A fondness for Led Zeppelin is unexceptionable. Even Stephen Fry, my secret arbiter of taste, likes them. When you think of it that way, it suggests that anyone who dislikes them is seriously lacking in discernment, good judgment, and an appreciation for the finer things. Stephen and I share a love for wordplay, P. G. Wodehouse, Georgette Heyer, Mac computers, humanism, Hugh Laurie, The Ride of the Valkyries, polymathery, Oscar Wilde, and yes, Black Dog. In fact, the main difference between us is 5,149,975 followers on Twitter.
Every morning my secret arbiter of taste offers advice on my wardrobe…
SF: Not that skirt, darling. It makes you look spavined.
Linnet: Thanks, Stephen.
SF: …but I love you anyway, you brilliant little thistle.
Linnet: How about this one?
SF: No time, luv. Must look after my 5.1 million Twitter followers…
I’m straying from the main point of this post, which is to luxuriate in screen caps of early 70s performances of my favorite Zeppelin songs, Rock and Roll, Black Dog, D’Yer Mak’er and All My Love…
You should definitely click on this to enlarge.
Words are superfluous, but I will say that when I watch these videos, I’m always amazed at how Robert Plant can be so androgynous and so male at the same time. Jimmy Page is a thrill to watch, especially closeups of his hands. He used to wear these custom-made wizard/mage/rock star outfits with big stars on them. He never wore a pointy Gandalf hat so far as I know, but he was really into Aleister Crowley. He even bought Crowley’s house on Loch Ness.
Very, very sensitive hands…
I can’t resist showing this last one. After all, this blog is about Beautiful Men.
And now for something even more gorgeous than Robert Plant’s arse in 1973: Stephen Fry’s nose ca. 1980.
Stephen, you’re worth a hundred Led Zeppelins. Click for source.
Linnet Moss 
Wow, SF was quite sexy back in the day! Of course, he’s still amazing though!
Yes, I have always thought he was a hottie 😉
No, I tell you, my husband is a drummer and in one of our first dates he explained me how a 4/4 beat works listening to “Cashmere” 😉
One of the most touching things I’ve seen in tv is Stephen Fry in that British series in which they investigate about celebrities ancestors (forgot the name). By the way, yesterday I had the chance to watch the last ten minutes of Jeremy Irons’ (when talking about gorgeous men Jeremy always appear to wave a hand and say ‘hi’ … and what a pair of hands…).
That comment of yours about the difference of twitter followers reminds me a twit I wrote a while ago:
BarsineAR @BarsineAR · 1 apr
I just have 1.229.363 followers less than Tom Hiddleston #SeeingTheGlassHalfFull #Optimism #Spring #Twitter
🙂
You are married to a Drummer??? Oh myyyyy 😉
Totally agree about Jeremy Irons.
Hiddleston has a healthy number of followers, but he’s no Stephen Fry 😉 I definitely want to see that ancestry show. I wonder if I can get it here in the states.
Yep: good thing, he has gorgeous arms and chest, bad thing I have that bloody drum set (toms, cyms, snares and so on) jammed in a tiny apartment 😉
I’ve seen the Stephen Fry one in YT
🙂
Ah, many thanks!
I was a really late late-comer to Led Zep (in my thirties OMG) but it hit me even deeper, I think. That guitar solo on Stairway (forget the rest of the song) is just pure ear porn.
Stephen Fry – wonderful man, but not my type of eye-candy. More for the brain than the eyes in my case. But as PreferNot2 said – that “Who do you think you are” episode about his family was absolutely wonderful. (If you haven’t seen it yet, Linnet, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2B1oj_BTjg ) Made me appreciate him even more than I already do (partly because he spoke fluent German :-D)
LOL on the difference between Fry and you (number of Twitter followers). Just imagine what a burden it must be for him to have so many people waiting for his witticisms…
Yes, his Twitter presence is quite a phenomenon. I almost wish I didn’t have to share the wonderfulness that is SF with so many other people. Thanks for the link–I will definitely be watching this.
I love the solo on “Stairway” too, but I also love the dorky LoTR references…
Yes. Very dorky. Although they never seemed like dorks to me…
Well, that was before LoTR got dorky. In the beginning, it must have been the height of cool. Like Facebook 😉
I. Love. Stephen Fry. So great on Have I got News For You with Angus Deayton and Paul Merton… those were the days… too long ago… sigh.
Great minds think alike 😉
I just got back from class. There’s just pea soup in my head. I know that for sure.
Mmm, pea soup with mint. And a garnish of crème fraîche. What’s not to like?
Linnet, that was a brilliant dialogue between you and Stephen. I think it would be marvelous to gain such a level of known intelligence that people pen fictitious witticisms that only increase fans’ admiration for you. A wonderful gain from no effort.
What a giggle! 😛
Thank you! I just know that Stephen welcomes any opportunity to use the word “spavined.” I can almost hear him saying it.
The great thing about Zep, when you see films of them onstage, is that apart from the enormity of their combined talent, they clearly loved playing together. Organic chemistry!
Indeed! No doubt all kinds of chemistry were involved 😉 But their camaraderie shows in their playing, and it’s a beautiful thing.