John Peel RIP

[Spiritinthesky]

25th Oct 2004, John Peel died in Cuzco, Peru of a heart attack, aged 65. He was BBC’s longest-serving radio DJ and the first DJ to introduce The Ramones, Roxy Music, The Smiths, The Fall, Rod Stewart, Blur, the Sex Pistols, T. Rex and others to the masses. He founded Dandelion Records in 1969, which released records by Kevin Coyne, Bridget St John and Medicine Head.

Full story: http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/pages/john_peel

[Man out of Time]

Thanks for posting this SpiritintheSky.

I grew up listening to Peel on Radio 1. I remember when the first Sex Pistols album came out and he played in all straight through. Usually every other record in the show was something unlistenable, but the bits in between made up for it.

I remember still where I was when I learnt Peel had died. Weeks later I was at his funeral in Bury St Edmunds cathedral. An extraordinary event. Teenage Kicks by the Undertones (who were in the congregation) was played as the pallbearers carried the coffin out of the church at the end. Very emotional event.

MOOT

[Otis Westinghouse]

If I had to list the 10 individuals who have had the most influence on my entire life culturally, I think he would have to be in there. So much of the music I still love goes directly back to him as my introduction. You read about it in the NME and you heard it on Peel, and that's how you learnt. I grew up in Jersey, so you couldn't explore anyone live, those two pillars were my antennae and my link to a bigger world.

I can't help wondering now when there's so much focus on the Radio 1 / BBC world of Peel's how much he himself was aware of Jimmy's Saville's grotesque predilections and abuses of power. I'd like to nothing nothing or he'd have done something, but as we keep hearing, they were very different times.

[Heats101]

Thanks for posting this SpiritintheSky.

I grew up listening to Peel on Radio 1. I remember when the first Sex Pistols album came out and he played in all straight through. Usually every other record in the show was something unlistenable, but the bits in between made up for it.

I remember still where I was when I learnt Peel had died. Weeks later I was at his funeral in Bury St Edmunds cathedral. An extraordinary event. Teenage Kicks by the Undertones (who were in the congregation) was played as the pallbearers carried the coffin out of the church at the end. Very emotional event.

MOOT

I also remember all the Undertones debut album being played in the one show and so began a brief teenage love affair with the Derry men on my part.

And lets not forget the Festive 50s.

[Dr. Luther]

First 3 Peel sessions have been newly posted to YouTube.


25 July 1977:






13 March 1978:






23 October 1978:






(By the way -- the person that posted these has dozens and dozens and dozens of Peel Sessions on his channel):

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbJ7iw ... zMw/videos