Teen Beat Off Magazine Vol 4
Cre Wallace
Over its history, the magazine had multiple teen idols on its cover, including John Travolta, David Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Menudo, Michael J. Fox, Debbie Gibson, the Coreys (Feldman and Haim), Molly Ringwald, Tom Cruise, New Kids on the Block, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Jonathan Brandis, and, more recently, Hanson, Ricky Martin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Hilary Duff, Michael Jackson, Raven-Symoné, Lindsay Lohan, and many others.
The mid-1990s saw a slump in the overall teen magazine market.[1] In 1998, the conglomerate's line of youth music publications was sold off to Primedia.[2] In 2001, after publishing up to twelve magazines each year, Primedia decided to reduce its number of publications to only four magazines per year, deciding to keep 16, Tiger Beat, Teen Beat, and BOP Magazine. In October 2001 the frequency of Teen Beat switched to quarterly.[3]
Tiger Beat was an American teen fan magazine originally published by The Laufer Company and marketed primarily to adolescent girls. The magazine had a paper edition that was sold at stores until December 2018, and afterward was published exclusively online until 2020.
Tiger Beat was founded in September 1965[1][2] by Charles "Chuck" Laufer, his brother Ira Laufer, and television producer and host Lloyd Thaxton.[3] The magazine featured teen idol gossip and carried articles on movies, music and fashion.[4] Charles Laufer described the magazine's content as "guys in their 20s singing 'La La' songs to 13-year-old girls."[5]
During the 1960s, The Laufer Company leveraged the teen market dominated by Tiger Beat with similar magazines, including FaVE and Monkee Spectacular.[8] In 1998, Tiger Beat was sold by publisher Sterling/MacFadden to Primedia, which in 2003 sold the magazine to Scott Laufer, the son of magazine founder Charles Laufer.[9] Until 2014, Laufer also produced the similar teen magazine Bop.[10][11] After 2015 Tiger Beat was published by Los Angeles-based Tiger Beat Media, Inc.[12][13]
Earlier this year, I wrote about nostalgic kids magazines, ranging from publications that had short print lives to those which are still published on a regular basis. The focus was on magazines for those in the tween and younger demographics, though many readers shared their fondness for teen magazines of their youth. It only made sense to dig into some of those nostalgic teen magazines, too.
Some of these teen magazines are still being published, either in print or digitally. Others ceased operation completely or pivoted to online-only. This will be an incomplete list but one that should tap the nostalgia button for readers who loved their monthly or semi-monthly subscriptions or trips to the corner store for the latest edition.
The bulk of these publications will be U.S.-based, but many of these periodicals had sister publications across the world. It should be clear, too, that the bulk of these magazines reached a white, middle class readership, which is especially reflected in the covers of earlier editions of the titles.
Running for almost ten years, CosmoGirl! launched in 1999 and folded in 2008. Fashion and celebrities were the focus of this teen-geared spinoff magazine of Cosmopolitan, and each edition featured photos and an interview with a celebrity, beauty, and fashion tips. Like so many teen magazines of the era, there was a section devoted to reader-submitted embarrassing moments, as well as features on mental health, sexual health, and more.
Focused on reaching tween and teen girls, J-14 launched in January 1999 with the goal to cover celebrities. The magazine is still active today, publishing monthly editions that cover young Hollywood, quizzes, fashion, posters, and more.
Not to be confused with the long-running manga magazine line, Jump launched in 1996 and ran through 2001. Its focus was once again tween and teen girls, as so many other teen monthlies at the time, but what made Jump stand out was its focus on teens interested in an active lifestyle. It was packed with stories of sports, with workout ideas, as well as fashion, beauty, and quizzes.
Many believe Right On! to be the first magazine in the U.S. to cater to Black teens, offering celebrity news and gossip like cousins Bop and Tiger Beat. The monthly publication aimed to keep a positive tone and highlighted musicians, athletes, and business people alongside film and television celebrities.
What made Sassy stand out was that it took a slightly off-centered approach to content and style. It was bolder than other teen magazines and covered politics alongside fashion, culture alongside celebrities, and more. Once a year, Sassy also devoted an entire issue to its readers, who would write, design, and edit the issue cover to cover.
In 2017, the monthly combined circulation of the magazine was over 2 million across its English and international editions, which include Mexican, Indian, South African, Malaysian, Thai, Japanese, and more.
