Tributes pour in for DJ John Peel

[trackaghost]

Sorry I have to give this it's own thread, it's lost in the other one and, as any UK Ledgie will know, this is a great loss to British music indeed :(

Look at these amazing tributes to the man. I mean Bernard Sumner saying "If it wasn't for John Peel, there would be no Joy Division and no New Order", that's pretty amazing.

Ozzy Osbourne: "He was a pioneer in his own right. If it wasn't for John Peel, Black Sabbath would never have been played on the radio. He was a good guy."

Brian Eno "He put a huge amount of energy into listening to the sackloads of stuff he received with a curiosity and an appetite that never seemed to diminish. He didn't deal in celebrities for their own sake. He found beauty and interest in ordinary people. He was a real democrat."

Thom Yorke from Radiohead: "Whenever I was losing inspiration, I would listen to the show and I was back on track. He played one thing every show that changed how you thought about that style of music."



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3955547.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3957699.stm

Tributes have poured in from the music world after the death of veteran broadcaster John Peel, who died on holiday in Peru on Monday aged 65.
Members of The Smiths, The Undertones, The Manic Street Preachers, Radiohead, Blur and Joy Division have spoken about Peel's influence and legacy.

Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr said the band's early success was "largely due to the John Peel show".

Prime Minister Tony Blair also paid tribute to the BBC Radio 1 DJ.

Peel, whose radio career spanned 40 years, was on a working holiday in the city of Cuzco with his wife Sheila when he suffered a heart attack.

He was BBC Radio 1's longest-serving DJ and in recent years had also presented Home Truths on Radio 4.
Radiohead singer Thom Yorke said Peel was his "inspiration" since the age of 14. "Who am I going to listen to now? I'm thinking about you. Thanks John Peel."

Blur singer Damon Albarn said the world would be a poorer place without Peel.

"I will miss him deeply," he said. "I want to send my heartfelt sympathy to his lovely family. John's memory will never be forgotten because he had the spirit of music in him."

Feargal Sharkey, former frontman of The Undertones, described Peel as the "single most important broadcaster we have ever known".

'He changed my life forever'

The band's single Teenage Kicks was Peel's favourite song and he championed the track and the band on his show in the late 1970s.
Sharkey said: "In the autumn of 1978, something happened that was to change my life forever - John Peel played Teenage Kicks on the radio for the very first time. Today, it just changed again, forever."

Johnny Marr, who played with The Smiths on live sessions on Peel's show, said he was always the best DJ on the radio.

"We would try out new songs on the sessions and these often were the definitive version," he said.

Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker said: "In a world that is becoming ever more homogenised and pre-programmed, John Peel stuck up for the 'sore thumbs' of the music scene and I really can't think of anyone who could have done it better or who's going to do it now he's gone."


Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher called Peel "a rare breed amongst radio DJs". The Manic Street Preachers' James Dean Bradfield told the BBC News website: "It was because of him I got to hear some of the most obscure but influential music I ever heard.

"He was a lifeline to hearing music I would never have heard otherwise."

'Dreadful shock'

Bernard Sumner of Joy Division and New Order said the news of Peel's death was a "dreadful shock".

"If it wasn't for John Peel, there would be no Joy Division and no New Order," he said.

"He was one of the few people to give bands that played alternative music a chance to get heard, and he continued to be a champion of cutting-edge music throughout his life."

Kurt Wagner, of US band Lambchop, said Peel was "amazing" and his influence was felt far outside his home country.
Tony Blair's spokesman said the Prime Minister was "genuinely saddened by the news".

He added: "His view is that he was a unique voice in British broadcasting and used that voice to unearth new talent and different subjects and make them accessible to a much wider audience."

Peel was born in Heswall, near Liverpool, and joined Radio 1 at the launch in 1967.

He became one of the first DJs to give exposure to punk, reggae and hip-hop, before they crossed over into the mainstream.

'Devastated'

Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt said Peel's death "absolutely devastated everyone".

"We're stunned and bereft. He's irreplaceable because what he had was 37 years of commitment to young music."

Mr Parfitt told Radio 1's Newsbeat Peel had been on a holiday of a lifetime when he died. "He had gone on holiday with his wife Sheila to a place where he had always wanted to go."
Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq said: "He was groundbreaking for me. He just broke the rules the whole time. He did things that just weren't done. He was a maverick and he got away with it.

"You have to have trust with a DJ, and everyone built that trust with John."

BBC 6 Music's Liz Kershaw said he was " the least musically snooty person we know".

She said: "He was utterly sincere in what he was doing, not because he wanted to be famous but he though he was on a mission to bring stuff to people's ears.

'Great joy'

"He really did trawl through mailbags of demo cassettes. That's why we had Pulp and T-Rex, because he'd been discovering bands like that since 1967."

