puts feet up ...

for a patronising "calm down dear it's only the cover" type comment aren't you?

well, you won't get one of those from me, no way pedro.

*checks feminists credentials are intact* :P

You're a very wicked lady, Jo.

At which point JoLean raises an army and marches on Islington to sack Word Towers...
The following month's cover star: Lemmy

And peace was restored......

Which one was dead?

Next month: Clodagh Rodgers

"The most extraordinary pop star Mark Ellen has ever met."

He's met Marilyn for God's sake...

we let you have your lot on the cover and all we get is aggro and verbals in the earhole.

I mean we could have has Susan Boyle on there which would have covered the beard and female market but I suppose thats wrong now is it?

We all know that pop music is just for girls, the gays and lonely housewives. The Word has got to survive in these austere times and if have a bit of totty on the cover does the business then so be it. Thats what I told David Cameron about the beers in the House Of Commons bar.

as a "Word blog fixture" (those aren't just my words, they are the WORDSof the WORD's Mark Ellen and his WORD IS FINAL!) I take great offence at your post and have taken steps with the relevant authorities for it to be expunged from history. Do not cross me, woman.

I dunno, let em have the vote and now this.....

I thought it was Iggy.

*note to self. Car insurance due*

Nice pins an' all that, but in a guitar duel with Peter Green there'd only be one winner. Clue: It wouldn't be GaGa!

She would kick his ass with one hand (not physically coreect)

Regular readers will be aware that I have been singing her praises for years. At last Word officially recognises her greatness, and indeed, her importance, to the mighty world of Pop. Hats off, Gentlemen! Hats off!

Lady Gaga on what cover? I haven't got a cover with Lady Gaga on. There should have been a spoiler alert if it's the latest ishoo, which hasn't appeared at Policybloke Mansions yet. Anyway I agree, no Gaga. I was hoping for Lana Del Ray, but as she is probably a fictional character, and seems to have retired already, that is unlikely.

Who cares?

The magazine cannot stay preserved in aspic.

This could go on for a while.

There's bound to be a overly-lengthy article about someone who never actually sold any records or was popular or anything, so that'll cancel the cover out.

if that's what's waiting for me when I get home tonight, I'm going to have some explaining to do with the ladies of the house...

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/0cca76f0-873a-11e0-b983-00144feabdc0.html#axzz...

but I think they got away with it ... I'm still pronouncing it Lady Guh-GAAH after "Miranda's" mum ...

Celebrities (musicians and otherwise) all seem to be getting younger. I've got over myself recently on this and have come to the conclusion that some of them are really rather good.

I quite like "Project fronted by young girl from New York" otherwise known as Lady Gaga. They have made some great songs. I even realised on New Year’s Eve courtesy of Jools Holland that a young lady called Jessie J has a fantastic song about Money.

It was only a matter of time before another of these bright young things appeared on the cover. We have had Lilly Allen before as I recall.

If ever there is a line that mustn’t get crossed it would be when Word promotes “Dancing on Ice” on the front cover. (Unless of course Mark Ellen or David Hepworth were one of the celebrities involved. I’d pay to see it!)

Is it as good as Catlin Moran's, generally regarded as being the Gold Standard for GaGa writing?

Does Mark write about having a wee with her in a German sex-club?

(GaGa, not Moran. Although he might've had a wee with Catlin Moran in a German sex-club, it probably wouldn't be particularly relevant to the article.)

she must know by now that I'm an unreconstructed Gene Hunt 1970s alpha male type.

I hereby declare that I'd give both Louise Mensch and Dido one. But I wouldn't touch Gaga with a bargepole.

Now what's this debate about? Oh yes, The Word cover. It's the contents of the mag that matter to me.

carry on as you were.

Women on the cover? Next thing you know, they'll be allowed to write for the magazine too!

who was in Punch cartoons during the late 1920's (a satire of Nancy Cunard and her drinking pals). She must be positively ancient.

It's Robert Wyatt on the cover of this month's Razzle that's causing me sleepless nights.

