THE MODERN COVERS

I’ve just completed a reorganisation of my cellar, wherein lies my trove of musical treasure on vinyl and CD and a stack of Uncuts going back to February 1999.

As I was restacking the shelves I chanced upon Uncut Take 175 from December 2011. Tom Waits is on the cover. Also trailed on the cover is, Bob Dylan – Rolling Thunder Unseen! and Robert Smith Speaks.

Wind forward to Take 271, December 2019. On the cover? Dylan and Robert Smith.

I have been a loyal subscriber for years, but the repetition of the same, small stable of classic rock acts as cover stories is getting extremely tiresome. Let’s have a 2020 resolution from Uncut, eh? No more Dylan/stones/floyd/zeppelin/neil Young/springsteen covers. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of them, but let’s go for broke and accept the

21st century into our hearts. Andrew Ure, via email

Thanks for your letter, Andrew – and your continued support for Uncut. The truth is that these artists still do really well for us – our recent Springsteen and Dylan issues have been among our best sellers this year. Behind the cover, though, we always make sure to include lessertold tales and showcase younger artists – as we have done in 2019 via major interviews with Jessica Pratt, Big Thief, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Joan Shelley and Angel Olsen. [MB]