Let's face it, most teenage girls in 2017 do not listen to rock bands from the 60s and 70s. That's not me trying to act special - people that boast about listening to 'alternative' music like that just piss me off - it's simply a fact. I don't go on about my music taste to many people, because I know most of my friends don't like it. Fair enough, I don't like theirs either, so I don't listen to it. It's that simple

However, having joined wattpad I realised that there were a whole lot more classic rock fans of around my age than I thought before, which admittedly still isn't much but it's more than I'd expect. Since I first wrote this, I've also gone onto a course in music technology, where people's music taste is extremely diverse, but there I've found many like-minded people (my own age) who also appreciate the same stuff I do.

So I was wondering, how exactly did people first listen this music, and also how did people discover Led Zeppelin, especially now it's not on mainstream radio or news channels? I'm genuinely very interested in this so please please comment below and explain how you discovered either classic rock, Led Zeppelin or both.

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Here's how it was for me. When I was little, as in 3 months old and up, my parents were both away a lot of the time because of work, so I would stay at my grandparents house as they lived close by. My Grandad was a big fan of music. He didn't really act much like a typical grandad if I'm honest, he was very young when my Dad was born so couldn't have been older than 55 at the time, and he wore a leather jacket, was a pack-a-day smoker, rode a motorbike and had played guitar since he was 10. When I think back on it, he was quite a cool Grandad - minus the smoking, he ended up dying of lung cancer - but at the time I just remember hating the jacket because it was always cold when he picked me up and hating the bike because it always stank of petrol. Kids don't appreciate how lucky they are.

Anyway, my Grandad had an absolutely huge record collection, it took up an entire wall of his living room, and there would always be music playing whenever you went into the house, whether it was from the record player or his guitar. He loved classic rock, so that was mostly what he played. Zeppelin, The Who, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Allman Brothers, ZZ Top, you name it and it was there. He also loved the old delta blues, which I still do too.

So as a child I never really listened to any other music but that. I was always so confused at school when no one knew who Hendrix was, or when people's role models were people I'd barely even heard of at the time, like Katy Perry or Gabriella from High School Musical or whatever. My hero was always Janis Joplin, which I think caused the teachers some concern, but I don't know why because it clearly wasn't her drug intake that caused six year old me to admire her. I think I could relate to her on some level - never quite fitting into the crowd and never quite being able to live up to your family's expectations - and I admired her, and still do, for doing what she loved and not letting anyone stop her. We had to do a project once on our heroes, and the first thing that was said when I showed a picture of Janis to the class went along the lines of "she's ugly, why do you like her?" That really annoyed me and still does if I'm honest, that even at eight years old everything is based around looks. Never mind that she had a voice that could silence a crowd of thousands, never mind that she sang at Woodstock to 500,000 people, she's just an ugly girl.

So I was always a little bit strange to the others at school. I had friends, yes, I wasn't a social outcast by any means, but I was kind of the cliche of the quiet girl in the corner reading. In my case though it probably wasn't as angelic as that image; I probably would've scowled and snapped at anyone who disturbed me and it wasn't a book I was holding, it was a guitar. In practically all the pictures from my childhood, I've got a guitar in my hands or near me. There's one I especially like of me when I'm about six, sitting in the long grass in my Grandad's garden with the guitar in my lap. My Grandma always said I looked like a 'flower child' (aka hippie) as I was always barefoot, wore jeans and my hair was very long so I suppose she was probably right.

But back to the music. Even though Janis Joplin is my hero, out of all the bands in my Grandad's music collection, Led Zeppelin was always the one that I loved the most. Yes, Hendrix was the best guitarist of all time and yes, Janis was the best singer, but Zeppelin for me was always just the best. The connection and chemistry as they played, four incredibly skilled musicians all working together perfectly imperfectly, merging so many influences and attitudes to create the raging force that was Led Zeppelin, just always seemed a cut above the rest. They could go from a dark, loud and powerful song to playing acoustically and singing about Middle Earth and Mordor, yet still have crowds of 50,000 plus people wrapped tightly around their finger. They were legends and still are 40 years later. 20,000,000 people applied for tickets for their last concert at the O2. Twenty million. If that doesn't say anything then nothing will.

