Mojo Honours 2011

You can tell the Mojo Awards are aimed at a more mature audience, as they're sponsored by a gentle scotch rather than a bourbon.

The winners, then:

Breakthrough act: Rumer
Not entirely sure what she's supposed to have "broken through". I know the idea of the idea of an artist struggling for years and then breaking through all that crapola are as outdated as a Beady Eye bassline, but if you're going to give Rumer an award for starting her career, perhaps the category name should be redrafted to something more appropriate? "Most mentioned in arts sections of newspapers"?

Song of the year: Heathen Children - Grinderman
To be fair, that's a choice you're unlikely to see picking up a Brit in the same category. And not just because of qualification problems.

Outstanding contribution to music - PIL
"Good news... Lydon's agreed to come. If we give him a prize. No, no, we've already done the Sex Pistols... well, yes, we could do 'best butter advert by a musician' but I think Douglas the Lurpak butter man plays the trombone...

Public Image did make an outstanding contribution, but the prize should be collected by Wobble, not Lydon.

Classic album - Screamadelica - Primal Scream
Shouldn't this be a re-release of the year prize? That would make some sort of sense.

Merit award - Martha Reeves And The Vandellas
Look, I know the categories are basically just excuses to bring top people into a small hotel room, but has there ever been a case of such a big, ballsy act being given a prize with such a tiny, mimsy name? I used to get merit points for keeping my colouring within the lines.

Inspiration award - Gary Numan
See, does this imply that Numan didn't make an outstanding contribution or have any merit, but did inspire other acts?

Best album - Suck It And See - The Arctic Monkeys
Grim news for the Monkeys, as not only did this album underperform, but now it's been flagged that their audience has shifted into a more comfortable pair of trousers.

Best live act - John Grant
If you say so.

Best compilation - Sweet Inspiration: The songs of Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham
A nice trade-off of the massive number of categories in awards like this (you used to see with the Sounds readers' poll) is that quite often the lower names in the list do provide gentle surprises like this. I'm given to understand the Now Thats What I Call Music table threw bread rolls when this one was announced.

The Les Paul Award - Steve Cropper
And the Owen Paul Award went to Roy Cropper.

The Mojo Medal - Bob Harris
Amusing most self-importantly titled prize going to least self-important recipient conundrum.

Classic songwriter - Squeeze
Cracking songs, yes, but... why Squeeze rather than Difford & Tilbrook?

Vision award - Upside Down: The Creation Story
Vision award. In other words, TV and film. Presumably they were afraid to split out those two categories in case it made the awards giving drag on a bit.

Catalogue release - Orange Juice - Coals To Newcastle
Careful! This isn't a compilation, although it is. And it's not a re-release, because it wasn't. Lovely to see Orange Juice getting a well-deserved prize, though.

The Mojo Maverick - Donovan
Whether his excellent work with The Singing Corner was mentioned isn't recorded.

The Mojo Hero - Eddie Floyd
Not a maverick, though. Let's be clear about that.

The Mojo Icon - Ringo Starr
Neither a maverick, nor a hero.

The Mojo Hall Of Fame - Brian Wilson
He isn't a hero, an icon, or a maverick.

Here's an idea, Mojo - why not scrap the salami-sliced thin and often spurious categories next year, and just have, say, ten Mojo heroes? Perhaps you could organise it by a theme - so 2012 could be "The Mojo trailblazers", and 2013 could be "The Mojo catgeory-jumpers"? Your awards don't really rely on the last twelve months to frame them, so why not stop trying to force an NME Readers Poll style grid onto something that's a bit more you?