It was Leonard Cohen, not Jay-Z, that made me stump up £150 for a Glastonbury ticket.

However, I'm cool enough to acknowledge that music is a broad church and not get my knickers in a twist about it.

Noel Gallagher's outburst, worth quoting in full, is quite extraordinary.

The 40-year-old Oasis star has declared it "wrong" to have a hip-hop headliner.

He told the BBC: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you start to break it then people aren't going to go. I'm sorry, but Jay-Z? No chance.

"Glastonbury has a tradition of guitar music and even when they throw the odd curve ball in on a Sunday night you go 'Kylie Minogue?'

"I don't know about it. But I'm not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. It's wrong."

Last time I went to Glastonbury, Judie Tzuke headlined; Roy Harper had a punch-up with Ginger Baker on stage and the Thompson Twins stole the show.

Heck, it didn't even rain.

I think Noel Gallagher would have liked it. There certainly weren't any nasty rappers because rap hadn't been invented then.

Am I being sensitive here?

There's certainly something troublesome about his outpouring.

It has to be said that Oasis's star is waning these days. A whole new generation of bands have taken their place, many of which show up Noel and Liam for the retro-fixated boorish ninnies they have always been.

Plundering the work and style of John Lennon is no longer a career option, thanks to the likes of the Arctic Monkeys and the Klaxons. Manchester is now a musical back-water after 20 years in the spotlight.

I wonder if Mr Gallagher has ever been to a hip hop show? Somehow I doubt he has.

The Britpop guitarist seems to subscribe to the notion that hip hop, because it doesn't have guitars, isn't real music.

Thing is, Noel, you don't actually need guitars to be in a band these days.

Two turntables and a microphone can do the job just as well.

A good hip hop gig is like a party to which everyone is invited. It's a knock-out roustabout affair where the beats, bassline and words are king.

There's more energy in the house than Oasis could ever muster. For all their posturing, Oasis are little better than a competent pub band.

If frere Gallagher had a little more humility, he may even benefit from taking a leaf out of Jay-Z's book.

One of these men has built a multi-million pound empire through graft, hard business acumen and innovation.

The other is saddled with a migrating fan-base, a disastrous vanity record label, declining creativity and middle-age spread.

In short, does anyone actually care about Oasis any more?

I'm not flying the flag for hip hop here. Much of it is ugly, malicious and sexist. The worst of it would qualify for an Asbo.

As a musical force, rap is at least 30 years old, depending on when you think its year zero is.

It's now the most popular music on the planet.

The natural successor to jazz, it's an evolving style that constantly reinvents itself; the sure sign of its vibrancy.

However, Oasis were born into a musical cul de sac.

Hamstrung from the get-go by turning a dead horse into a lifestyle, Oasis made one good album (their first) and then spent the next few years pumping the formula full of steroids until it became a fat farce.

You can dress up a corpse in many ways but it will still be a corpse.

I have stayed away from Glastonbury for 20 years, arguing that it has become too big, too corporate, too mainstream. And besides, it always rains.

This year I have revised my opinion because an octogenarian from Canada is willing to make the effort.

I'll also be seeing him at Manchester Opera House and the wonderful Big Chill festival. There are some events that galvanise me like that.

So, it's Glasto for me, hurrah, and, while I'm there, I may make the effort to check out some other bands; but as long as I'm near the front for Leonard Cohen, I don't really care.

I will be going with an open mind though and maybe the Jay-Z fans will be doing the same.

I bet Noel's hacked off because he hasn't been asked to play. Long ago is the time when Oasis could have headlined the festival.

Let him watch it at home then, in his slippers with a mug of cocoa.

I know where I'd rather be.