader began selling a half-million copies every month, a 450% increase in sales. [6] Secher recognized the magazine's target demographic as the young suburban male, whom he referred to as "some 17-year-old kid in Iowa, not a socialite in Manhattan", and attributed Hit Parader's longevity and success to its ability to anticipate trends in music months in advance. [5]

By 1984, the magazine was focusing solely on heavy metal. [3] The magazine's top-selling issue of all time was its June 1984 issue which was the first cover story devoted to a rising band from Los Angeles called Mötley Crüe. Upon arriving in Mexico in December 1983 to interview the band, Secher was met by lead vocalist Vince Neil and taken to the group's hotel where he found "this young woman, spread eagle on the bed, naked, and they're going at her with a wine bottle". Though he had to sanitize the story heavily before it could be published, the issue nonetheless created a firestorm of controversy which saw retailers such as 7-Eleven threaten to take the magazine off its shelves. Over the ensuing decade, Hit Parader became one of America's leading heavy metal publications, providing extensive coverage of the era's popular acts such as Mötley Crüe, Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, Ratt, and Ozzy Osbourne. During this period the magazine also published special bonus issues with titles such as Hit Parader's Heavy Metal Hot Shots and Hit Parader's Heavy Metal Heroes. Secher often went on the road to meet the artists personally. "Ozzy in Brazil, Dio in Japan, Bon Jovi in Canada, the Scorpions in Sweden...it goes on and on. There's no question that the times were bigger and brighter in the '70s and '80s," he has said of this era. [5] [6]

Secher produced a spinoff television program entitled Hit Parader's Heavy Metal Heroes on USA Network which featured heavy metal music videos and short interviews with the artists who regularly appeared in the magazine. [6] During its 1980s heyday, Hit Parader featured the work of rock journalists such as Charley Crespo, Jodi Summers, Wolfgang Schnapp, Adrianne Stone, Rob Andrews, Winston Cummings, and Rick Evans.

Post-1980s decline

Hit Parader fell into decline in the 1990s, with a handful of factors contributing to this. Facing financial troubles in 1991, Charlton sold off Hit Parader to raise money. [3] Later that year, Guns N' Roses' hugely successful Use Your Illusion II album included a track entitled "Get in the Ring", the lyrics of which accused Secher and Hit Parader of "printin' lies instead of the things we said" and "rippin' off the fuckin' kids … [and] startin' controversy". The song was written in response to a March 1991 Hit Parader cover piece written by Secher in which the band's vocalist Axl Rose and Sebastian Bach of Skid Row were ostensibly interviewed together for the first time. However, it soon came to light that rather than the exclusive it claimed to be, the interview was instead merely a transcript of a telephone conversation between the two musicians and Howard Stern that had earlier been broadcast on Stern's popular radio-show. The pair, along with Rose's then-wife Erin Everly, had talked to Stern during a party at Rose's home, and some observers questioned whether it even constituted a true interview. [7] Rose and Bach both claimed that Hit Parader editor Andy Secher was misleading his readers with such tactics.

With the dramatic decline in the popularity of heavy metal in the 1990s, Hit Parader's monthly readership began a steady decline. Many observers have noted that everything changed almost overnight with the emergence of Nirvana and grunge music in 1991, and Secher agrees wholeheartedly with this conclusion. Of the magazine's 1970s and 1980s heyday, Secher has said "The stories are too many, and in some cases too wild, to be printed here." [5]

Speaking to the music website rockcritics.com in the early 2000s, Secher identified the magazine's target readership as "a young, male demographic … They want short, pithy interviews and features – along with BIG color photos. The formula is fairly basic." He also defended Hit Parader's championing of heavy metal, despite the disapproval the genre attracted from some music critics, saying: "I always sensed that people like Christgau had to justify their existence by promoting the artistic aesthetics of the rock form. I've never taken any of this that seriously. Hit Parader isn't the New York Times … it's a frikkin' fanzine, and proud to be exactly that." [5]

The magazine closed down following the publication of its December 2008 issue. [3] During its years of operation, Hit Parader also published issues dedicated to "Top 100" lists, such as "Top 100 Metal Bands", "Top 100 Guitarists", "Top 100 Vocalists" and "Top 100 Bassists & Drummers".