Now things are a bit different for me. After everyone left school at 16 and went to do A-levels, apprenticeships, get jobs, whatever, all the shit that came with school is mostly gone. At college, with so many more people, it's guaranteed that even the weirdos find people like them. For every person with bright blue hair there's another with purple, for every football player there's someone who likes rugby, for every person who likes dark colours and Led Zeppelin there's someone who likes black leather and Black Sabbath. 

What I'm saying is, there are lots of people out there who like classic rock music, you just have to look for them. Even if they don't like classic rock, what's it matter? Most of my friends don't go along with the whole mainstream music (forgive me for saying that, anyone pretentious I know who says mainstream music says it like a disease) thing. One friend loves the Arctic Monkeys, another likes Suede, and they're pretty good. Not Led Zeppelin good, but good nonetheless. I wouldn't choose to listen to more than a few of their songs on my own, but they're great when we all get together. I myself like several other newish bands and artists.

I think the classic rock community on Wattpad is often guilty of a bit of snobbery - including me - shunning other genres on the basis that they're not classic rock. Nothing wrong with that, but you're only limiting yourself. There's loads of other great music out there, you just have to look for it. There's loads of great live bands out there that aren't that well known but that doesn't make them any less as performers. It's all very well saying modern music is shit - most of it is, especially top 40 stuff - but that's a very general statement. There was shit pop music back in the 60s and 70s too; the reason we haven't heard of it is because it's, well, shit.

Obviously things have changed now compared to then, as in the world and the media in general. The world is never going to return to the 70s, and that's probably for the better when you're not looking at it from a music perspective. Really, we don't want another modern band like Led Zeppelin, because no matter how alike they are, they still wouldn't be Led Zeppelin, and that's the whole point. It's better that way, because as things are, they remain seen as 'the greats'. They wouldn't be so great if every other band was doing the same thing, would they? Music is forever changing; bands like Zeppelin were influenced by rock n roll and blues musicians, who were and still are regarded as 'great'. But it's a different kind of great to Zeppelin, because whilst they're influenced, they're different.

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Enough of me rambling on, here's some other people's stories of how they discovered the music they love:

I got into Led Zeppelin because i found a classic rock station last year. The classic rock station played a l o t of Led Zeppelin and they even have this thing at 9pm every weekday evening called "Get the Led Out" where they play 3 led zeppelin songs :')

i first listened to lz last year actually😳 because 2-3 years ago my science teacher played the beatles during class and i was instantly hooked (still my favorite band ever) so gradually i started listening to more classic rock (best decision i've ever made😂) and for some reason i always avoided lz (i don't even know why, so don't ask😂) but last summer i just decided to listen to them and i fell in love (i think the first song i listened to was whole lotta love or dazed and confused, i can't remember) (also whole lotta love is my favorite song ever currently)! they are now my second favorite band and i regret not listening to them sooner...

Well I was like two years old and I was really energetic I guess. My dad told me that I wouldn't sleep at all. But one night he played one of Honeydrippers' songs "Sea of Love". It was beautiful and whenever he forgot to play the song I would ask for "that kind man" that's how I called Robert according to my dad. Growing up I was affected by the interests of people my age therefore I forgot about that kind man. Then I joined wattpad as well and started getting into classic rock at the age of 13 or so. Led Zeppelin really appealed to me so I became obsessed. One day dad called me and played "Sea of Love" once again and the first thing I said was "Dad isn't that Plant?" And he showed me the video "Yes here's your kind man" and that's it. That's why I said I grew up loving Robert and I can't get over him man😂

Two years ago I heard Bohemian Rhapsody and I asked my dad to put the song on my phone. He ended up putting some other Queen songs on there to. That was all I listened to for a month. Then I wanted to get into more rock bands. The first four Zep songs I listened to were Kashmir, Stairway, Whole Lotta Love, and Black Dog. I loved it. Their sound was like no other band I've ever heard. Something about their music felt almost magical.

I simply heard Stairway on the radio one day. I kinda knew how it went, but I wasn't prepared for the last part. It swept me away. The definition of beautiful. And it's not even their best song!

I discovered it when my dad played the rover for me and I fell completely, absolutely, totally in love with zeppelin :) I am the only teenage girl I know who loves classic rock, I wish there were more!

I first discovered led Zeppelin at 6 when my father played me boogie with Stu and I loved it

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Picture: Robert Plant and his daughter Carmen