I thought Steve meant that she is underrated by the general audience nowadays, which i believe she is. Being around the same age as Steve i can certainly appreciate where he was coming from., It is rare to meet poele our age that will even accept Joni, let alone give her the credit we all feel she is due (and it is just that, isn't it; credit **we feel** she is due/ all fans the world over say this about the object of their fandom, but that is another discussion all togehter:-)
When i first joined this list i made a point of saying that JM is the musical equivalent of GM Hopkins. I still hold to that view. I also commented that i had never met any other fan of Joni's. Since then i have introduced Joni (if only by name) to everyone i know. Now my friends ring me if she's on the radio or tv. They tell me if she's mentioned somewhere. They look at her cds when they go into a store. They know from where came the artwork. They feel the respect that i feel for Joni. Without trying to get them to listen to Joni i have opened their eyes to her existence ( and i hope also to her importance). They all know her name. Two of my friends have, on their own accord, bought Joni CDs. In 2000 i met Jim in Hyannis, Ma. Jim said " i hate lesbian music; i can't stand folk; and that Joni Mitchell is the biggest culprit in both areas" Seriously, that's what he said!!! He had *never* listened to her. His "icons" were Stevei Nicks, Kate Bush and Cyndi Laupar. I made two cds of my fave joni tracks for him. He then bought most of her cds!! I posted his reactions to those songs to the list a long time ago; the only thing he didnt really like was "Why do fools fall in love". He adored teh BSN tracks i chose, and is eagerly awaiting the upcoming release. Donna bought hits one day and listened to it non stop for months. One night i stayed out without telling anybody (which is a big swing considering that i tell everyone where i am and what im doing and i usually know for weeks in advance). It was a wild drunken night, and we'll leave it there _(insert cheeky grin emoticon)_ When i rang home the following evening, Donna was in my house almost crying!! SHe had left in teh middle of a tennis match when her sister rang to say i hadn't went home hte night before. She thought something awful had happened. I headed home. She had went back to her house at that point. Wheni rang her at home, i could hear "river" in the background. She was pretty cut up (she has only ever half forgiven me!) She also loves C&S, so she wasn't entirely out of place at the recent UKJonifest. I have only met two fans of joni not through the list, both of whom i attempted to date (mental not to self; don't date Joni fans that you didn't meet throught the list!) One was canadian, one was irish. Both were about the same age as me. I have met literally hundreds of smashing pumpkins fans, jewel fans, placebo fans, bjork fans, ben folds fans, beth orton fans, counting crows fans, alanis fans, hole fans, fiona apple fans, dolly parton fans, tori amos fans, sarah mclachlain fans, nirvana fans, jeff buckley fans, REM fans, radiohead fans, kate bush fans (etc etc etc) all of whom are around my age. Very few of them even knew the name Joni Mithcell, let alone had any appreciation of who she was/is. The ones that did know her, knew her from Amy Grants BYT and Janet Jacksons "Got til its gone". When looked at from this perspective, it doesn't seem far off the mark for Steve, aged 19 i think, to say Joni is underrated. In our generation she really is. But then, it is just *one* perspective of many, isn't? GARRET NP- Eleanor McEvoy with Mary Black, Only A Womans Heart (what a great song!!!) ps- it's Sabrina September on Nickleodeon!!
