David Bowie (October 25, 1975) “Pssst! Wanna Know A Secret?” Feature - New Musical Express
This full-page NME feature by Bob Edmands takes a wry look at the world of celebrity gossip and the increasingly intrusive appetite for personal information about pop stars. Rather than concentrating on one performer, the article ranges across entertainment personalities and rumours, examining the curious mixture of publicity, secrecy and speculation that surrounded the music business in 1975.
Publication: New Musical Express (NME)
Date: October 25, 1975
Country: United Kingdom
Published within NME's Thrills section, Bob Edmands' article is dominated visually by the provocative headings “PSSST!” and “WANNA KNOW A SECRET?”, immediately establishing the feature's tongue-in-cheek approach to gossip.
The article examines the growing fascination with private information about entertainers and the rumours that circulated around musicians, actors, DJs and other public figures.
Edmands presents the entertainment industry as a world in which seemingly insignificant personal details can rapidly become material for gossip columns. Throughout the article, stories and snippets are presented with a deliberately sceptical and humorous tone.
The piece touches upon rumours, relationships, conversations and behind-the-scenes stories while questioning how much importance readers should attach to such material. Rather than treating every piece of gossip as serious news, the writing repeatedly plays with the absurdity of the situations being reported.
One section also discusses press relations and the way information moves between performers, journalists and the wider entertainment industry. The feature suggests a culture in which rumours can develop rapidly once a private remark or incident reaches the press.
VISUAL PRESENTATION
The most striking feature of the page is its photographic layout.
A huge black-and-white close-up portrait occupies much of the left-hand side, divided into rectangular sections beneath the word “PSSST!”.
The headline “WANNA KNOW A SECRET?” appears immediately below, reinforcing the gossip-column theme.
Two smaller photographs appear towards the bottom of the page, accompanied by captions and surrounded by the continuing text.
The unconventional design gives the page an almost collage-like appearance, appropriate to a feature built around fragments of information, rumours and celebrity stories.
CONTEXT AND NOTES
The article is very different from a conventional interview, review or artist profile. Its subject is essentially the mechanics and culture of celebrity gossip itself.
The Thrills presentation uses humour and dramatic page design to attract attention while Bob Edmands moves between numerous entertainment personalities rather than concentrating on one musician.
For an archive, the clipping provides a useful example of the more irreverent style that became increasingly associated with British music journalism during the mid-1970s.
FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS
Event: NME Thrills celebrity gossip feature
Era: 1975 British music press
Tone: Humorous, irreverent and gossip-focused
Photography: Large segmented black-and-white portrait accompanied by two smaller photographs
WHAT THE CLIPPING SHOWS
• Full-page Thrills feature by Bob Edmands
• Large “PSSST!” headline
• “WANNA KNOW A SECRET?” as the central theme
• Discussion of rumours, private information and celebrity gossip
• Unusual collage-style photographic presentation
• An example of NME's increasingly irreverent mid-1970s editorial style
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