and why
Some people on my friends list seem to be upset by what they see as public grieving for the late John Peel. I'd like to explain why I posted.
I don't think this is a Diana-esque display of public grief; some of the people I'm reading here have met John Peel, knew him to an extent, even performed sessions for his show, and I wouldn't dream of intruding on their personal grief.
However, if you're part of the ragged band of fans, music geeks, and other marginalized obsessives who tuned into Radio 1 in the late hours to hear a man the age of your parents talk about records which would make them run screaming, then you know what I mean. It's not grief - not even close to true grief - but it is sadness, arguably as much for a part of ourselves and our pasts, and the memories of the things we cherish that we took from his shows. I'd agree with much of what is said about, for instance, the Diana hysteria, but that's not what I've seen on LiveJournal today - even from the people who'd met him, personally and professionally.
Quite simply, if you care about underground/experimental music in Britain, John Peel was the only outlet on the mainstream media worth a damn. If you're involved in an indie label, the height of achievement was being played on the Peel show; if you were the kind of radio DJ who wanted to DJ because you loved music, not one who tolerates music as an excuse to DJ, then John Peel is a towering influence and an example of just what one man could achieve by being absolutely true to his ideals. If you wanted to hear the widest and most varied selection of music available anywhere on a major radio station, then six hours of it was beamed into your house every week. There's a reason why the gold standard for live music on the radio is the Peel Session, and why that's something any band aspired to.
It's no exaggeration to say that for anyone into indie/alternative music - electronic or guitar-based, reggae, rap, whatever - that John Peel was arguably the single most important person in the music business as far as influencing popular taste goes. I'm programme controller of CUR1350; I can name at least five DJs on the station who, if you asked them why they got into DJing on the radio, would immediately answer "John Peel". There is a shared community there, even if it's the kind of thing you'd totally miss unless you were in it. Indie kids, music fans, don't wear the uniforms of goth, or blow on ravers' whistles, or whatever; that doesn't make it any less real.
This doesn't mean the people whoa re posting have lost perspective. Music isn't the most important thing in the world. It's not even close; family, and friends, come first (as listeners of Home Truths would know, true for everyone including John Peel) and everything else pales into the background. However, music can help you understand, help you feel, help you cope; and radio is such an intimate medium that someone who shares your love of music talking to *you* is astoundingly powerful. Radio integrates itself into your life in a way that no other media does; it feels like a friend. For some teenagers, it's the best friend you have. Many of my teenage evenings were Steve Lamacq followed by John Peel; that's gone now, and I'll miss it.
I don't think this is a Diana-esque display of public grief; some of the people I'm reading here have met John Peel, knew him to an extent, even performed sessions for his show, and I wouldn't dream of intruding on their personal grief.
However, if you're part of the ragged band of fans, music geeks, and other marginalized obsessives who tuned into Radio 1 in the late hours to hear a man the age of your parents talk about records which would make them run screaming, then you know what I mean. It's not grief - not even close to true grief - but it is sadness, arguably as much for a part of ourselves and our pasts, and the memories of the things we cherish that we took from his shows. I'd agree with much of what is said about, for instance, the Diana hysteria, but that's not what I've seen on LiveJournal today - even from the people who'd met him, personally and professionally.
Quite simply, if you care about underground/experimental music in Britain, John Peel was the only outlet on the mainstream media worth a damn. If you're involved in an indie label, the height of achievement was being played on the Peel show; if you were the kind of radio DJ who wanted to DJ because you loved music, not one who tolerates music as an excuse to DJ, then John Peel is a towering influence and an example of just what one man could achieve by being absolutely true to his ideals. If you wanted to hear the widest and most varied selection of music available anywhere on a major radio station, then six hours of it was beamed into your house every week. There's a reason why the gold standard for live music on the radio is the Peel Session, and why that's something any band aspired to.
It's no exaggeration to say that for anyone into indie/alternative music - electronic or guitar-based, reggae, rap, whatever - that John Peel was arguably the single most important person in the music business as far as influencing popular taste goes. I'm programme controller of CUR1350; I can name at least five DJs on the station who, if you asked them why they got into DJing on the radio, would immediately answer "John Peel". There is a shared community there, even if it's the kind of thing you'd totally miss unless you were in it. Indie kids, music fans, don't wear the uniforms of goth, or blow on ravers' whistles, or whatever; that doesn't make it any less real.
This doesn't mean the people whoa re posting have lost perspective. Music isn't the most important thing in the world. It's not even close; family, and friends, come first (as listeners of Home Truths would know, true for everyone including John Peel) and everything else pales into the background. However, music can help you understand, help you feel, help you cope; and radio is such an intimate medium that someone who shares your love of music talking to *you* is astoundingly powerful. Radio integrates itself into your life in a way that no other media does; it feels like a friend. For some teenagers, it's the best friend you have. Many of my teenage evenings were Steve Lamacq followed by John Peel; that's gone now, and I'll miss it.