From the Archive: Remembering Iconic British DJ John Peel
19 years after his passing, the DJ's legacy lives on.
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Today marks 19 years since the passing of iconic British DJ John Peel. Peel left behind a legacy of championing up-and-coming English bands and used his time slot on BBC Radio 1 to promote them.
"I just want to hear something I haven't heard before."
In the States, DJs such as Rick Dees and Casey Kasem had wide audiences, but they were playing music that was already climbing the charts. Peel exposed millions to new music and was responsible for launching many careers.
Peel first found work at a "pirate" radio station, Radio London, in 1967 and developed a program called "The Perfumed Garden," where he played folk-rock and psychedelia, emphasizing groups coming out of LA and San Francisco.
That same year, he moved to BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his untimely 2004 death. Peel routinely introduced new artists to his eager audience and had such a reputation for breaking new acts that musicians would flood him with demos.
A long-running feature of his show was the Peel Sessions, where a band would come in and pre-record four tracks to be played on the show. These were recorded and mixed the same day, giving them their distinct rough sound. Over 4000 of these were recorded by 2000 artists, and many were released as records on Peel's Strange Fruit record label.
Picking up New Order’s session1 was my entry into the Peel universe. In addition to that record, I still have a copy of 1990’s “Best Of,” featuring various artists, including The Smiths, Wire, and Gang of Four. For a suburban kid on the West Coast, these records were revelatory.
The show also had The Festive Fifty- an annual tradition of the listener-voted best tracks. That tradition continues today on the internet station Dandelion Radio.
Peel may no longer be with us, but his legacy lives on in the music he helped share with the world.
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Peel’s favorite song was The Undertones’ “Teenage Kicks,” with the DJ noting, "There's nothing you could add to it or subtract from it that would improve it."
Do you have any specific memories of Peel’s show? For readers here in the U.S., did you ever pick up any of the Peel Session releases? If so, which ones?
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
This is the second of 2 sessions New Order did. It’s #39 in the series. Both were originally issued as 4 track EPs and were combined into one LP in 1990.
Joy Division and The Jam are two favorites in my collection. Mr Peel was a huge influence on my musical taste as a lad. Here's a great Spotify mix of Peel Sessions someone made.
https://spotify.link/NzFye1aDbEb
I love hearing about great deejays. I was never a huge fan of the American syndicated shows. They were trite and boring to me. I liked the college station close to home when the right kids were playing the edgy stuff you mention.
When I left home for college, I was thrilled at having so many choices to fill my head. New sounds. Different people than just alternative music. Yet my favorite was the fantastic independent music played by WXRT-FM. More than an independent alternative station, they were a music education on Rock ‘n Roll and the Blues. They stayed independent until being sold to CBS (I believe), who has let them retain their format that was gobbled up by most other network-run stations.
The only way I have seen deejays leave the station has been through, unfortunately, death. Anytime I’ve heard about a passing I feel that I’ve lost a good friend.