John Peel has just passed away.
If you are unawares, John Peel was a radio broadcaster for the BBC, and showcased new and innovative bands for the last 30 years or so. Punk, new wave, grunge, industrial, on and on, were often first heard on a large scale on his program and helped jumpstart many musical careers. There really is no equivalent in the U.S.
Placed alongside the recent Ashlee Simpson/SNL "scandal" (like it was a big shock that she lip synchs) it's a sad marker for the state of the music industry.
I'll post something writerly later; just felt this was big enough to share. John Peel will be missed.
Excelsior
3 comments:
He's Peel Sessions, right? I had a bunch of Peel Sessions on vinyl (I guess they're still packed up in my parents' basement. I need to do something with my old vinyl someday, although most of my good stuff melted in the sun in the backseat of a college boyfriend's car, the bastard. Ha.) Siouxsie and the Banshees and Xmal Deutschland Peel sessions jump to mind. (And this all dates me, of course.) That is too bad.
Yep, same guy. He did a regular radio show that focused mostly on new music, and invited bands in once a week to play/record live on his show. Those live recording are what we know as the Peel sessions. Great publicity since its broadcast pretty much worldwide to anyone with a shortwave radio. It was particularly helpful for U.S. bands, because it paid well enough to warrant at least a short European tour.
I have a few peel sessions: the Cure, Dinosaur jr, Nirvana, one or two others. All bootlegs. No vinyl though. Now that Peel's passed on a boxset by the BBC wouldn't surprise me (if there's not one already).
I can imagine a Peel Sessions box set would be incredible. And I'm sure you're right, there will be one forthcoming.
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