Thoughts On The Passing of John Peel
Oct 26 '04
The Bottom Line Some words regarding the sad death of legendary radio DJ John Peel
This is unlike anything I've written here before, and I'm writing it on the hoof with no preparation, basically making it up as I type, while my thoughts remain fresh. About half an hour ago I heard the radio announce the tragic death of John Peel, from a heart attack at the age of sixty five, followed by the playing of his favourite record, Teenage Kicks by The Undertones. For those of you in the states and elsewhere who may not be familiar, he had been the longest serving DJ at BBC Radio One for the best part of the last forty years.
To describe John simply as a DJ, however, does not begin to do him justice. He was a broadcasting legend. Over the course of his career, his late-night programme was THE place to hear countless new and innovative bands. He was one of the first DJ's to play, and champion, acts like the Sex Pistols, Nirvana, reggae music, ska, garage, rap, world music, jungle, hard house, David Bowie, Joy Division, The Clash, Captain Beefheart, Tom Waits, Marc Bolan, Roxy Music, The Smiths, The Fall, The White Stripes, Pulp - The list is literally endless. God knows how many people owe him their careers. He paved the way for countless new acts, styles and bands - Being played on the Peel show represented a milestone for any up and coming young band. Demo tapes from young hopefuls are sent to his desk by the truckload, and we're not talking about Pop Idol-style crap here, we're talking about stuff that actually has some kind of artistic and creative merit.
John's love and enthusiasm for music, and his constant championing of new groups and acts, meant that his show was essentially the best and most reliable way to find out what the next big thing was going to be, and to hear a huge variety of music that you would never hear anywhere else. If something wasn't on Peel's show, you could bet your life it wasn't worth listening to. He changed the rules of broadcasting, playing the songs without interruption, then providing an always humourous and witty review. His manner was self-deprecating, warm, engaging and enthusiastic, and hearing him was more like listening to a favourite uncle than a radio presenter.
He was, to many, a musical mentor, the older friend with the impossibly cool record collection, the treasure trove of hidden secrets, airing more vibrant and cutting edge music from his studio in a week than your average radio station manages in a lifetime. And he remained that way until the present, commanding a unique respect and admiration from all who played on his esteemed Peel Sessions, and all who listened to him.
If you have any albums at home which consist of studio outtakes, live sessions and radio broadcasts ( like Nirvana's Incesticide and Led Zeppelin or Hendrix's BBC Sessions ), check the liner notes and its a good bet that some of those tracks will have been recorded at a Peel session. It's quite possible he did more to introduce new, innovative music to the British public than anyone else over the last forty years. In fact, I'm sure of it.
I loved listening to John Peel. His warm and instantly recognizable droll voice was a fountain of musical knowledge, and he remained throughout his life a thoroughly down to earth, funny, humble and gentle man. He presented live TV coverage of the Glastonbury festival each year wearing some truly dreadful shorts, and was as nice a chap as you could ever wish to meet. His death, for me, genuinely means the end of an era. There are no DJ's like that around anymore, no one that plows their own furrow in such a singular and committed way. To your average DJ these days, playing Smells Like Teen Spirit for the 708th time is as cutting edge as they like to get.
I'm 25 years old, and I don't listen to ye olde radio much anymore. It's a cliche that every generation says music isn't as good as it used to be, but listening to what dominates the airwaves these days, it's difficult to come to any other conclusion. Good music is always out there though, and John would be guaranteed to find it for you. He was the last man standing, one of the last links to the innovative spirit and willingness to experiment of the sixties and seventies, while always remaining cutting edge and unmistakably of the time he found himself in.
I am usually against this kind of thing - Paying tribute to someone you didn't personally know, as in the cases of Princess Diana, and more recently, the public outpourings over the death of Ken Bigley. But Peel's voice was so familiar and welcome to people, he genuinely did seem like your cool mate from the pub who could tell you what the best sounds were. The music world has suffered a grievous blow today, and an irreplaceable loss. I draw some comfort from the fact that heaven now has the only house DJ fit to helm its turntables. RIP John.
(I apologise for my inability to provide proper links here, so it's copy and paste time, but I do advise you take a look at the tribute pages, they are quite something.)
Tributes to John Peel:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/3955417.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3955547.stm
Obituary:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3955369.stm
News Report:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3955289.stm
Peel's Impact on Music:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3955511.stm
John Peel Homepage:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/alt/johnpeel/
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