Teen Vogue may be one of the most respected teen magazines in recent memory, particularly as it has come to be a place for hard-hitting and cutting edge work on politics and social justice. Launched in January 2003 as a spinoff to the adult Vogue, it was initially a fashion and beauty magazine, but it has expanded to include current affairs and more.
Tiger Beat launched in September 1965 and its print operations ended in December 2018. But never fear: teens (and not-so-teens) who love teen idols, gossip, movies, music, and entertainment can access all of the goodness of the magazine on their active website.
Twist ended its print run in 2016, but turned its focus to online. But as of this writing, Twist magazine no longer appears to be updating its independent social media, nor does it have its own website address. Rather, it appears to have folded into J-14, a sister publication.
In 1932, two magazines existed that would form YM: Compact, meant for older teens, and Calling All Girls, for tweens and younger teens. Calling All Girls has been cited as the beginning of the teen magazine staple of embarrassing reader-submitted stories. By the 1960s, the magazines came together to become Young Miss, and in the 1980s, YM began to stand for Young and Modern. It saw its final name change in 2000, when it became Your Magazine.
YM changed and shifted not just in name, but in content as well. Though a fashion-focused magazine in its later years, in early editions it included comics and short stories. As it evolved, editorial decisions toward its fashion focus made it a forerunner in choosing to no longer run articles about topics like dieting.
For more great reading about teen magazines past and present, explore this piece on the rise and fall of teen magazines at The Hairpin, the history of teen idol magazines at Mental Floss, and this fabulous piece about how teen magazines have always been about more than fashion in The Washington Post.
The website has been revamped and the print magazine relaunched with a new logo and lifestyle, fashion and beauty coverage enhancing the celebrity stories. A recent issue features Jack & Jack, social-media stars turned pop-rap duo ("So hot, they will make you cry!") as well as a photo spread on perfect summer hair buns.
The magazine struggled until it latched on to the Monkees (heartthrobs drive sales) and, with magazines such as 16 and Teen Beat, became part of what has been called "the peak for teen-crush magazines" in the mid- to late 1960s. (1967: "Tiger Beat Presents Micky Dolenz ... Find out all his private thoughts!")
The magazine fostered her love for music and pop culture, and her ambition to become a record executive. It gave her Bieber, whose existence is so woven into hers that his tweets trigger an alert on her phone.
Henry Luce was a magazine magnate who founded the numerous and world-famous magazines of our times. He, along with his friend Briton Hadden, launched the magazine industry and established a string of now-famous magazines in the United States.
As a teen in the 1970s, I was a big fan of Partridge Family star David Cassidy. I read about my "heartthrob" in teen magazines like Tiger Beat and 16 and plastered my walls with photos and posters from their pages. So when I saw a batch of old teen magazines for sale on an auction site, I snapped them up.
Jones was a little older than most teen idols, but he still had all the charm. He gained fame as one of the Monkees. With hit songs and a TV show, it's no wonder why Jones became one of the first teen idols to usher in the 1970s.
He could sing, he could act, and he was good looking. That's all Bobby Sherman needed to ascend to teen idol status in the late-'60s and early-'70s. Between 1962 and 1976, he released a staggering 107 songs.
Travolta's role as Vinnie Barbarino on Welcome Back, Kotter helped him land a few covers in the mid-'70s. He ascended from teen heartthrob status to mega stardom a couple years later with starring roles in Saturday Night Fever and Grease. Out of all the teen heartthrobs of the '70s, Travolta became by far the most successful.
Would it be easy to live with Leif Garrett? That's what the magazine asked girls in 1976. After a role on the short-lived drama Three for the Road in 1975, Garrett was a fixture on Tiger Beat covers for the rest of the decade. He had a modest music career too, but mostly fell off the scene once the '80s began.
If teen heartthrobs in the 1970s had a king, it would be Donny Osmond. Girls swooned for his squeaky-clean image, angelic vocal and wholesome good looks. He sang, he danced, he acted... What more could girls want?! To this day, we're not quite sure teens ever fell out of love with Donny. He continues to tour with his sister Marie, and the two of them even have a residency in Las Vegas.
Spacey revealed that, following his high-school graduation, he auditioned for both the teen magazine and The Gong Show (both of which rejected him) and highlighted his Johnny Carson impersonation as his special skill.
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