For Maximum Effect, Read This Entry at the Wrong Speed
26 10 2004Jesus christ. Even I care about John Peel dying. I’m usually unmoved by the deaths of even my most favourite celebrities. Princess Diana? Didn’t give a shit. Christopher Reeves? Don’t make me laugh. John Peel, though… now there’s a reason to stop and think. Until today I would’ve claimed that John Peel was immune to conventional weapons, he’s been around so long that you’d think he had something keeping him going. Turns out that a heart attack does the job just fine. I remember John Peel fell into a ditch at a recent Glastonbury, and it evoked strange emotions. Yes, Ha Ha, John Peel fell over in the dark and had to go on TV covered in dirt, but also something slightly sadder, like Uh-oh, John Peel’s getting old…
I don’t listen to a lot of radio, and thus I’d never heard “Home Truths” but I’ve been reading stuff from Peel in the “Grumpy Old Men” book Nikki’s mum bought me, and it somehow supports the argument that even if you’re not a radio-listener, Peel has affected you. It’s arguable whether I’d be such a Pixies fan at this point without his championing them in the past. I’m sure everyone’s listened to his show at some point or another and been bemused by the thought of a 60 year old enjoying, let alone merely playing indie rock, acid trance and german hardcore back to back, but he did it, and there’s really one less reason to listen to the radio without him. I don’t believe Teenage Kicks will ever get this much airplay again.
God, why? Why couldn’t it have been Zane Lowe?
Totally agree
a true legend has died. the way he could play agorophobic nosebleed, into some country than on to ambient trance was incredible. my all time greatest peel memory was when he played a doom song, slow already, at half speed, and backward backward, yet realised, and kept it playing like that because he preffered it!
RIP John
Agree too. He wasn’t that old though, and I seriously doubt most of the generation of DJs today will be missed as much. The man rocked.