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For those who don't know of him, John Peel was a presenter/DJ on BBC Radio 1 from the 60s until his death in the mid 00s. For as long as I've been aware of it,
by spatulon 6y ago
For those who don't know of him, John Peel was a presenter/DJ on BBC Radio 1 from the 60s until his death in the mid 00s.
For as long as I've been aware of it, Radio 1 has followed a format of playing mainstream pop music during the day, with more specialised and esoteric programming in the evening. When I was a teenager, Peel's show was on at 10pm on weeknights, and his main focus was on championing new and undiscovered bands, across many genres. The Peel sessions were part of this show, where a band would come in to record a live performance of a few songs.
I imagine a lot of bands can credit their success to John Peel playing their records and inviting them to record a session.
- dylan604 6y agoDon't know if they would actually qualify as bootlegs, but some of the most coveted tapes being traded in my highschool days were Peel session recordings. This was in the heart of BFE Texas in the 90s. I still don't know where these tapes came from, but these were my saving as everything else was country <shuddersDownSpine>
- rjsw 6y agoHe had worked in Texas so it seems appropriate that he should have had fans there.
- drcongo 6y agoHe was also present when the authorities paraded Lee Harvey Oswald in front of the press (and Jack Ruby): https://peel.fandom.com/wiki/John_F._Kennedy https://peel.fandom.com/wiki/John_F._Kennedy
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago... and to underline the diversity of the genres Peel championed: he was both one of the main early radio promoters of punk, but just a few earliers had championed Tangerine Dream's Phaedra as one of his favorite albums of the year. I think that if you wanted to try and come up with a simple way to describe what connected all the music that Peel championed over his long career, it would have to be something like "new energy". He didn't seem as interested in what a band actually sounded like as where their energy came from and what level it was on.
- twic 6y agoLooking over a list of Peel sessions: http://www.thepeelsessions.co.uk/bands.html http://www.thepeelsessions.co.uk/bands.html I am struck by (a) what a range of extraordinary stuff there was and (b) just how many times he had his favourites on! I don't think i have ever heard of Loudon Wainright III outside the context of John Peel. I don't think i'd ever heard of The Fall outside of John Peel, and that's despite the fact that i was a regular listener to Mark and Lard!
- spatulon 6y agoOne thing I love about the internet - a couple of years ago I googled some half-remembered lyrics to a song I'd heard a long time ago on John Peel's show, and eventually found it was called Hey Gravity by M.A.S.S., and that someone had uploaded it to YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SOTqFNDhYI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SOTqFNDhYI).
- JKCalhoun 6y agoAnd Ultravox! At least in the U.S. the Foxx-fronted band flew under the radar. We were too busy grooving to Hall & Oates. ;-)
- zimpenfish 6y ago> Loudon Wainright III outside the context of John Peel He was a regular guest on Jasper Carrott's UK show in the late 80s. It was most strange context-switching from a genial Brummie comedian to an acerbic American singer.
- PoachedSausage 6y agoI liked that he would play everything ranging from electronic stuff, drum & bass etc through to industrial and metal. He was truly open minded about music. Back in the 90's his Radio 1 show was followed by Mary Ann Hobbs' The Breezeblock. Another source of great sessions from the electronic music world. She is now on BBC 6 Music, which is probably where Peel would be if he were still with us.
- siquick 6y agoHis son Tom is on 6 Music (John Peel's name was John Ravenscroft) and has a good ear. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/5gqg7lDzj9n7mJWsJsYgBmM/tom-ravenscroft https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/5gqg7lDzj9n7mJWsJs...
- john___matrix 6y agoI never knew that. It does explain why I enjoy his show on 6Music though.
- tlrobinson 6y agoI vividly remember a track referencing him called "John Peel Is Not Enough", by CLSM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dhs3K_pECY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dhs3K_pECY
- mattl 6y agoHe was also present at the JFK assassination :/
- UncleSlacky 6y agoTo be precise, he was at Lee Harvey Oswald's press conference: https://usvsth3m.tumblr.com/post/98894544278/did-you-know-dj-john-peel-was-in-dallas-the-day https://usvsth3m.tumblr.com/post/98894544278/did-you-know-dj...
- hising 6y agoCool with some background, thanks. I came across some John Peel Sessions for Thin Lizzy a couple of years ago, awesome material, never really took the time to figure out who this "John Peel" was.
- TheOtherHobbes 6y agoVirgin Records seem to have based their entire 70s/80s A&R strategy on "Find out which bands John Peel is playing and sign them."
- C1sc0cat 6y agoI recall Hearing Dire Straits on Peel back when they where this London independent pub rock band - I though oh id love to book them for 18 Plus ( a youth organisation like Rotaract).
- Joeboy 6y agoApparently, the brief of exploring more esoteric music was somewhat foisted on him by the BBC and he was initially dubious about it. Maybe in an alternate universe we'd be poring over The Tony Blackburn Sessions.
- C1sc0cat 6y agoTony Blackburn has an massive knowledge of soul and years ago used to do a great show on London Radio.
- gadders 6y agoHe also married a 15 year old. He's "fortunate" he passed away before Operation Yewtree [1] got going. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Peel#Personal_life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Peel#Personal_life [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Yewtree https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Yewtree
- m0nty 6y agoMy understanding is he didn't realise she was 15 and the marriage ended when he found out.
- CositaS 6y agoThere's more to the story than that: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/john-peel-allegations-metoo-radio-1-jimmy-savile-a9097866.html https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/john-peel-allegations-m...
- m0nty 6y agoI didn't realise :( He joins a rather long list of people from my childhood and adolescence who have suddenly been diminished.
- gadders 6y agoSadly he got abused himself as well: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1500254/In-his-own-words-the-teenage-rape-of-John-Peel.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1500254/In-his-own-w...
- jdietrich 6y ago>I imagine a lot of bands can credit their success to John Peel playing their records and inviting them to record a session. That dramatically understates the importance of Peel during his heyday. Before the internet, Peel was the way for bands to find an audience outside of their home town. For an entire generation of musicians, sending off a demo tape to Peel was a peculiar act of secular benediction, a message in a bottle cast into the waters in the hope that someone might read it. His death in 2004 left a void that has never quite been filled. Despite the stalwart efforts of Tom Robinson and the BBC Introducing team, nobody has been able to replicate Peel's unique eclecticism and his remarkable ability to sniff out new talent. His peculiar alchemy attracted a wide audience while also offering an open door to the unknown, the unsigned and the unhinged. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/sep/25/how-john-peel-created-our-musical-world https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/sep/25/how-john-peel-... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPYkQi8olPo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPYkQi8olPo
- xerosis 6y agoI see Mark Riley's show on 6 music as at least a partial fulfilment, not least the amount of live sessions he does.
- KineticLensman 6y agoAs well as music, he also broadcast Home Truths [0] where he interviewed non-celebrities who happened to have interesting stories to tell. This could be extremely poignant at times and although I didn't specifically plan to listen to it, when I did hear it I always liked it. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Truths https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Truths