August 9, 1999

Posted August 09, 1999

U.K. music mag Q features the "100 Greatest Stars Of The 20th Century" as it's August cover article. When they say "stars," they mean music stars only and the results are based on a reader's vote. The list is appropriately strange with the expected and deserving, such as John Lennon and Paul McCartney making the top 2 spots, and the bizarre, such as Oasis's Gallagher brothers coming in at #8 and #9. Joni comes in at #29, the third highest ranking for a female, following Madonna and Aretha Franklin. They say about Joni: "An improvement on Joan Baez." These kinds of demeaning comments, unfortunately, are rife in the coverage and it detracts from the point of the readers poll. Another example- their comment on Elvis Presley where they state "He was a big fat metaphor for everything." Q is a beautiful, glossy magazine that beats Rolling Stone or any American mag in look, but the editors and writers attitude of snideness throughout makes me cringe.