American music fans are well used to the concept of classic rock radio, but it’s still a relatively unfamiliar idea on this side of the Atlantic.

There are exceptions to the rule, and there’s even talk of an Irish station of such ilk coming on stream next year by the name of Nova 100.

The best station currently available on these shores for those of a certain vintage broadcasts out of London and goes by the name of Planet Rock.

It is a classic rocker’s aural paradise and even boasts the likes of Alice Cooper and Rick Wakeman, of Yes fame, among its presenters.

Available on the web, Planet Rock also beams into those Irish houses with a Sky satellite dish, which is how we pick it up here at Chez Dervan.

A regular listener when sitting in my “office,” I do happen to like both the music mix and the lack of bull presented by Planet Rock, something I hope Nova 100 imitates when it comes to our attentions in 2010.

Classic rock was the order again on Tuesday morning as the weekend’s sporting events were digested in said office, and the ears stood to attention when the presenter spoke of a new Lynyrd Skynyrd album.

The “Free Bird” men are the subject of a brilliant documentary which passed a very pleasant three hours during my recent recuperation from knee surgery, so I was more than a little interested in the segment.

The new album is entitled God and Guns, and it will be available for purchase and download, the new thing apparently, from September 28.

Described by Planet Rock as a “frankly stunning comeback record,” it features both “trademark Skynyrd licks with a noticeably modern sound full of monster riffs and catchy hooks that rank up there with the best of an already superlative back catalogue.”

What an introduction for a new album. It was so good that I couldn’t wait to hear a track from this “stunning comeback” album.

I’m still waiting.

Instead of offering us some new Skynyrd, our presenter at Planet Rock reverted to hype and played the classic “Sweet Home Alabama” that still fills dance floors at 40th birthday parties all over Ireland.

Coming the morning after Kerry welcomed home their latest All-Ireland champions, I actually found the decision to play “Sweet Home Alabama” prophetic.

Like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s new offering, the latest Kerry team served up a treat every bit as superlative as anything in their back catalogue as they won an All-Ireland they were supposed to lose to Cork on Sunday.

And like the Skynyrds, everything about this new edition harked back to the old days when Kerry ruled the football world.

That’s the way it is when you are the best in the business. No matter how good the current LS line-up is, it will always be compared to the men who brought us “Free Bird” and the band whose soul died with the deaths of three members in a plane crash in October 1977.

Likewise, every Kerry team that comes to Croke Park on All-Ireland final Sunday has to live with the ghosts of their glorious past.

Before last weekend the Kingdom had taken Sam Maguire down to Killarney and Tralee an incredible 35 times, yet few people rated them as favorites for Sunday’s derby date with Cork, certainly not the bookies who lost a fortune on Jack O’Connor’s team.

Cork were well worth their Munster semifinal win over the same Kerry, and had demolished Tyrone en route to Croker, so they were entitled to arrive in our capital city with their heads in the clouds.

And that’s where they stayed, as the likes of Tommy Griffin, Declan and Tom O’Sullivan, Colm Cooper, Darragh and Tomas O Se, Tadgh Kennelly and even the lamented Paul Galvin produced some vintage Kerry football.

It was Tommy Walsh who proved the master on the day, however, as his points either side of halftime proved vital in Kerry’s bid to unhinge a Cork side that had started like an express train.

It wasn’t the prettiest Kerry win ever, but that won’t matter a lot to those who celebrated late into the night in Dublin on Sunday, and then again in the course of a long homecoming with Sam for a 36th time on Monday.

Jack O’Connor’s side won the All-Ireland, and that is the only thing that matters in a county where winning such games is second nature at this stage.

They can play fanciful football, they can play classic football, they can play like slumdog millionaires, but no one in Sweet Home Killarney will care once Sam is on that southbound train.

Like Lynyrd Skynyrd, they can try all the new things they like so long as they never lose sight of their glorious past. Kerry did just that last Sunday, and all is well in the Kingdom again.

Sideline Views

GAA: New statistics published this week confirm that more people are emigrating from Ireland than are arriving to work here. The emigration figures are at the highest they have been since 1995, and that is only going to get worse as our government bail out the bankers and the builders and forget about the rest of us. The GAA is not immune from the brain drain either. Close on 400 players have transferred from clubs in Ireland to play in Britain in the first eight months of this year alone, and God knows how many have moved to the U.S. in search of work. Great little country we have here, isn’t it?

GAA: There’s an interesting aside to Darran O’Sullivan’s status as the latest Kerryman to captain his county to the All-Ireland final, the 36th time they’ve won it as you well know by now. O’Sullivan, you see, was born in London and lived there for the first 14 years of his life, thus becoming the first English-born player to captain a county to the Sam Maguire. There’s an added twist to this Kerry tale as well in that O’Sullivan learned his football with the famous Tir Chonaill Gaels club in London where he was coached by a Corkman called Denis O’Leary of all people!

GAA: Don’t mention Kerry’s All-Ireland win to the GOAL charity boss John O’Shea, himself a man with strong Kingdom connections as it happens. Traditionally the All-Ireland champions in hurling and football play an exhibition match on the Wednesday night after their victory to raise much needed funds for the Third World charity. Kilkenny duly obliged after the hurling decider a fortnight ago, but new football champions Kerry have declined the invitation to play in the GOAL fundraiser and O’Shea is not amused. Beaten All-Ireland finalists Cork, by the way, were happy to oblige had they won Sunday’s decider.

GAA: Pity the poor scoreboard technician in charge of the giant electronic board at Croker on Sunday. As Kerry fans streamed onto the pitch to celebrate their team’s All-Ireland success, the big scoreboard flashed up the wrong message. “Comhghairdeas Corcaigh, GAA Football All-Ireland champions 2009,” it read rather briefly before the mistake was spotted and corrected. Mistakes do happen.

GAA: Great quote from the Kerry manager Jack O’Connor after his comeback season was crowned with another All-Ireland win on Sunday. Asked by reporters what his next challenge would be, the schoolteacher joked, “The Premiership, I’d say. When Alex Ferguson retires, I’ll have a go at it!” He may not have been joking by the way.

GAA: Love the text doing the rounds concerning new government bailout agency NAMA and Cork’s latest All-Ireland final defeat. Apparently down on Leeside NAMA stands for “No All-Ireland Medal Again.” Ouch.

HERO OF THE WEEK

TOMMY Walsh probably felt he had a point to prove in Sunday’s All-Ireland football final after being dropped for the semi against Meath, and he did just that and then some against Cork. Walsh scored four points in total, but his two second half scores turned the screw on the Rebels just when it looked like they were getting back into the game. All round it was a brilliant performance from the youngster.

IDIOTS OF THE WEEK

THE GAA authorities are still upset that Kerry fans ran onto the Croke Park pitch at the end of Sunday’s All-Ireland final win over Cork. They want to keep the sacred sod clear of spectators and hold a Champions League style presentation in the center of the pitch. Why? Running onto the ground at the end of an All-Ireland final is an Irish tradition, so why not accept it and work with the relevant bodies to ensure it is a safe tradition for those involved. And another thing -- if U2 fans can stand on the pitch, why not GAA supporters?