To date there have been 225 editions of Mojo. Below is a list of the handful of covers that women have been the ‘cover star’ (i.e without any other artist or not as part of a band). It stated out promisingly enough- two women graced the cover in the first year of publication. However it took almost five years for another woman to front a cover.
Here is a complete list of all those Mojo covers which had a female covers star
Issue 2 ( December 1993)- K.D. Lang
Issue 11 (October 1994)- Chrissie Hynde
Issue 63 (February 1999)- Debbie Harry
Issue 79 (June 2000)- Janis Joplin
*Issue 111 (February 2002) – Kate Bush – UK only
*Issue 145-(December 2003)- Kate Bush – UK only
*Issue 168 (November 2007)- Debbie Harry – US only for the UK edition it was Oasis AGAIN!
Issue 170 (January 2008)- Amy Winehouse
Issue 211 (June 2011) Kate Bush
Then there is the interesting case of Yoko Ono
For Issue 114 (May 2002) there was one cover with Yoko Ono along with an alternative cover with Paul McCartney (not stoking up division there!) and Issue 186 (May 2009)- Yoko shares cover and cover story with John Lennon but her face is obscured on by a hat.
So who are the usual suspects in terms of Cover boys? I have attempted to count up the numbers and here they are
Beatles (NB 2 covers shared with Bob Dylan)
Pink Floyd - includes Syd Barrett Covers)
Bob Dylan (NB 2 covers shared with Beatles)
Rolling Stones
Solo Beatles
All the above had a great percentage of covers in their own right than women artists combined. Other usual suspects include Neil Young, Kurt Cobain and Radiohead.
Of 225 editions women have only been the cover artist on 8 issues of Mojo in the UK and 7 in the US. That is not even 4% of all covers. Compare this with Word which in its 113 issues has had a woman on the cover 10 times. Still only 9% but a big improvement on Mojo. Clash is has had female musicians as cover stars on 9 issues out of a total of 75 (12% of total) Since 2002 Q has had 17 covers which have been fronted by female artists (I have not counted the November 2006 issue which had a choice of 20 cover artists, 5 of which were women). However this higher rate of female representation is immediately undercut by the fact that for least half these covers the women are portrayed in sexually provocative poses and dress more suited to a lads mag. There have also been covers where male musicians have been shown with semi-naked women draped around them At least Mojo has never once done ths! There is one bright note in that in the past six months Q has had Lana Del Rey, Florence Welch and Amy Winehouse as cover stars in respectful ‘portrait’ photos (i.e. not in sexualised poses or dress). I can only hope that these women’s undoubted musical talent and critical/commercial success was more to do with this as their physical attractiveness.
It is not just women who are underrepresented. I also counted Black artists as cover artist on their own right and they account for only 14 covers (One of which is a Motown artists cover). This is 6% of covers. Bob Marley accounts for 5 of these covers and Jimi Hendrix 3. No woman of colour has had a cover in her own right (although Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and Lauren Hill have appeared on the front cover with other artists). K. D. Lang is the only gay woman to have been on the cover.
My intention here is not to point Mojo out for particular censure, although its’ rate of female cover stars is low even by music magazine standards. Mojo does include a good number of reviews and news coverage of female artists. It includes a reasonable proportion of female artists on its free CDs. But there is enormous room for improvement. If I may, here are my suggestions for Women who Mojo could have as cover stars and hey they may even sell a few issues!
Aretha Franklin
The Queen of Soul. Aretha has been on the cover of No. 36 (November 1996- cover story ‘The best of everything!) along with other artists but not in her own right. There is many a tale to tell and a stack of classic albums to devote articles to.
Nina Simone
A legendary artist. She did have an article in No. 224 (July 2012) about her discography. How about a cover story?
Sandy Denny
Nick Drake, a similar cult English folk figure has been on the cover twice- Sandy Denny is similarly loved. Again there was an article in No. 223 (May 2012) about her discography
Patti Smith
There have been a couple of covers with the Ramones and a few covers with Bruce Springsteen. Why not Patti Smith who is still making vital music after 35 years? Patti was on the cover of Uncut magazine last month.
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell has been featured on the front cover of issue 87 (August 1998- cover story ‘American legends’) but this was a long with several other artist. Neil Young has been on the cover five times, and even ‘Laughing’ Leonard Cohen has been the cover a couple of times. Why not Joni Mitchell? Joni Mitchell has managed to be on the soon to be closed Word Magazine twice in its short run.
Emmylou Harris
Emmy has had a highly respected 40 year career and is still making highly regarded music.
Kirtsy McColl
Much loved and much missed singer/songwriter.
Dusty Springfield
We have had all the important Mod bands on the cover of Mojo- The Who, the Kinks, Rod Stewart, the Small Faces – why not Dusty? There is certainly a very interesting story there to tell or is Dusty’s sexuality seen as something that might scare the readership?
Carole King
Tapestry was reissued a couple of years ago- surely an excuse for one of Mojo’s cover cds where an entire classic album gets covered? It has only sold over 10 million copies! And that is before we get into her career as a songwriter for others. She has only written over 400 songs which have been covered by over 1000 artists!
Siouxsie Sioux
We have had domestic partner murderer Sid Vicious on the cover of Mojo at least twice. Yet there has been no cover featuring one of the many women of the UK punk scene. Siouxsie Sioux is a striking looking woman who would have a few stories about Punk/music industry. And while we are at it how about included the sadly late Ari Up and Poly Strene?
Marianne Faithful
Rather than put the Rolling Stones on the cover again- why not Marianne Faithful? She is still making music and her ‘ Broken English’ album would certainly be worth an article
Bjork
A unique artist- now here is my confession. There was a lengthy article on Bjork and her new album in the November 2011 edition of Mojo. The cover boy was none other than George Harrison. Guess the reason I brought the magazine. Say ten hail Bjorks as penance
P. J. Harvey
Twice Mercury winning- the only artist to do so.
Even dare I say it Madonna? If Abba and Michael Jackson can make the cover why no Material Girl
There are also so many female artists to write in-depth articles about. Here is just a small selection- Etta James, LaBelle (First African American women to appear on cover of Rolling Stone!), The Supremes, the female artists of Motown (Martha Reeves, Mary Love, Brenda Holloway, Tammi Terrell), Marcia Griffiths, Betty Davis (one time wife of Miles), Bettye Lavette (Deep Soul legend who has made a number of excellent albums in recent years), Missy Elliott, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Carla Bley, Doris Troy, Laura Nyro, Judee Sill, Poly Strene, Ari Up and the Slits, The Raincoats (beloved of Kurt Cobain), Aimee Mann, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, ‘Lovers rock Queens’ Carole Thompson and Janet Kay, ‘Mama’ Cass Elliott along with contemporary female artists such as Thea Gilmore.
Anyway here’s hoping!
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