The only two radio DJ's that might have been more important to rock and roll history than John Peel were Alan Freed, who's credited with inventing the phrase, and Murray the K, who might've launched the Beatles in America. For certain, however, Peel is the radio DJ who's put in the longest service towards rock and roll, and is the greatest all-time career-maker in the business. Your favorite band, especially if they're British, probably has a "Peel Session" in their back catalog.
Peel's career started, interestingly, in Dallas, Texas in 1962. For the next five years he worked in American radio before returning to his native England in 1967. Peel joined BBC's Radio One the year it was inaugerated, and immediately distinguished himself by favoring new bands who were a little off the beaten path of Top 40 radio.
Musicians began recording "Peel Sessions" -- private, in-studio live sets exclusively for radio broadcast -- in the late 60's. The first artist Peel was largely credited for kickstarting was David Bowie; other big acts of the day, from Hendrix to Bolan to Black Sabbath, all made their own Peel Sessions as well.
Peel's influence was most keenly felt with the advent of punk and new wave, at a time when he could have rested on his glam-rock royals and settled down into a groove. Peel caught the curve immediately, in the same way he managed to predict relevance for the rest of his career. Peel championed the Sex Pistols, The Damned, The Clash, oh, hell, everybody. Bernard Sumner of Joy Division and New Order went so far as to say without Peel, bands like his would have no career. That isn't a stretch.
Peel simply nailed every new form of progressive music right at the point of its germination. As far as I know he never stopped, having successfully championed the onset of new Scottish thing Franz Ferdinand over the last year. He even wrote the introduction to a recent book on death metal and grindcore, expressing how much he like the genre because "it's just so extreme and grotesquely tasteless... I think bad taste is quite important." This guy was 65 years old. My dad is 70.
I just did an Amazon search on "Peel Sessions." I got 113 results, including Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, the Slits, the Birthday Party, Teenage Fanclub, Frank Black, Jesus & Mary Chain, Boards of Canada, Babes in Toyland, the Jam, OMD, the Smiths, Adam & the Ants, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Fall, Thin Lizzy, Happy Mondays, Tim Buckley, the Buzzcocks -- you get the point. International tributes are pouring in from across the world for Peel, possibly the best friend rock music ever had.
Peel's all-time favorite song, he often mentioned, was "Teenage Kicks" by the Undertones. Peel once said that the first time he heard "Teenage Kicks" on his car radio, he had to pull over and cry. Upon news of his passing this morning, the BBC played the song on the air.
Your Hall Monitor of Death says... (sigh).
