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Posted Nov 12, 2004
A quote from John Peel whose funeral was held today:
"If I drop dead tomorrow, I'll have nothing to complain about - except that there'll be another Fall album out next year." 
[Does anyone still buy albums by The Fall....?]
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Latest reply: Nov 12, 2004
A Grumpy old git.
Posted Nov 5, 2004
I have quite a few brothers and sisters who all have kids of various ages. Although I get on quite well with my nephews and nieces they have a habit of ridiculing my taste in music which is a quick way of testing my patience. It's irritating because their musical preferences seem so shallow to me; they're fixated with gangsta rap which I can't help thinking lacks imagination, intelligence and creativity. I also think most rap artists have no distinctive talent. So, to be told what is good music and what is not by obsessive gangsta rap fans doesn't sit well with me.
Browsing through my CD collection I came across an old favourite, 'Hatful of Hollow' by The Smiths (I know now BTW its not brilliant!). Looking at the CD case I suddenly realised just how old this album was, around twenty years old! I already knew it had been released in the 1980's but it was a shock to see it there in black and white. Twenty years of my life had disappeared somewhere since this CD was released but for some reason my mental time line had not made this connection.
It also occurred to me that when I was in my mid teens and the same age as most of my nephews and nieces, Elvis Presley's hey -day would have been little more than twenty years ago. I also thought of those middle aged men I used to see with their failing hairlines desperately trying to hang on to their DA's! The worst thought of all was the knowledge that this must be how my nephews and nieces see me with my ageing taste in music, and worst still, they are probably right to ridicule me for it. The sad fact is I am out of date!
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Latest reply: Nov 5, 2004
The passing of John Peel
Posted Oct 31, 2004
Last week was the week John Peel died and it has been on my mind ever since. Strangely, it has only just occured to me to use this journal as a way expressing my thoughts about this and paying my respects to him (however poorly I may do this). I wish I had thought of doing this sooner.
If I had known John personally I don't think hearing of his death could have affected me more than it did. He always came across as unpretentious and down to earth, and his wry sense of humour was never off key. I remember during the 80's when his radio show used to follow Kid Jensen's, listening to their flow of wit and humour. Very entertaining and refreshing when nearly all DJ's (still) prefer their stereotypical shallow personas and taudry play lists. What John had to say, (as well as the records he played) was always worth listening to and that has to be praise when I would prefer most DJ's to shut up and move on (to selling double glazing or something). John simply did not follow the standard pattern of DJ presentation; he came across as just himself with a casual attitude that you might expect more from someone chatting in the pub.
In my student days I remember his anecdotes of the gigs he played at universities etc around the country. He sometimes mentioned he cadged somewhere to stay from students after the gig and went for curries with them. This is just how unassuming John appeared, he didn't seem to take on the mantle of celebrity at all, (as far as I know he didn't fly around in helicopters or pester children in hospitals at Xmas either). He was a DJ and played music and that was that.
John's respect amongst bands worth listening to, and those that listened to them was massive. He helped to shape and expand the taste of innumerable music lovers throughout the UK. He was instrumental if not a decisive figure in pushing bands foward, and giving them the opportunity to have successful careers by giving them air time. Without his presence many of us would never have came across so many of the bands that have fed our lives. It wasn't simply the fact that he didn't shrink from playing bands that would never make it onto other DJ's play lists, it was somehow the fact that it was John who did this that made it all the more worth listening to. Now that John is gone I can't help feeling all this has gone with him too; all that has now disappeared into the past and it will never be replaced.
This is a tatty, ill thought out tribute to John Peel, formed out of bits and pieces of haphazard thoughts. I couldn't just let his death pass by without expressing what thoughts came to mind though.
To John !!!
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Latest reply: Oct 31, 2004
Incatatus101
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