After completing a degree in history at the Polytechnic of North London, Neil takes a job at Marvel Comics, anglicizing spellings and indicating where over-risque woman needed to be redrawn decently. While there he interviews comic fan Marc Bolan, who politely points out that his tape recorder wasn’t working. In 1977 he works at Macdonald Educational Publishing, later moving to ITV Books. In June 1982, he joins Smash Hits.
The final day of an extended holiday break that the Boys have taken since December 17.
After a long but previously undisclosed battle with liver cancer, David Bowie passes away at the age of 69 at his home in New York City. The following day, Neil and Chris (who had collaborated with Bowie on the single version of ‘Hallo Spaceboy’) are among the countless artists who pay tribute to him, doing so in a brief but touching note on their official website that starts with the words, ‘We are all Bowie’s children.’