Don't worry, Mark and Kate - I'm 32 and know who Nick Kent is, but I'm not sure if I speak for the rest of the under-40s. I'd be quite interested to know if I'm alone (or even nearly alone).

I have to say, I only really know of him thanks to Paul Gorman's rather fabulous collection of reminiscence, "In Their Own Write: Adventures In The Music Press", which a colleague bought me years ago as a Secret Santa present. I think that qualifies as the best Secret Santa ever, frankly. I think he crops up in Paul Morley's "Music and Lyrics", too.

I spent the early part of Saturday morning sitting on the edge of my bed in a state of partial undress, wrapped-up in my duvet, reading Mark Ellen's interview with Nick Kent, while enjoying a healthy breakfast consisting of a Dairy Milk and some strange dry cakes that my parents brought back with them from La Gomera. Occassionally I would glance up at my TV where a repeat of The Antiques Roadshow was playing with the sound muted.

I was so content in my cosy decadence that I went on to read a couple of the smaller articles and all of the reviews section, by which time other family members had infiltrated the shower and used all the hot water. I will have to wait until late this afternoon before the boiler swtiches itself back on and I can finally wash myself.

I haven't yet read Chris Salewicz's piece on The Runaways but it seems disingenuous to suggest that they invented the idea of sex in rock and roll, rather than capitalizing on something that was already there. The all-girl garage band, She, who pre-date Lita Ford's mob by several years, wrote songs that stripped away the powder and lip gloss to expose the raw teenage desire underneath; most memorably in Bad Girl which opens with the line: "I had my first man a little after I was ten..."

is now 'an accomplished chainsaw sculptor' apparently.

A listen along Playlist.
http://open.spotify.com/user/chaileyjem/playlist/35ObUSOsQc2rSQyYE88Aqb
(features songs mentioned in this months issue. Aside from the Runaways who are completely absent from spotify unfortunately).

Great issue apart from the couples.Bit of a rum bunch i'd say. Where were Alvy and Annie Hall, Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patti, Gregory and Susan, Michel and Patricia (breathless), Bob and Thelma, Jesse+ Celine (before sunrise, sunset) even Smiffy and Nessa. (although props for Harold and Maude, Rick and Ilsa and Tim and Dawn.)

And I'd have had Harry and Sally in the best not the worst.

"You can see pictures of Kate singing and... generally sticking her arse out..."

I've checked every page very carefully and have concluded that this statement is only half true. Rest assured I shall be contacting the Advertising Standards Authority first thing on Monday.

Really enjoying the more to read issues!
Hilarious slip in the ‘Divide and rule’ section, unless Word got a special edition of the new Pet Shop Boys live album/DVD.
I saw the show in Manchester and I’ve watched the new DVD of the London show and Neil & Chris have boxes on their heads and not bags...

Christ, I learned pretty much everything from the NME at that time.
Times change.

Ive posted elsewhere that Nick Kent is doing 'An Evening With...' as part of the Brighton Festival this coming May (curated by Brian Eno).

Should be a giggle.

Has anyone else noticed that ethereal 'wooooooo' noise in this clip (2:47 and 3:07) and recent podcasts? Thought they were coming to take me away.

I read the Nick Kent article in a coffee shop early on saturday morning with a splendid cappucino, pain au chocolat and the sun streaming in. Proper set me up for the weekend that did. Great to see Ellen and Heppo on such good form.

Quiet suggestion - CSM on the podcast would be great!

who turns first to the subscriptions spread to see what fanciful confections you've come up with each month to entice the casual reader to condemn his local newsagent's children to the Poor House in return for a saving that amounts to less than the cost of half a pint of bitter a month.

No mention that without the support of the shops you'd have one-quarter of your current circulation and no advertisers, or that, irony of ironies, Mr Potential Subscriber wouldn't even be looking at the subs offer if he hadn't picked the issue off some shop's shelf.

And this month you come up with 10 reasons to subscribe, eight of which aren't benefits of subscription at all - and on top of that you call those of us who elect to pay the price you print on the cover "lowdown, unsocial heels".

But then, but then...

You offer Midlake's The Courage of Others as part of the deal. Now that's a seriously good offer.

I'm...I'm almost tempted.

And the weird thing is, I already own The Courage of Others.

In fact a couple of things....
Firstly the excellent article on the rewards of songwriting, would have been enhanced with a bit more detail on exactly how much money is involved. I realise it's not very British to talk about personal gain, but for example I'd love to know how much Noddy Holder has made from his Christmas opus.
Secondly a cartoon of the lovely Miss Currie is a poor substitute for a photo of the real deal. Pert and perfectly formed her derriere may be, but surely it would have been editorially justified to have a frontal shot as well. Cruel and unusual punishment if you ask me.

I have been a reader of (The) Word ever since its first edition, have been a subscriber for over 4 years, have got every cover CD and have bought subscriptions on multiple occasions over the past few years as birthday pressies for friends…so I think I can be considered a ‘Word Friend’.

To also give you an idea about myself, I am a 44 years old professional, have an ITunes music collection that runs to over 26,000 songs and regularly enjoy listening to Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits and even Hergest Ridge via Spotify. I even can confess to recently listening once again and liking Tales from Topographic Oceans!…

However, for over 25 years, I have also loved dance music, world music, dubstep, rave and obscure ambient…

Now I feel compelled to write as a critical friend to tell you what I think about the ‘new’ Word.

Firstly, the good things…

1. Like the new size and spine, although it feels a bit cheaper..
2. Like the tweaked reviews section
3. Tunng on the Cover CD – hurrah – and one of the best cover CDs in ages!
4. I’ve discovered someone new who sounds interesting– never heard of Dave Eggars before - and thought the Ayn Rand article was excellent

However not so good
1. It feels very dense in terms of sheer amount of Words – maybe that’s the point?
2. It feels like the written music content is getting 10 years older and safer with each edition and starting to become Sounds or Melody Maker – with the same bands that Melody Maker used to cover! ANOTHER David Bowie article – whatever is that about and what remotely new does it have to say to me? Lou Reed is doing a concert? So?!!!! (And there now appears to be a complete disconnect between the freshness of the music on the Cover CD and the written content inside).
3. There wasn’t any article that made me think “I’ve GOT to read this now!” – which used to happen a lot in earlier times

My test is always – how many things have I read in this magazine this month which will lead me to search out and buy something new that I haven’t heard of before – piece of music, book, DVD… increasingly I’m finding that Word’s written music coverage is failing to do that most months. I used to be provoked into thinking by Word’s music writing, but increasingly now I’m provoked into groaning.

Please realise that a lot of your readers like me came to – and have stayed with – The Word because it gave them something new, distinctive and thought provoking thay they couldn’t get from loads of places elsewhere if they wanted to (eg Mojo, Q, Record Collector, Sounds, NME). That doesn’t mean we’re opposed to the music coverage in those places, it’s simply that The Word was different and seemed unique and that’s why we loved it and eulogised it to our friends…Increasingly, it’s becoming same-old, same-old and that’s a shame. Because if I cancel my subscription, it will leave me with a hole that I would need filled – by the great magazine that Word was in its heyday…

Feel free to publish all or some of this email in the letters page