The Word - most grown-up rockpopmag in 2007

The major Anglo rockpop mags – MOJO, UNCUT and The Word - are alluring artefacts. I can rarely resist picking up the new issue in the supermarket. Every 150-page issue has at least a few pages worth skimming – though usually not enough to persuade me to buy a copy.

The magazines occasionally feature musicians for grown-ups on the front cover, even if the articles they advertise normally lack allure.

If I had to guess which mag has most grown-up musicians on the cover, I’d rank them: 1 MOJO, 2 UNCUT, 3 The Word. This year, I’d have been hopelessly wrong – The Word
(9) had most covers featuring musicians likely to discussed here and MOJO (5) fewest; UNCUT was second, with 8.

Rockpop mag covers (2007):


Jan: MOJO Joy Division; UNCUT Radiohead; The Word Doors

Feb: MOJO Beatles; UNCUT Smiths; The Word Amy Winehouse

March: MOJO Who; UNCUT Iggy Pop; The Word Joni M

April: MOJO Arctic Monkeys; UNCUT Floyd; The Word Rufus Wainwright

May: MOJO 100 Songs; UNCUT Macca; The Word Nick Cave

June: MOJO Bob Marley; UNCUT Stones; The Word Leonard Cohen

July: MOJO Police; UNCUT Dylan; The Word Van M

Aug: MOJO Stones; UNCUT P Weller; The Word J Marr

September: MOJO Floyd; UNCUT Hendrix/50 gigs; The Word Floyd

October: MOJO Oasis; UNCUT Led Zep; The Word Bruce S

November: MOJO Led Zep; UNCUT Neil Young; The Word Led Zep

December: MOJO Amy; UNCUT Lennon; The Word Amy/07


This year saw a total of 22 (of 36) covers featuring musicians for grown-ups. I’ll leave it to you, dear reader, to work out which they were!



Gerry Smith