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26.10.04

John Peel 



Can there be anyone in this country who loves music that wasn't deeply shocked and saddened to hear of the death of John Peel?

Let's face it, John Peel was probably THE most influential voice in British music for nigh on to forty years, even though he himself was no musician. He was a DJ, but more importantly he was a music lover, absolutely passionate about music, a bounding ball of energy that touched us all.

When I was starting out in the Eighties, John Peel's late night radio show was essential listening. I never gave a thought to wanting to appear on Top of the Pops, but the opportunity to do a session for John Peel was a burning ambition. He was the first DJ ever to play my stuff on national radio, primarily because he was the first person anybody ever thought about sending their music to. And you knew that if you got played on his show, millions of like-minded people would be listening in and hearing you. It was Peel who practically invented the idea of giving session time to new artists, opening the door for the likes of Janice Long, Andy Kershaw and others to do the same. Without Peel I'd probably now be sitting in a lunatic asylum somewhere in the West Midlands. And I am just one of thousands who owe him so much.

In addition to being the spokesman for all serious music lovers, John Peel was also one of the nicest people you could ever meet. Who would not take a shine to a man who gave so much of his time, and who was so full of love for music and people and the things he believed in? He was a deeply emotional man who loved his wife Sheila above anything else, so much so that he could hardly utter her name without shedding tears of happiness, even after decades of marriage. He even built a studio in his home so that he could broadcast his show to the nation without having to be parted from her. To her and his children we send our warmest regards and deepest sympathies.

John Peel is completely irreplaceable, and the debt that we who love music owe him can never be paid. The best tribute we can give him is to continue to nurture new artists, continue to make new exciting and heartfelt music, continue to be true to ourselves. He was an absolute example to us all, both in who he was and how he lived, and he will be sorely missed for many years to come.

And I for one know whose statue we should place on the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square. If you own a copy of The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks", open the windows and play it as loud as you can.


View the public tributes to John Peel





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