John Peel RIP
I was actually planning to resume posting here this week anyway, but John Peel’s passing has forced my hand rather; I certainly can’t let it his death go unmentioned.
I started listening to John Peel in about 1987, sometimes as I did my school homework, or more usually lying in bed in the dark late at night. He broadened my musical horizons no end, and without him I’d probably never have got to hear loads of great (and no-so-great, but interesting nevertheless) music. It was John Peel that introduced me to the Wedding Present, Half-Man Half-Biscuit, The Smiths, Jesus & Mary Chain, The Pixies, Cocteau Twins, Big Black, and the Orb, to name but a few.
His shows were the perfect antidote to all the commercialised crap played by cheesey Radio 1 DJs less than half his age. I thought one of the tributes left on the BBC site put it quite well:
Having John Peel operating on Radio 1 was like having Naom Chomsky operating in the White House.
But it wasn’t just the wonderfully eclectic range of music he championed that made him so special though; his genuine warmth, passion and dry, self-deprecating humour made listening to his shows feel as though I was listening to a good mate. Late nights won’t be the same without John Peel playing some Icelandic thrash metal at the wrong speed, and Saturday mornings certainly won’t seem right without his Home Truths.
I can’t remember ever feeling this upset about the death of someone I never knew before - my heart goes out to Sheila and the rest of his family and friends. The most important person in British music has died, and the radio will never be the same again. RIP.
- John Peel has died
- Badger’s back - and this time it’s personal