Rebirth as a production studio

In 2020, entertainment industry veterans Matt Pinfield, Ash Avildsen, and Josh Bernstein purchased the rights to Hit Parader and resurrected it as a branded production company. The new Hit Parader was headquartered in the Panasonic building in Universal City with a mission statement to focus "on original content and immersive experiences." It announced plans for a new television series entitled Paradise City which Avildsen described as "A mix of the young angst of Euphoria , the entertainment biz authenticity of Entourage and the supernatural fun of Sabrina ", featuring Drea de Matteo and Bella Thorne. An eight-episode season airing on Amazon Prime was released in 2021 with plans for a second season to film in 2022. [8]

There are no plans to resurrect Hit Parader as a magazine. "I think the legacy and history of Hit Parader brings a modern-day value that would take many years to recreate," said Avildsen. The Hit Parader brand's longtime focus on heavy metal would also be abandoned, with Avildsen promising "all genres and styles are welcome and will be given platforms". [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Shout at the Devil</i> 1983 studio album by Mötley Crüe

Shout at the Devil is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, released on September 23, 1983. It was the band's breakthrough album, establishing Mötley Crüe as one of the top selling heavy metal acts of the 1980s. The singles "Looks That Kill" and "Too Young to Fall in Love" were moderate hits for the band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunset Strip</span> Hollywood portion of Sunset Boulevard

The Sunset Strip is the 1.7-mile (2.7 km) stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California, United States. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly Hills at Phyllis Street. The Sunset Strip is known for its boutiques, restaurants, rock clubs, and nightclubs, as well as its array of huge, colorful billboards.

<i>Kerrang!</i> British rock, punk and heavy metal music magazine

Kerrang! is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd. The magazine was named onomatopoeically after the sound of a "guitar being struck with force".

<i>Guitar World</i> Monthly music magazine

Guitar World is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. Guitar World, the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original artist interviews and profiles, plus lessons/columns, gear reviews, news and exclusive tablature of three songs per issue. The magazine is published 13 times per year by Future plc. Damian Fanelli has been Guitar World's Editor-in-Chief since June 2018.

<i>Sounds</i> (magazine) Defunct UK weekly music magazine

Sounds was a UK weekly pop/rock music newspaper, published from 10 October 1970 to 6 April 1991. It was known for giving away posters in the centre of the paper and later for covering heavy metal and punk and Oi! music in its late 1970s–early 1980s heyday.

Record Mirror was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the NME, it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in Record Mirror in 1956, and during the 1980s it was the only consumer music paper to carry the official UK singles and UK albums charts used by the BBC for Radio 1 and Top of the Pops, as well as the US Billboard charts.

"Get in the Ring" is the fifth song on the Guns N' Roses album Use Your Illusion II. Written by Axl Rose, Duff McKagan and Slash, it is a diss track directed at music critics. Mentioned by name are critics from Hit Parader, Circus, Kerrang! and Spin.

<i>Revolver</i> (magazine) Bi-monthly rock and heavy metal magazine

Revolver is an American heavy metal music and hard rock magazine, published by Project M Group. It was originally launched under Harris Publications in the spring of 2000 by Tom Beaujour and Brad Tolinksi, who envisioned it as an American version of Mojo. After five issues, it was relaunched in late 2001 with a focus on heavy music. The magazine features both established acts and up-and-comers in heavy music.

<i>Decibel</i> (magazine) US music magazine

Decibel is a monthly heavy metal magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media since September 2004. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Reviews, Guest Columns and the Decibel Hall of Fame. The magazine's tag-line is currently "Extremely Extreme" ; the editor-in-chief is Albert Mudrian.

<i>Trouser Press</i> Former American music magazine

Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press". Publication of the magazine ceased in 1984. The unexpired portion of mail subscriptions was completed by Rolling Stone sister publication Record, which itself folded in 1985. Trouser Press has continued to exist in various formats.

<i>HM</i> (magazine) Christian hard rock magazine

HM Magazine is a monthly, digital and print on demand publication focusing on hard music and alternative culture of interest to Christians. It is headquartered in Houston, Texas. The magazine states that its goal is to "honestly and accurately cover the current state of hard music and alternative culture from a faith-based perspective."

