Mojo Music Awards Show Surprising Trends
In our artificial world where everyone seems to always strive for the ‘latest and greatest’, we seem to suddenly find an emerging trend to turn back to the ‘golden oldies’ when it comes to music. For years it would seem the Mojo Music Awards have been honoring the latest and most exciting rock acts of the year. But now it seems that the older acts are getting back in on the action.
Ranking among the biggest winners at this year’s music awards were legendary musician Neil Diamond (Classic Songwriter Award) and rock groups The Sex Pistols (Icon Award), Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (Best Album Award) and Led Zeppelin (Best Live Act Award). The rock world might have once been obsessed with youth but now it seems they are obsessed with soul – the kind of soul that is clearly expressed by die-hard rock acts who pour everything they have into their music. After years in the music industry all these music acts are still going strong and the fact that they continue to have a strong following shows that their music is truly legendary. Even the newer acts that were recognized for their achievements at the award ceremony hosted by Mojo music magazine showed a definite influence from 1960s music. Welsh singer Duffy won ‘Song of the Year’ for her number one hit ‘Mercy’. The song is credited with sounding like a ‘lost northern soul classic’ by Mojo’s editor, Phil Alexander.
Whereas in the past an artists shelf life might have started disappearing soon after their record sales dropped, classic artists are now far more available than before due to digital download stores which give fans free and easy access to more than fifty years of popular music. This seems to have brought about a revival for some music groups, since younger consumers frequently listen to acts that their favorite bands have listed as an influence and so discover these legendary greats for themselves. There are certainly a lot of remakes currently being aired on the radio, showing just how popular ‘old school’ is at the moment.
Some of the other prize winners were: The Last Shadow Puppets (Best Breakthrough Act), Motorhead (Hero Award), The Specials (Hall of Fame), Genesis (Lifetime Achievement Award), Judy Collins (Special Award), Irma Thomas (Legend Award), My Bloody Valentine (Classic Album Award), John Fogerty (Inspiration Award), Paul Weller (Outstanding Contribution to Music Award), Toots Hibbert (Roots Award), John Martyn (Les Paul Award), Mark E Smith (Maverick Award), Julien Temple (Vision Award), Juno Original Soundtrack (Compilation of the Year Award) and Pillows & Prayers Cherry Red Records 1981-1984 (Catalogue Release of the Year).
