Kate Bush helps MOJO celebrate 20 years in print

MOJO, the Bauer Media owned music magazine, is celebrating 20 years in print this week with the release of a special collector’s issue – complete with a hand drawn message from singer Kate Bush on the cover.

The anniversary issue, which goes on sale on today, will include a cast list of some of the most significant figures in music who will re-live the year they turned 20.

Highlights from the ’20 at 20′ feature include Ringo Starr on how he got his stage name, Martha Reeves on joining Motown and Alex Turner on scoring the fastest selling debut album in Britain in 2006 with Arctic Monkeys.

In addition, MOJO asked its readers to vote for the most significant albums of the last 20 years, with the The White Stripes’ Elephant claiming the top spot, followed by Arcade Fire’s Funeral and Bob Dylan with Time Out Of Mind in second and third.

“When we started talking about celebrating 20 years of MOJO we felt that we wanted to genuinely reflect what the magazine was all about: the music – the people that make it and the people that listen to it,” said Phil Alexander, editor-in-chief of MOJO.

“The ideas we came up with revolved around that rather than looking back at the history of the magazine itself which, while admirable, we felt was less exciting than asking Ringo Starr about what it was like to play Butlin’s in 1960, or how John Lydon felt in the year he became Johnny Rotten. The idea of everything revolving around the number 20 seemed obvious, but it gave us the option of delivering great stories, as well as celebrating 20 years of great music.”