Rock is not a dirty word

Went to the Classic Rock awards last night and it confirmed to me that at last the music that I loved since childhood is getting the respect it deserves.

It was great seeing rock titans like Billy Gibbons,Jeff Beck,Jimmy Page,Tony Iommi,Ronnie Wood mingling with the likes of Chrissie Hynde and Iggy Pop.

Which reminded me of the  first time I saw Iggy and the Stooges at  Kings Cross show in 1972 before Mclaren and his art school proles adopted him as their pet puppy.At the time I was a fledgling office boy at Sounds magazine.It was a memorable night.The Flaming Groovies supported and were sensational but the atmosphere was electric for the arrival of Iggy who didn’t disappoint with his platinum hair do and ripped torso.

In fact before he went on Iggy could be seen wondering around the venue and my biggest regret was that I didn’t got up to him and announce my fandom (come to think of it I didn’t have the nerve to go up to him at the awards,maybe it’s better that way).

This was my first experience of confrontational rock.In the fact most of the audience were mute throughout the show.I consumed a bottle of vodka with a friend of mine and still didn’t have the balls to heckle.There was one moment when Iggy berated a punter for not getting up only to eventually realise the guy was in a wheelchair.Overall it was an entertaining night although I didn’t get the full effect of the new material until the album-Raw Power-was released.

From all the feedback I got from the awards Iggy was the star of the night and charmed everyone he came into contact with.Chrissie Hynde was on good behaviour too.

With rising sales it looks like the genre will get the respect in this country that it already has in the rest of the world after all Classic Rock only means music that endures.