Veteran BBC broadcaster John Peel has died at the age of 65, while on holiday in Peru.
Peel, whose radio career spanned 40 years, was on a working holiday in the resort 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.
Radio 1 controller Andy Pariftt said Peel’s contribution to modern music and culture was “immeasurable”.
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I first heard John Peel’s late night BBC show back when I was in school, and punk was rising while the daytime radio waves were still dominated by the drek that was EuroDisco.
The voice…oh, that voice. And the sheer power of the music: The Undertones; The Jam; Stiff Little Fingers; Ian Dury and the Blockheads; The Clash (obviously); Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (less obviously); The Buzzcocks; Siouxsie and the Banshees; and on, and on…
A grey day has just grown dimmer, but John Peel’s legacy is blinding and brilliant.
I must now go listen to “Teenage Kicks.”
Three times in a row.
Bless you, Mr. Peel. And thank you.
Immeasurably.
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And…in case you missed the ad…DORKSTOCK!
November 5, 6 and 7. At Rock-Con
I’m just sayin’, is all. And yes, this IS possibly the closest I’ll ever come to drawing Gilly nekkid. (Well, maybe tthe Sauna T-shirt I did for Ropecon (pronounced ROH-pe-con) was closer…) So get your T-shirts while you can! We’ll only have about 25 done up in full, glorious tie-dyed splendor.
And here’s a Gilly Peace icon, if’n anybody wants one…