There was some talk (podcast probably) about women on covers and poor sales - seems that view has changed. It's a rather fine, striking image, as were the Bush and Winehouse ones, and, in my view, deomonstrates the superiority of a well chosen, bold photo over the Mad magazine type caricatures. I welcome these subjects over the usual old geezers, and it does tend to be old ones since who would work as a young example? Then again, what's Gaga done but a small handful of top singles? Looking forward to reading it though.

Good cover, I'm all in favour. Shame her last album was bobbins.

I see Uncut have also gone leftfield with their cover this month.

putting currently the world's most successful pop act on the cover? Gosh - it's almost as if they were trying to sell some copies, and make some money to keep the website going. Goodness knows where this will end.

If they make some money from this they will have to pay Frazer a salary and he will finally be able to pay off his indenture and return to NZ, whilst Ellen and Hepworth will build castles surrounded by moats of Chardonney and stop publishing a magazine. Then where we all be? I suggest a boycott*.

* A boycott is a lot of whinging northern nonsense about how much better things were in the 70s. In Yorkshire.

I popped home at lunch time to check a couple of things. Word had duly arrived - I quickly flicked through it to see what I could look forward to tonight and this is what I saw:-

Naked pictures of Lady GaGA - come on, she aint bad looking.

A Comment from Sinead o'Connor about having 4 kids with 4 blokes.

A review of a book with the comments 'apparently 20 percent of women do not masturbate'.

Looks like its the most interesting issue in months. Someone slipped something into the coffee of the Word editorial team?

for the Rihanna cover. Cor eh?

[can I just declare this is an ironic post and in no way reflects my real opinion]

[hang on maybe it does]

BTW, is the OP ironic or not? My ironico-scope seems to have gone AWOL.

Before it 'all kicks off' - that my 'up' arrow meant, "I am amused by what you have written, and the way you have written it." Thanks.

....can anyone, or its it just fame for fame's sake circa 2012?
Should those who can be allowed to vote?

I do however, feel for any young "teenybopper*" who buys the issue on the strength of the cover and is then confused by the articles about "cassettes" and "Crass"...

*teenybopper. Isn't that a great word? We should campaign for its comeback.

Who religiously reads the best of/worst of may actually read an article. So we thank you.

SPOILERS!! I'm going to have to subscribe - the only way I can get the mag without knowing what's on the cover. Grrr.

Surely there's room for all sorts in the broad church that is Word? I'm equally happy listening to either of these:

La la la la la la la la la la laaaa.....

Excellent Jackie Leven article, but yet another one that can't spell Kirkcaldy.

And Andrew Collins thinks Procession was by Joy Division and on Closer?
I think not, sir. New Order, 2nd single.

Boring as I find her, I have no particular problem with Gaga being on the cover, for two reasons.

1. Covers can make a difference to whether someone buys a magazine or not. And a magazine that has Lady Gaga on the cover may well sell more copies than one that has, say, Leonard Cohen. So if it brings in additional readers who might not normally read The Word, so much the better.

2. One of the things I like about The Word is that it's eclectic, and doesn't really do music snobbery in a big way. And much as I dislike Gaga, I think there's just as much a place for her in the magazine as any number of other less mainstream faces.

Anything that keeps the good ship afloat, and under-employed Word contributors from expiring like consumptive Victorian children, is absolutely fine by me...

Interesting opinions though

http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/lady-gaga-you-know-you-want-to

the Joe R/ Bob pop pressure group has been lobbying successfully.

Who wants to join my grebo pressure group? Back to the Planet for the cover. Tomorrow we march on Islington.

My daughter saw the cover last night and did a double-take - "is that Lady Gaga?"

Having recovered from the shock, she said it was a really good picture, because you could see what she looked like and she wasn't dressed up as a boiled egg or something.

... call yourselves journalists people of The Word!

http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2010/10/22/lord-gaga-breaks-silence-my-wife-is-...

Fair enough. Biggest pop star for ages, bar Adele. Can't hear it meself, but I like the dresses.

But it would be good if we really were getting Derek Jameson in the mag. I'd rather read an interview with him than Leonard Cohen any day.

PS JoLean - you criticise Creedence at your peril. I'm a reasonable man, so I'll overlook it this time. *mutters*

I think she's really good.

