Iggy Pop named Record Store Day 2012 ambassador

Iggy Pop has been named as the Record Store Day 2012 ambassador.

The annual music event will take place on April 21 and will see a range of exclusive releases and gigs take place to celebrate independent record stores.

Speaking about his new role, Iggy stated: "As Record Store Day Ambassador for 2012 I feel like a representative from some exotic jungle full of life and death and sex and anger, called upon to wear a leopard skin and translate joy to the world of the dead.

"A person should have a personality. You won't get one d**king around on a computer. It helps to go somewhere where there are other persons.

"Persons who are interested in something you are. That's how a record store or any shop that's got some life to it should work. It's not about selling s**t."

He continued: "I got my name, my musical education and my personality all from working at a record store during my tender years.

"Small indie shops have always been a mix of theatre and laboratory. In the '50s and '60s the teen kids used to gather after school at these places to listen free to the latest singles and see if they liked the beat."

Iggy added: "You could buy the disc you liked for 79 cents and if you were lucky meet a chick. Clerks in these places became managers, (like Brian Epstein), label heads, (Jac Holzman) and Faces on album covers (like me)."

Last year's Record Store Day ambassador was Ozzy Osbourne and the 2011 event saw special releases from Radiohead and Franz Ferdinand.

Watch Iggy Pop's music video for 'Lust For Life' below: