Here’s a look at what was hot back in the day!
New! Star Hits with Duran Duran (February 1984)
Plus Spandau Ballet, Culture Club, Rolling Stones, Pat Benatar & Stray Cats
The Police (May 1984)
Plus Van Halen, Duran Duran, Culture Club, John Cougar Mellencamp, Thomas Dolby & Cyndi Lauper
Van Halen on Star Hits magazine (June 1984)
Also Thompson Twins, The Pretenders, Queen, & Lionel Richie
Vintage music magazine featuring The Cars (July 1984)
Plus Culture Club, Rockwell, R.E.M, & Paul Young
Star Hits with The Go-Gos (August 1984)
Plus Micheal Jackson, The Alarm, Bruce Springsteen, & Steve Perry
Star Hits: Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran (September 1984)
Plus Boy George, The Pretenders, Human League, Cars and Huey Lewis & The News (Image from our partner site, DuranArchive.com)
Billy Idol on the cover of Star Hits (October 1984)
Plus INXS, Tom Bailey, The Jacksons, The Human League, Prince, Duran Duran, & Madonna.
Music from Culture Club, Cyndi Lauper, & Spandau Ballet (November 1984)
Plus Bananarama, Stray Cats, Corey Hart, & Huey Lewis
December 1984: Madonna
Plus David Bowie, U2, Wham, Duran Duran, Prince & Cyndi Lauper
Holidays 1984: Wham! George Michael & Andrew Ridgeley
Plus Scandal, Hall & Oates, Prince, Boy George & U2
March 1985: Andy Taylor & John Taylor of Duran Duran/Power Station
Plus Billy Idol, Wham!, Hall & Oates, String, Prince, Bryan Adams, & Eurythmics
ALSO SEE: Remember Dynamite magazine, with ’70s & ’80s stars kids loved? See 60 classic covers here!
April 1985: Bryan Adams on the cover of vintage Star Hits
Plus UB40, Thompson Twins, Billy Idol, Frankie, Power Station & Wham!
May 1985: John Taylor of Duran Duran
Plus Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Wham & Madonna
June 1985: Whamareica!
Plus Julian Lennon, Billy Idol, Madonna, Mick Jagger, & David Lee Roth
MORE: Live Aid concert videos (1985)
September 1985: Power Station
Plus Wham!, Tears for Fears, R.E.M, David Bowie, Prince, Sting, & Sade
November 1985: Duran Duran
Plus Thompson Twins, Madonna, Power Station, Wham!, Tears for Fears, UB40, Tina Turner, & Sting
December 1985: Tears for Fears
Plus Corey Hart, Dead or Alive, A-HA, Paul Young, ABC, Thompson Twins, & Arcadia
Vintage Star Hits magazine 2nd annual Readers’ Poll (March 1986)
Madonna – Duran Duran – A-ha – Tina Turner – John Taylor – Bob Geldof
June 1986: John Taylor of Duran Duran on the cover
Plus Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Charlie Sexton, ABC, OMD, Nick Rhodes, Dream Academy, Scritti Politti, Michael J Fox, & The Bangles
November 1986: Aha! (Morten Harket)
Plus Belinda Carlisle, UB40, INXS, Glass Tiger, The Cure & The Smiths
December 1986: Bananarama
Plus Max Headroom, Pet Shop Boys, Dr. Robert of the Blow Monkeys, Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, The Smiths, Don Johnson, & Talking Heads
ALSO REMEMBER Lip Smackers from Bonne Bell: The super trendy vintage lip balm from the ’70s & ’80s
March 1987: Howard Jones contest
Plus The Monkees, Madonna, Nick Kamen, Max Headroom, Paul Young, ‘Til Tuesday, & Dead or Alive
May 1987: Duran Duran, Beastie Boys & Billy Idol
Plus Hipsway, Bruce Willis, Dead Or Alive, Pseudo Echo, Bon Jovi, Monkees
June 1987: Jon Bon Jovi
Plus Beastie Boys, Charlie Sheen, Psuedo Echo, Cutting Crew, Psychedelic Furs, & Robbie Nevil
July 1987: Beastie Boys
Plus Crowded House, INXS, Madonna, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Poison
October 1987: Madonna
Plus George Michael, Beastie Boys, Boy George, Fuzzbox Bowie, Nick Kamen, Suzanne Vega, Simon Le Bon, Simple Minds, ABC, The Smiths, & Echo and the Bunnymen
NOW SEE THIS: Sixteen covers of 16 magazine from the ’80s
February 1988: INXS
Plus Depeche Mode, Swing Out Sister, Belinda Carlile, ABC, Love & Rockets, Debbie Gibson, The Cure, & U2
MORE: Remember those mail-order record clubs that offered vinyl albums & tapes for a penny?
March 1988: George Michael
Plus Robert Smith/The Cure, U2, Billy Idol, INXS, Hurrah!, Depeche Mode & Bananarama
April 1988: U2 + more
Plus Rick Astley, Eurythmics, Billy Idol, Duran Duran, Robert Smith (the Cure), Madonna, & Curiosity Killed the Cat
ALSO SEE: The OG Rickroll? Subscribe to Star Hits & get Rick Astley (1988)
May 1988: The Cure (Robert Smith)
Plus INXS, Tiffany, Boy George (Culture Club), Curiosity, Simon F., The Bangles, ABC, & Terence Trent D’Arby
June 1988: Rick Astley on the cover of Star Hits
Plus Sinead O’Connor, Depeche Mode, INXS, Pet Shop Boys, David Lee Roth, Gene Loves Jezebel, & Johnny Hates Jazz
July 1988: Pet Shop Boys
Plus U2, Michael Jackson, Kingdom Come, Glass Tiger, & Poison
2 Responses
Wow, thanks for sharing. I definitely had that ’84 issue with Madonna and David Bowie on the cover. Star Hits was a godsend for teens like me who just couldn’t figure out some of the lyrics to awesome songs (whose LP/cassette liner notes didn’t include lyrics to either).
But I remember Star Hits mostly for the ton of letters I received when I posted in the Pen Pals section, looking for fellow mods/rudies in the world. I got easily over a hundred responses in the mail, yet almost 99% of them from people who had absolutely no interest in the mod/ska scene but were thrilled that I was from L.A….wish I kept them all, nevertheless. Thanks for sharing.
omg… I got hundreds of letters from all over.. I was 16 and would get bundles of mail every day, what a blast. just trying to remember what the name of that section was called