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  4. Like many here, I loved it at the start, it was something truly unique that we all probably had bits we’d written in and t’was an admirable venture. But market forces dictated towards the end, sadly

  5. The Blog was more conservative and backward looking than the magazine, contrary to what some say. A later influx of younger members brought in needed new blood. The magazine was appealing to me as it was varied in writers from different eras and varied in subject matter. A smarter publication than the majority of music mags who were heritage or very much indie.

  6. When I first saw it I thought all my Christmases had come at once. Ellen & Heppo carrying on the original Smash Hits/Q Magazine vibe in the 21st Century. Right to the end, I looked forward to reading it and it was miles better than tbe others.

  8. I used to read it fairly regularly, largely for the high quality of the writing. But I wonder if it fell between too many stools, trying to cover too many topics.

    Now, all these years later, I honestly can’t remember any of its regular sections or particular articles. Although I do have fond memories of the podcast, which often made me laugh out loud.

  10. Subscriber from the start. Not sure it maintained the high standards of the first few issues however overall it was an enjoyable publication and there were some excellent articles. The cd compilation and tribute to Jackie Leven is quite possibly the best ever eulogy to an artist that I have seen in a magazine.

  11. Bought issue 1 as I was getting tired of Q, then missed a couple but bought every one after until the end. It dropped off a lot in the last year but Hepworth has said that declining ad revenue meant they couldn’t employ so many writers so they were having to do more with less. IIRC, the closure was mentioned in the NY Times, a measure of how it was respected. They were ahead of their times with the blog and podcast too.

    • Came late to the mag, and even later to the blog. WTF, I’m here now!

      The mag’s passing was even mentioned in Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post.

  12. It was a great read. Informative, amusing, and beautifully designed. So good, in fact, it often took me more than one session standing in Smith’s to get through it. And complete the crossword.

  18. I thought the magazine was okay, just okay. I bought it occasionally. Always preferred the podcast and blog/forum! At the time I joined I felt like a newbie on the blog, but I suppose I’m now an old stalwart.

  20. I do. I still have the first copy I bought. No 3 I think, the one with McCartney on the cover in 1969 Get Back era hair and beard.

    ‘This is ideal’ I thought. ‘This can only run and run’

    Once the online community established itself I was taken with how they engaged with it. Often using ideas and content to fill column inches in the magazine itself. It could be cynically argued that it filled those inches with free writing but I thought it was a nice thing.

    I still miss it.

  21. My favourite magazine ever. Have the majority of them on the shelf still but sadly lost the first 10 or so or so in a move many moons ago. It was varied, funny, not just about music, but also reignited my interest in contemporary music after a while away. Created the original blog and then this place where I’ve lurked plenty and participated occasionally. Listened and still listen to every podcast. Read all Ellen/Hepworth books. Doubt any single entity has ever provided me with so many hours of interest/entertainment. I even once got a review published!

    Slight head**** though that it means I haven’t bought a magazine in a decade. Where does the time go?

  23. I remember it fondly. It was comfortably the best music magazine I ever read, and you were never quite sure what you might find in it of a given month. I particularly remember reading the one with the cartoon Dylan cover and thinking to myself that this was as close to perfect as I’d ever seen such a publication get.

    I loved the way the staff enjoyed the past but also weren’t afraid of the future. One minute you’d be reading an article about Leonard Cohen, then next someone buzzing over some new piece of kit that they thought might change how we all listened.

    There was a lovely balance to the Ellen/Hepworth combo at that stage – Ellen’s tigger cavorting in circles around Hepworth’s Eeyore. The latter was consequently a little less conversative, a little more willing to lend an open ear, and that saw him at his best (in my view). There was an excitement to it all, a willingness to drop the critical defences and risk looking a bit foolish. I liked that.

    I suspect it was a labour of love for those involved, and I’m not entirely surprised there’s a modicum of bitterness at the way market forces ultimately moved against them. If they’d carried it on, I’d no doubt have kept buying it, but there was clearly no way they could do so.

    At the end of the day, it was – like all things – a bit of a moment in time. But it was also such a blessed relief to step away from the po-facedness of Uncut and the slightly moribund Mojo to find people who weren’t afraid to look a bit daft, listening to and writing about music and film and books and making it all look like a lot of fun.

    I can’t think of another music magazine of the era that would have devoted 3-4 pages to what makes Friends funny, or interviewing Martin Amis, or what killed Top of the Pops, or the best looking pop stars.

    I do still miss it. I’d love to see what they’d have been writing about in 2022.

  25. Subscribe to Mojo and Uncut, and also bought Q plus other magazines. However, in the early days, The Word was head and shoulders above them all. Still got every issue, and don’t plan on parting with them. Agree it wasn’t so good at the end, but wish it was still going.

  26. I miss it and have finally given up on buying any music mags. They seem repeat the same ole stories so I am out.

    I still have six copies of unread Mojos to read from my final subscription and that will probably take a year as I only read on holiday!

  27. I seriously regretted quite how few reviews were included: that page where Heppo and Mossman did a brief Beauty and the Beast set of quick comments was lazy. Entertaining, but lazy. But he and Ellen set up the cult of nerdy readers becoming the stars of their own show, for which we all here can congratulate ourselves.

  28. My Dr John review of Mr R’s performance at the Hong Kong Arts Festival appeared in one issue towards the very end.

    Sure there must have been loads of others here who had reviews printed

  30. So much praise for the old magazine on here I’m starting to feel as if I missed something! It was maybe just the wrong time for me… the nineties was more the period where I used to buy two or three magazines every month.

  32. The Word was one of many music mags with cover discs that I’d decided to buy in the early noughties, in order to broaden my musical horizons and freshen my palate.
    It turned out to be the best of the bunch by far. The most readable, so I subscribed.
    The Word Blog was icing on the cake, to start with, but eventually the mag became just an adjunct to the blog.

  35. Well….this is a bit weird! A friend on Facebook has described how he went to his airing cupboard and found a CD in there that he has never seen before. How it got there is a complete mystery….and it is a Word ‘Now Hear This!’ compilation. He has never heard of the mag either. Very odd!!

  36. There was always good writing in the Word.
    It doesn’t surprise me that some of the magazine’s staffers, like Kate Mossman and Jude Rogers, have gone on to become pretty big names in the UK music writing world.

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