Singer Laura Cantrell, who was championed by Peel in recent months, said he had an "unabashed love for music".

"I really treasure that I got to know the man and his family, to hear his stories, and to be welcomed by he and Sheila to Peel Acres.

"To experience his sense of humour, the great joy that he took in his life was inspiring."

[Gypsy-Rhiannon]

James Dean Bradfield, lead singer of the Manic Street Preachers, led the tributes.

He said: "It was because of him I got to hear some of the most obscure but influential music I ever heard.

"He was a lifeline to hearing music I would never have heard otherwise. He was a portal to a whole new world."

Blur frontman Damon Albarn said: "John Peel's patronage was for me, like countless other musicians, one of the most significant things that happened to us in our careers.

"The world is going to be a poorer place with his sudden departure.

"I will miss him deeply. I want to send my heartfelt sympathy to his lovely family. John's memory will never be forgotten because he had the spirit of music in him."

Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker said: "It would be absolutely impossible to write a history of the last 40 years of the British music scene without mentioning John Peel's name.

"He was one of those few people about whom you could truly say that the world would have been a much different place without him.

"For many years he almost single-handedly championed new and challenging music in the UK."

"Through his radio sessions he allowed unknown and unsigned bands to be heard for the first time."

Elvis Costello said: "I was terribly sad to hear the news, even though I hardly knew the man. Like many others, I felt I knew him from his voice on the radio.

"He was the contradiction of every bad thing you could say about radio.

"He had an open mind about music, whether he was bringing the listener the Incredible String Band or the Fall, Mike Hart or Echo and the Bunnymen, and countless bands that appeared only to be heard on his great shows.

"Our brief conversations were centred on our mutual love of Liverpool FC. A great man, a fabulous curmudgeon, he was as rare as the music that he loved."

Singer-songwriter Billy Bragg described Peel as a "champion" of musicians and a "true friend" of his listeners.

He said: "I am greatly saddened to hear of the death of John Peel and my thoughts are with his wife Sheila and his family.

"He was the first DJ to play my music and has remained a good mate over the years.

"Throughout his career, John Peel defined independent music.

"Although he became an institution at the BBC, he was, in effect, running his own pirate radio station from within the Corporation, introducing us to music that could not be heard on any other radio show.

"Those artists, like myself, who benefited from his eclectic enthusiasm have lost a champion, but the listeners have lost a true friend."

DJ Jo Whiley, who presented coverage of the Glastonbury Festival with Peel, paid tribute to her colleague and close friend.

"John was simply one of my favourite men in the whole world - as a music fan and presenter he was simply an inspiration," she said.

One of the bands Peel championed was Joy Division, who recorded their first Peel Session in 1979.

Band member Bernard Sumner, who went on to become the singer and guitarist with New Order, said: "This is a dreadful shock.

"If it wasn't for John Peel, there would be no Joy Division and no New Order.

"He was one of the few people to give bands that played alternative music a chance to get heard, and he continued to be a champion of cutting-edge music throughout his life.

"He will be genuinely missed by millions of music fans all over the world, both inside and outside the music industry. Our thoughts are with his family."

Radio presenter Mark Goodier told the ITV News Channel: "Peel is one of the guys who turned me on to wanting to do the job I have done.

"He was a remarkable natural broadcaster. He was DJ royalty. He was unsackable. I am truly shocked and very sad that he would go at such an early age."

Andy McCluskey, of synthesiser pop band Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, said he owed a "debt of gratitude" to Peel.

He said: "John Peel played a single but crucial role in my early career.

"He played our first single, Electricity, on his evening show and thanks to him it sold out its first 5,000 run within a week.

"We both come from the same part of the world, the Wirral, but that was not why he chose to play it.

"He played music because he liked it, not because he was being told to play it or he wanted to be in on the next big thing.

"He championed bands when they were starting out and the music was still raw.

"There will be many musicians and bands out there today who feel a debt of gratitude to John Peel. I am certainly one of them.

"This is a hugely sad day."

Gruff Rhys, of the Super Furry Animals, said the band was in "shock".

"He was very inclusive of all kinds of music, very open-minded, and introduced a lot of diverse music to the public.

"He championed Welsh language music and for years was the only DJ on national radio who was willing to embrace it," he told BBC News Online.

"He was very wary of trends such as Britpop, he was introducing people to drum 'n' bass and techno, things that were going on outside of the media."

[Villavic]

A friend of mine called to about DJ John Peel, who died in Cusco, Peru. He was in Monasterio hotel (the best) with his wife. It was a heart attack.

The new doesn't give details about Peel's health. Cusco is 3500 mt high, so people with blood pressure issues must take care.

I didn't know him. It's sad anyway.