Fuddland

1939–2004

John Peel was responsible for most of the music I listened to as a teenager, filtered down through my brother’s selective taping of his Radio 1 show, bands like The Fall and The Orb interspersed with his instantly-recognisable voice. I remember once he played all forty-odd minutes of The Blue Room single without interruption — no one else could have got away with that.

I was in San Francisco about three years ago where, in an upstairs backroom of a fairly grotty bar called The Edinburgh Castle, along with nine or ten other people, I saw a great band called Potion perform a tiny gig. I went up to them afterwards, bought their CD and chatted for a while. As soon as they heard my accent they talked about wanting to come over the England to play a few gigs, and I asked if they had done anything about getting known over here. They said they had asked around, and everyone had told them the same thing: send your tape to John Peel.

He was a great champion of unknown bands, and is truly irreplaceable.

#1

Daisy | 2004 / 10 / 26 – 16:19

It’s a huge shame isn’t it, and he was only 65. One of the best voices on radio, in all ways.

#2

the manly smell | 2004 / 10 / 26 – 16:36

Very sad - it’s hard to see anyone ever replacing his enthusiasm and support for new music.

#3

Richard | 2004 / 10 / 26 – 20:48

He’ll be missed for sure.

#4

Brown | 2004 / 10 / 27 – 12:38

A great shame. It really does seem that everyone has a unique personal affection for John. For me it was the tremendous work he has done for the hardcore scene. Last night I made a point of playing CLSM’s curiously titled “John Peel is not enough” and remembering.

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