August 9, 2003

Posted August 09, 2003

Joni's made the top ten again, this time on a list in the July/August issue of Women Who Rock magazine. It's hard for any "best of" list to please everyone, but "100 Women Who Rocked the World" does a good job. The editors strive for a wider look at popular music of the 20th century for this list than many I've seen, acknowledging women from Ma Rainey (the original 1920's blues queen) to rap pioneers of recent times. Joni's #7 on the list, between Aretha Franklin and Patti Smith; one of Joni's own influences, Billie Holiday, is up at #2. Although Joni's usually not that big on the idea of any kind of female segregation in the music world, maybe she'd be happy to hear about this since it's a list created by other women to honor their peers.

In any event, it's good to see anything about Joni during a summer where it seems that the closest we come to hearing her on the radio with any frequency is Counting Crows' remake of "Big Yellow Taxi." Not that the remake is bad, but I still find myself thinking "Why can't they play the original once in a while?" Not part of the marketing plan, I suppose.