John Peel - RIP

BrianH

BrianH

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John Peel has died of a heart attack while on a working holiday in Peru. His contribution to contemporary music over many years was best summed up by Radio 1 Controller Andy Parfitt, who said "John Peel was a broadcasting legend. I am deeply saddened by his death as are all who work at Radio 1. John's influence has towered over the development of popular music for nearly four decades and his contribution to modern music and music culture is immeasurable.

"Hopeful bands all over the world sent their demo tapes to John knowing that he really cared. His commitment and passion for new music only grew stronger over the years. In fact, when I last saw him he was engaged in a lively debate with his fellow DJs over the state of new music today. He will be hugely missed. "
 
Like Ian, I am not often given to feeling, well anything very much, at the loss of people whom I don't know. But. I am prepared to make an exception for John Peel - a lot of the new music he introduced the world to was, in my opinion, crap, but there was also a helluva lot of good stuff in there. And for that I thank him. Goodbye.
 
I'm also prepared to make an exception for John Peel as his interests and passions - alternative music and (not many people know this - edit after having my card marked by Brian: mainly because it's not true) writing Doctor Who novels - mirrored my own and, what's more and by all accounts, for the same sentimental reasons.

A great bloke all round, I hear - very sad.
 
Driving along listening to the R4 news at 2.00 and couldn't believe it...

Am of the generation when he's always been on the radio - I'll even admit to listening to his Sat morning R4 prog (only when mucking out, you understand) - no one else has that unique monotone...

Bummer.
 
Very sad. :( Definitely one of the best DJ's of my era, and irreplaceable. It really makes you realise how useless some of the modern DJ's are by comparison.

RIP John.
 
John Peel was a national icon in the British music arena. He must have done more single handedly for British bands over the past 40 years or more than any number of so called managers. A sad loss for the music industry.
 
Courtesy of Reuters

LIMA/LONDON (Reuters) - Veteran British disc jockey John Peel, who championed new music trends like punk on mainstream radio, has died of a heart attack on holiday in Peru.
His employer the British Broadcasting Corporation said on Tuesday the 65-year-old Peel, whose laconic style and northern English accent was immediately recognizable, was in the ancient Inca city of Cuzco with his wife Sheila.
He died on Monday.
"John Peel was a broadcasting legend. I am deeply saddened by his death," said Andy Parfitt, controller of the BBC's flagship pop music station Radio One.
While many around him opted for the musical mainstream, Peel determinedly espoused the off-beat and the experimental throughout his long career, making him a beacon to young bands trying to break through.
"John's influence has towered over the development of popular music for nearly four decades and his contribution to modern music and music culture is immeasurable. He will be hugely missed," Parfitt said.
Fans agreed.
"Very sad news, the man is a legend. There are many bands out there who would never have seen the light of day but for Peel," said one on a Web Site after hearing of Peel's death.
PIRATE RADIO
Peel was born in Heswall near Chester in northwestern England and, after completing his compulsory military service in 1962, went to the United States to kick off his career.
He started work at a radio station in Dallas, Texas and was there when President John F Kennedy was assassinated
From there he roamed from one radio station to another, ending in Los Angeles in the heyday of the hippy era.
Returning to England in 1967 he began broadcasting to the mainland from pirate radio ships anchored just outside British waters. Then he moved to Radio One as the station took to the airwaves giving Britons a taste of the surging popular music of the Beatles and their contemporaries.
But music to do the ironing by was not for him.
Instead, Peel populated the night with movements like punk, reggae and hip-hop -- always open to the unknown and on the look out for the unusual.
A popular figure with the avant-garde of the music scene, Peel made a smooth transition from the night owl to the avuncular with his "Home Truths" family stories radio show.
Regularly topping music paper Best DJ polls, Peel also won the 1993 Sony Award for Broadcaster of the Year and in 1994 was named Godlike Genius by the NME music newspaper.
Peel picked up a string of Honorary Degrees from universities across England and won an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his work.
BBC Director of Radio and Music Jenny Abramsky described Peel as unique. "He had a remarkable rapport with all his listeners. Everyone at BBC radio is devastated by the news," she said. "John is simply irreplaceable."
He leaves his wife Sheila and their four children. (Additional reporting by Jeremy Lovell in London)
 
Just bought a paper and I can't believe it. He was the best reason to stay up late to listen to the radio.

A great man who will be sadly missed.
 
As Thom Yorke of Radiohead out it "who am I gonna listen to now ?" . I grew up with him as alot of us did . I have him to thank for broadening my horizons when I was a teenager and continuing to do so long after that . It's a shock because we all thought he'd be around forever . He had such an admirable attitude to life that you can't imagine him going so suddenly or so early . I wouldn't be the person I am if I hadn't had the benefit of listening to his programmes and the bands that he brought through . Joy Division , The Fall and countless others . It's very sad .
 
Glad I'm OK by you Graham - fantastic song, one of my definate all time faves!! ( and it doesnt matter who covers it - its always a great song! )

RIP John - most distinctive voice on radio or telly - was a great champion of the "small guy" in both worlds too. I know I am a few years behind some of you lot in the listening stakes, but he will be very very much missed by a lot of fans.... :(
 
Caitlin Moran in the Times suggested a fitting tribute would be for all the bands who sent him demos to arrange them all in a floralesque tribute outside Radio One. I liked that idea.
 
I can't say that I was an avid listener to John Peel but I was sad to hear that he'd died. I did try to listen to his show when I was a kid but I usually fell to sleep with the radio on and woke up with the radio whistling or Anne Nightingale twittering away or whatever.

I guess that I was from a generation that hated Radio 1. It started off in the morning with Noel Edmonds or DLT (the so called 'hairy monster') and possibly got worse as the day went on. You might as well have had Tommo on. The kids with whom I went to school tended to think of Johnnie Walker as the real hero of Radio 1, as he put up a bit of a fight during daylight hours. Certainly by the time that punk came round, Peel was the only one who would play it. However, we never really listened to radio much. We'd but records on the basis of what the NME said and they weren't wrong in those days. Kids these days have so much choice but perhaps there is a bit less to listen to. I suppose that you can't have everything.

But back to Peel. I really liked the guy and it's funny to think that I won't hear that lovely voice again. RIP.
 
Originally posted by terry@Oct 29 2004, 08:11 PM
Kids these days have so much choice but perhaps there is a bit less to listen to.

Click to expand...
That sums it up very nicely, terry. I couldn't agree more.
 
I was reading something earlier about John Peel and it turns out that he was born near Chester.

The funny thing was that we were moored up on a narrow boat at a place called Christleton, near Chester, on the day that he died. At about 10.00pm we were all back from the pub and I was listening to the radio and heard the news. A few minutes later we heard church bells ringing and I suggested, jokingly, that they were ringing for John Peel. Now I have no idea why the bells rang but would they ring them for somebody like John Peel?
 
From the Wirral Globe:
' Peel was born John Robert Parker Ravenscroft into a well-off Heswall family on August 30, 1939 and was one of Wirral's most famous exports.'

Heswall is about 3 miles from where I'm sitting.

I liked Peel as a personality and in the early seventies he introduced me to some music that has stayed with me (Eagles, Dan Hicks etc) but I always thought his thing was freshness and innovation rather than musical quality. Thus as many duds as gems. Still a major contributor over the years and a sad loss.
 
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