Relighting My Fire

If having Take That reunite wasn't enough to cause me vivd flashbacks of my childhood, then walking into WHSmith this morning and seeing a Smash Hits magazine sat on the shelf was.

As a kid I read Smash Hits religiously and even did several stints of work experience there as a teenager; both helped in reaffirming the fact I definitely wanted to be a writer. Obviously distraught when it finished a few years back at the fact I'd never get the chance to write for it properly, you can only imagine my glee when I saw the bold red typo of the title beaming out at me earlier. Unfortunately, it is not returning on a permanent basis but just for a Take That special - which, let's be honest, is still good enough for me.

Stashed in my cupboard as a kid were folders full of Take That clippings; literally every single picture I could find was ripped out and put into the collection. An archive of incredibly dubious hair cuts and even more dubious jelly-filled music video images, after their demise I felt no need for such alarming photos to be kept anywhere near my peripheral vision, so promptly disposed of the lot. Needless to say, when their comeback was announced, my urge to re-look at my (somewhat hilarious) childhood collection was swiftly quashed.

As if sensing my anxieties, some clever bod has decided to release this special edition Smash Hits and I couldn't be happier. Displayed before me again are pictures of the boys from in the early nineties, with haircuts and clothing choices that were only forgivable back then. Filled with pictures both past and present as well as a detailed timeline and archived articles from original Smash Hits interviews, this is perfect for anyone wanting to recreate what they once lost, or simply to laugh at what they never got to experience the first time around.

Smash Hits: Take That edition is on national sale until 31st December 2009.