A respected radio DJ and champion of new music for over 30 years, John Peel was born John Ravenscroft in Liverpool on August 30th 1939¹.

After leaving the UK for the US in the early 1960s, Peel began his radio career in Dallas, Texas, where he covered the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, before becoming "resident Beatles expert" with KLIF in Oklahoma as Beatlemania began to sweep the States. Returning to the UK in 1967 he joined the pirate radio station Radio London, moving on to the BBC's new pop music radio station, Radio One, when it launched in September of that year. His contract ran for six weeks. Over 30 years later, he still has a regular Radio One show, and is the only DJ to have stayed with the station since its launch.

The BBC's tight restrictions on "needle time"² led to the idea of having bands come into the studio to record a "session" - a number of tracks³ specifically for broadcast on the John Peel show. Despite the lifting of restrictions on needle time, this tradition of Peel sessions still continues, and has provided exposure to countless bands over the years.

As part of his desire to bring music to a wider audience, Peel also launched his own record label, Dandelion Records. Initially set up to release records by his friend, folk singer Bridget St. John, the label was also home to such acts as Gene Vincent, Clifford T. Ward and Medicine Head between 1968 and 1972.

Always open to new musical forms and ideas, Peel's Radio One show has embraced all types of popular and alternative music, from folk and psychedelic rock in the 1960s, through punk rock, new wave, hip hop, grunge and Britpop, to the current UK garage scene. A typical John Peel Show may well include tracks by Elastica, Duane Eddy, Captain Beefheart, Nirvana, The Shadows, The Fall, some Belgian techno, a spot of African folk music, and a track from the latest Half Man Half Biscuit album.

Aside from his Radio One show, Peel also hosts BBC Radio Four's Home Truths, a weekly series to which members of the public contribute anecdotes about their family life. Peel's wry humour lends itself well to this format, and has made the show among the most popular on the station.

Peel's favourite single of all time is "Teenage Kicks" by the Undertones. This is somehow fitting, as despite being in his 60s, and having received an OBE for his services to broadcasting, an appearance on This Is Your Life, and a full evening of tribute programmes on BBC television, John Peel shows no signs of growing old gracefully.