Comments on: john peel

By: Stodge

Stodge — Sun, 08 May 2005 23:23:22 +0000

I tried to order hot-chocolate as John Peel died

I saw John Peel’s final conscious moments. I was sitting less than five meters away from him as he spoke his final words. I never saw a man die in front of me before. To see any stranger’s last moment is shocking, but for one’s first encounter with …

By: troubled diva

troubled diva — Sat, 30 Oct 2004 16:43:55 +0000

It would appear to be rev-chron Friday again.
My personal pick of the Peel tributes: Caitlin Moran in The Times; Momus; Mo Morgan; Pete Ashton; Blogjam; “favourite Peel quotes” thread on ILX; digest of further links at No Rock & Roll Fun. Update: a superb late entry from Hydragenic.

By: fi

fi — Fri, 29 Oct 2004 19:48:12 +0000

I was working at Maida Vale BBC studios one day and John Peel turned up for a session in a taxi. I was sitting on the front step having a fag and wanted to berate him for not letting me ever have an early night during those really wierd times when I was changing from a child to an adult (kind of).

I didn’t dare talk to him. How can you talk to a god? He was my late night musical god. I was there scribbling down his track listings.

My best Mate thinks that all the bands who were supported or found by God Peel should do a benefit gig, all the money should go towards establishing the John Peel Foundation for New Music.

I don’t think that the Great Man would complain, and I don’t think the bands would….
F

By: Cosmo

Cosmo — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 20:09:54 +0000

Met him at Anfield a few times, I hope his only regret is wearing that Everton shirt on room 101. Oh, and The Fall.

He played my record once, just the once mind.

By: tom waits

tom waits — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 15:03:06 +0000

i would just like to say the guy who runs “Mr CD’s” in berwick street is a cunt.

By: Beckie

Beckie — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 10:20:00 +0000

On tuesday we spent the afternoon telling our ‘when i met John Peel’ stories. I can’t believe how many people I know met the man and every story is funny / heart warming. I met him at Reading festival, with my best friend Tabitha - who likes to shout alot when she’s had a few… we see Peelie walking past us in the backstage area, so she shouts out ‘oi John, y’beardy bastard, come over here’. He smiled and walked over to us. I asked him if he’d played our 7″ we’d sent him a month or so before. he said he had and told us when and what he’s thought of it. What a lovely beardy bastard he was. A sad loss.

By: mitch

mitch — Wed, 27 Oct 2004 23:00:11 +0000

Back in the days when releasing 7″ singles by unknown, and reasonably untalented, US hardcore bands seemed a viable proposition I spotted the great man at that years Glastonbury shindig. Grasping the opportunity my mate and I awkwardly approached to give thanks for his support, and quite frankly, his existence… After skirting my quite obvious shambling hero worship he promptly dispatched longtime cohort ‘The Shend’ from The Very Things (surely a thread in itself) to buy us each a beer. I was 19. From Droitwich. John Peel, who we’d met literally minutes previously, was buying us beer… Christ on a bike.

With only a couple of chairs in the whole tent we sat at the feet of Messers Ravenscroft & Shend. I quite vividly recall thinking the scene must have had some kind of biblical theme. Hesitant chit chat ensued for a while before a young William Ravenscroft appeared to interrogate his old man as to the clean towel situation within the Peel tent-household. Sent packing with a verbal clip round the ear, including numerous and quite shocking extremely non-BBC ‘phrases’, Mr Peel launched into “I’m sure it’s just an age thing but our William seems an almost constant source of embarrassment to me lately. Just the other night I was sat at home watching some god awful late film and he wanders into the room, seats himself in the chair next to me and starts nodding off. It’s almost 2am and he’s quite obviously shattered so I say to him “Son, it’s late. There’s a direct link between sleep and fatigue so why don’t you get yourself to bed. To which he replied “Come on Dad you know if I go to bed now I’m only gonna masturbate”

What a great man. Utterly peerless.

By: ian w

ian w — Wed, 27 Oct 2004 17:11:37 +0000

i’ve been reading eulogies for the last 24 hours or so now. one of my favourites has been this. what you wrote reminded me of it….

“If I’m still enjoying new music and wandering about blissfully enthusiastic at Glastonbury when I’m 65, then my life will have been a success!”

i had one of those conversations with the man. i was supposedly interviewing him about swedish music and we got onto childhood and all sorts of personal things. listening back to it afterwards was like having my own personal john peel show. an honour.

By: pieman

pieman — Wed, 27 Oct 2004 09:04:58 +0000

I probably speak for 1000’s of others by saying I probably would never have started a fanzine or a band, let alone heard the bands I did during the 80’s crapfest if it weren’t for Peel.