When the BBC first heard Led Zeppelin in 1969 they damned the band with faint praise, calling them "old fashioned", describing them as Muddy Waters wannabes and saying they weren't suitable for daytime airplay.

Archive paperwork shows how the audition panel sat through Communication Breakdown, Dazed and Confused and I Can't Quit You Baby, but didn't think they were a particularly valuable act, although in the end they were allowed to record for the Beeb.

Radio 1 was only two years old, set up by the corporation to fill the gap caused by closure of the popular pirate radio stations. But the BBC, who'd only offered half an hour of 'pop' music a week until the pirate era, didn't seem to fully embrace the concept.

The audition panel slammed David Bowie as "devoid of personality" and Marc Bolan "crap - and pretentious crap at that".

And when Led Zep auditioned for a John Peel session, the same panel thought Jimmy Page could play guitar well, but the rest of the act lacked merit - despite being confronted with a set of future classics.

The BBC Notes include: "English blues group, longing to sound like Muddy Waters but failing through being derivative. It's unconvincing - I'd rather hear the genuine article.

"Basically an old-fashioned sound.

"The lead guitarist is in my opinion one of the best guitarists in the country, and the group, as a whole, probably the best of the type available."

Retired producer Jimmy Grant was one of the seven-man panel. He tells the Times: "The system was quite tight in those days. Bands had to audition to see if they were suitable to make personal appearances. The producers would decide."

Whispering Bob Harris of Whistle Test fame observes: "In 1969 there was still a resentful attitude at the BBC that Radio 1 had been foisted upon them. Some of the old guard looked down their noses at rock. We were seen as left-field rebels. Some BBC people were struggling to keep up."

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