Why aren't I writing for Granta and The Atlantic Review?

By all means stick Lady GAH-guh (as my mother in law calls her) on the mag- but don't you think a stock photo cover is a missed opportunity? Any half conscious illustrator could have created an infinitely more interesting image based on any of her more ridiculous stage costumes (my favourite: the "Skanky Cyborg"). In fact, I could knock one up in about five minutes, but... er... work's a bit busy

My way in to, shall we say, odder music was Vaselined by buying NME, Sounds, Flexipop, Trouser Press etc for the covers of Duran, Human League and Adam and the Ants and being dragooned by great articles which sold new exotic bands to me.
So, some may buy Word109 for GaGa and find something to pique interest (even if it's Chris Isaak). Why try to impress us jaded old cynics? There is a new generation of minds to mould/subvert.

I'm awfully sorry. I didn't know there was an arbiter of 'oddness' or that I had not actually purchased three GaGa albums. I shan't let it happen again.

Nice picture..Some early stuff of her on Youtube as a brunette doing Led Zeppelin covers and stuff..kind of interesting and she looks pretty good with dark hair as well

thought it was a good un from her until those last responses

What is the biggest misconception about you"

"The biggest misconception about me is that I would be concerned about people having a misconceptiojn about me"

Leave it out, sweetheart, Madonna was doing that kind of bullshit 20 years ago and it was old hat then.

pointed out to me that Youtube provides early evidence that her ladyship could really play piano long before she became famous. I suppose I should go and find it.

I'd never have guessed it was Lady Gaga. She looks like a cross between Amy Winehouse and Annie Lennox in a wig.

And isn't it funny how we accept those stupid headset microphones without a second thought now? But if you look really hard at that cover picture she resembles a football referee (albeit a somewhat overdressed one) about to blow for a free kick.

and she refrences herself throughout. To wit:

Ba-ba-ba-la-la-la-ga-ga-ga-ga-la-la-la (repeat in every song for all eternity).

I don't mind Alejandro though.

Thing is, I have ZERO interest in her. I'm not saying you have to be either a 14-year-old girl or a gay man to appreciate her (though I'm sure it helps), just that I don't think she's much cop. Just because someone wears a dress of meat or comes on stage wearing an armchair doesn't automatically make them a great innovator. Frankly, I think she's a bit daft.

That said I may well read the feature.

One man's meat, etc.

is now

La la El La Len, La La Ba Ba Stackridge Ah, Ma Ma Blue Shirt Ra, a Hepworth Bromance

...but she is expertly made Pop. Well done, Ms Stefani.

Actually she often reminds me of Boney M.

Well, I'm glad I bookmarked Jolean's provocative post a couple of days. Knew it would be an entertaining read. The Massive have not failed me.

Hooray! I know nothing about Lady Gaga, other than she's one of the most popular entertainers in the world. I think she fits right into the Word's remit - entertainment for lively minds. I'd like to read about her.

Still, I hope the editors hurry up and stick an OAP with a beard on the cover again soon, just to make the grandads feel less threatened by this new fangled pop music they seem to despise so much. So, this is what happened to the 60's generation, eh? Groovy.

I had a conversation a few weeks ago about comparative tastes in music with my 23 year old niece and 55 year old brother-in-law. We were talking about the CDs that were lying on top of their player - a mixture of stuff including Beyonce, Rihanna, Hank Williams and Willy Nelson. The view was strongly expressed that the current chart hits were just so much product promoted by girls prancing around in their gym knickers, whereas country music was made by real singers who had experienced life and could express genuine emotions.

Possibly confusingly to some, it was my niece who said this. The country records were hers and the pop records were her dad's.

If The Word had been around in 1964 and had put The Beatles on the front cover do you reckon lots of people would have posted on its blog, saying it was a disgrace and they should stick to covering Frankie Laine & Guy Mitchell because they made "proper music" instead of this new fangled pop stuff?

Hadn't bought The Word for ages. I've now taken out a sub. Although it was the Jackie Leven cd that made me buy it.

with that little headset mic on, she looks like the woman who sells chipped crockery down the market.

Just saying.