Ordinary Gweilo

Very sad to hear that John Peel has died (whilst on holiday in Peru).

I have happy memories of listening to his shows on BBC Radio One (many years ago), particularly the ‘Festive 50’ when it was effectively a contest between the Sex Pistols (and other punk bands championed by Peel) and the likes of Joy Division and New Order (also championed by Peel).

The amazing thing about John Peel was that he never seemed to lose his enthusiasm for new music, and that has to be the reason why he was still on Radio One after all these years (he was one of the original presenters back in 1967) whilst other presenters were sacked. Radio One has changed its music policy and presenters many times, but John Peel was always there. From the BBC obituary:

But, in the mid-1970s, John Peel moved away from the mainstream rock of Jimi Hendrix and The Who to a new and radical sound, punk.

Bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash paved the way for new Peel discoveries like Joy Division and the Undertones, whose Teenage Kicks was his all-time favourite single.

The 1980s brought further joy, most notably in the form of The Fall and The Smiths, both refreshing counterblasts to the increasingly bland fare of the charts.

More here.

PEEL’S ALL-TIME FESTIVE 50

1 Joy Division, Atmosphere
2 The Undertones, Teenage Kicks
3 Joy Division, Love Will Tear Us Apart
4 Sex Pistols, Anarchy In The UK
5 The Clash, (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais
6 New Order, Blue Monday
7 The Smiths, How Soon Is Now?
8 Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit
9 The Smiths, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
10 This Mortal Coil, Song To The Siren
11 Robert Wyatt, Shipbuilding
12 Pulp, Common People
13 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, Big Eyed Beans From Venus
14 Dead Kennedys, Holiday In Cambodia
15 Joy Division, New Dawn Fades
16 My Bloody Valentine, Soon
17 New Order, Ceremony
18 The Only Ones, Another Girl, Another Planet
19 New Order, Temptation
20 Joy Division, She’s Lost Control
21 Wedding Present, Brassneck
22 The Smiths, This Charming Man
23 Sugarcubes, Birthday
24 The Fall, How I Wrote ‘Elastic Man’
25 The Wedding Present, My Favourite Dress
26 Delgados, Pull The Wires From the Wall
27 My Bloody Valentine, You Made Me Realise
28 Joy Division, Transmission
29 Sex Pistols, Pretty Vacant
30 Pixies, Debaser
31 Belle & Sebastian, Lazy Line Painter Jane
32 New Order, True Faith
33 The Clash, Complete Control
34 The Fall, Totally Wired
35 The Jam, Going Underground
36 Stereolab, French Disko
37 Jimi Hendrix Experience, All Along The Watchtower
38 The Fall, The Classical
39 The Damned, New Rose
40 Tim Buckley, Song To The Siren
41 Beach Boys, God Only Knows
42 Velvet Underground, Heroin
43 Nick Drake, Northern Sky
44 Bob Dylan, Visions Of Johanna
45 The Beatles, I Am The Walrus
46 Beach Boys, Good Vibrations
47 The Sundays, Can’t Be Sure
48 Culture, Lion Rock
49 P J Harvey, Sheela-na-gig
50 Pavement, Here