<i>Metal Forces</i> British music magazine

Metal Forces is a British publication founded in 1983 which promotes the music genres heavy metal and hard rock. Metal Forces was well known for its coverage of unsigned bands through its Demolition feature and championed the likes of Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, HellsBelles, Overkill, Death and Poison long before they had secured record deals. They are credited as contributing in this fashion to the success of the band Anacrusis. Dave Reynolds, a former writer for Metal Forces, has claimed that the magazine was the first to coin the terms thrash metal and death metal. A Metal Forces compiled vinyl album, Demolition – Scream Your Brains Out!, based on the magazine's popular Demolition column, was released in 1988 through Chain Reaction Records featuring Anacrusis, Atrophy, Hobbs' Angel of Death, Aftermath and the Chris Barnes fronted Leviathan. In addition to metal acts, the magazine also featured interviews with alternative rock acts such as Nirvana.

Circus was a monthly American magazine devoted to rock music. It was published from October 1966 to May 2006. The magazine had a full-time editorial staff that were prolific in rock journalism, such as Paul Nelson, Judy Wieder, David Fricke, and Kurt Loder. It rivaled Rolling Stone in sales and surpassed Creem. In 1974, a sister publication was launched, titled Circus Raves, and by 1977 that venture had been merged into Circus magazine, making Circus a biweekly publication.

Colorado Music Buzz Magazine is a United States-based magazine devoted to Colorado music, arts and entertainment that is published monthly across the Front Range of Colorado. Colorado Music Buzz Magazine was founded in Parker, Colorado in 2005 by Keith Schneider and Eric F. Fletcher. The magazine is known for its positive coverage of the Colorado music scene with a focus on the bands and artists who have reached a mid level of success and have a chance to break nationally.

<i>Red Hot and Heavy</i> 1984 studio album by Pretty Maids

Red, Hot and Heavy is the first full-length studio album by the Danish hard rock/heavy metal band Pretty Maids. It was released in 1984 by CBS Records. The song "Night Danger" was used on the soundtrack for the horror film Demons (1985) by Lamberto Bava. Red, Hot and Heavy was ranked number 437 in Rock Hard magazine's The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time in 2005.

Brad Tolinski was the editor-in-chief of Guitar World Magazine for 25 years (1989–2015). He also served as editorial director of NewBay Media's music division, which also includes Guitar Aficionado and Revolver magazines. He then moved to Harris Publications as the editorial director of special projects, and then became editorial director of special projects for AMG Parade in New York City. Currently he is the editor of Cannabliss, a new magazine focusing on health, wellness and cannabis published by Centennial Media.

Juke Magazine was a weekly Australian rock and pop newspaper published in Melbourne that ran from 1975 to 1992. It was founded by Ed Nimmervoll who was the editor and one of its writers. Juke also featured Australian music journalist Christie Eliezer as a key staff writer and rock photographers such as Graeme Webber, Bob King, Tony Mott and David Parker. It was one of two main music newspapers at the time offering a Melbourne-based perspective of the music industry. It was highly regarded by the music industry along with its main competitor Rock Australia Magazine which offered a more Sydney-based perspective and coverage of the Australian music industry at the time.

Orkus is a monthly German music and culture magazine published by the Zoomia Media Group. Despite its subtitle and its web tagline, it includes all popular music genres including metal, medieval rock, Neue Deutsche Härte, alternative rock, electro and futurepop. The gothic rock, dark wave and industrial music genres have had only a minor presence since the late 1990s.

<i>Hard Metal</i> (magazine) Yugoslav music magazine

Hard Metal was a Yugoslav music magazine, notable as the first magazine in the country dedicated entirely to heavy metal music.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Hit Parader articles, interviews and reviews". Rock's Backpages . Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Hit Parader's 1942 Mission Statement" . Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Raup, Avo (November 2014). "Hit Parader". afka.net. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Jim Delehant". Rock's Backpages . Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ward, Steven. "Andy Secher, Hit Parader". rockcritics.com. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 James, Gary. "Gary James' Interview With The Editor Of Hit Parader Magazine". ClassicBands.com. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  7. ↑ Goldstein, Patrick (March 17, 1991). "Wanna Talk to Axl? Just Sign Right Here". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  8. 1 2 Turman, Katherine (20 July 2020). "Music Magazine Hit Parader Returns as Production Studio; 'Paradise City' Scripted Series, 'Roadie Rage' Competition on Deck". variety.com. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.