Starting in the late 1960s, John Peel introduced a generation of British radio listeners – including me – to wondrous and strange “underground” music: Captain Beefheart, the Incredible String Band, Country Joe and the Fish, and many, many more. (Who can forget the Purple Gang’s “Granny Takes A Trip”, an innocent little ditty whose title was guaranteed to get a rise out of BBC management?) He even started his own record label, Dandelion, to give a chance to college bands like Principal Edwards’ Magic Theatre. And the wonderful thing was that he wasn’t stuck in one era: he was always looking ahead, introducing listeners to the unexpected, for nearly 40 years.
On my last trip to England, I was driving down the M40 and tuned in to a talk radio show which seemed to defy all the rules for the genre. It juxtaposed topics in a head-spinning way: the silly, the sad, the ecstatic, and the profound. The host’s voice seemed familiar, but I was concentrating on my driving, and so…. And then at the end I learned that it was John Peel, in a non-musical role, and I realised why the program had challenged conventions. Because he always did. Thanks, John. And goodbye.
Update: Chris just posted a nice piece with a link to John Peel’s favourite song, Teenage Kicks by the Undertones.
Update: The radio show was Home Truths. You can listen to a tribute issue of this wonderful program at the BBC Radio 4 website.