Hamish Champ: If music be the food of something or other
It's been a long time since I've hung out with a roomful of rock legends. OK, it's been a long time since I've been in the same room as a roomful of rock legends, which admittedly is not quite the same thing.
But thanks to those nice people at Adnams Brewery - who through their Bitburger lager brand sponsor the Mojo Honours List - I found myself in the Tun Room of the Brewery in the City earlier this week, celebrating all that is great about music past and present.
Sitting down with Andy Wood, Steve Curzon and Emma Hibbert of Adnams we were joined by three fifths of an up-and-coming beat combo from Birmingham by the name of The Twang. No, I'm afraid I'd not heard of the cheeky young scamps either, but they were friendly enough and tucked into the bottles of Bitburger on our table with gusto.
The awards themselves recognised music icons, music legends, emerging stars, cult heroes, music innovators, inspirational artists, classic albums, best albums, best song, outstanding contributions to music, music mavericks, breakthrough acts, best live acts… you get the picture.
The ceremony itself was a rather lengthy affair, but with so many rock gods putting in appearance it wasn't such a trial.
Those on the 'legend' side of things making their way to the stage included: Alice Cooper; Ozzy Osbourne; Iggy Pop and the Stooges; Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek (of The Doors); Slade's Noddy Holder and Ike Turner. The aforementioned had aged remarkable well, although some had clearly hit the black hair dye. At least they still have hair to dye, but that's another matter.
More recent musical geniuses included Stephen Morris and Peter Hook of Joy Division; US punk duo Suicide; Ian McCulloch of Echo & The Bunnymen; the Only Ones, and Björk, while ex-Clash men Mick Jones and Paul Simonon put in appearances as award presenter and recipient (for his involvement in the Good, The Bad & The Queen's debut album) respectively. As did Amy Winehouse, who turned up to collect her Song Of The Year gong for 'Rehab' just as the awards show was drawing to a close, having been "caught in traffic". Bless her.
It was all a huge hoot, especially seeing so many of my own music heroes at such close quarters.
One thing did occur to me, though, after Oasis' Noel Gallagher had eulogised Peter Green - guitar legend and founder of Fleetwood Mac - before presenting him with the Les Paul Award. When Oasis burst onto the scene back in the mid 1990s, I couldn't have imagined him paying tribute to a former member of Fleetwood Mac.
Similarly, when Soft Cell's Marc Almond inducted the two Doors members into the Mojo Hall of Fame, the praise gushed all over the place so much you needed an umbrella. This surely wouldn't have been the case back in the day when he was singing 'Tainted Love'. I'd wager he'd more likely have labelled them BOFs - Boring Old Farts.
Still, music is one of those things that gets under an artist's skin, so I guess it just goes to show that 'quality will out'. And that however cynical people are in their 'yoof' they eventually appreciate such a salient fact. Even if it does take decades for it to happen.
