More to say about Peel. Since the late 60s, he'd been playing the latest, weirdest, wildest music every week. He was the first to play everything from Pink Floyd to Dizzee Rascal on national radio. Every music fan I know thought of him as their favourite uncle. For me his voice and new music is inseperable - the number of songs I automatically associate with the little snatch of him talking caught on a tape I made of his show when I was 14 is uncountable. From when I was 11 to this last week, every time I listened to his show I heard something brilliant. It'd be easier for me to list the bands I love that I didn't first hear on Peel. I hate phrases like end of an era, but UK music radio will never be the same again.
I'm not on the ship. I'm in the ship. I am the ship.
River ,'Objects In Space'
Buffista Music II: Wrath of Chaka Khan
There's a lady plays her fav'rite records/On the jukebox ev'ry day/All day long she plays the same old songs/And she believes the things that they say/She sings along with all the saddest songs/And she believes the stories are real/She lets the music dictate the way that she feels.
Jim - Oct 26, 2004 5:24:16 am PDT #5583 of 10003
Ficht nicht mit Der Raketemensch!
Jim - Oct 26, 2004 5:33:36 am PDT #5584 of 10003
Ficht nicht mit Der Raketemensch!
To steal a line from a blogger about Peel:
It's like part of the culture going - like a library burning.
Hayden - Oct 26, 2004 7:09:59 am PDT #5585 of 10003
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."
That's an apt statement. RIP, John Peel.
DavidS - Oct 26, 2004 7:30:23 am PDT #5586 of 10003
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Wow. It just seemed like he was always going to be there, you know?
For those unfamiliar, John Peel also had bands come in and play live, in studio. They weren't little acoustic things, but the full band. What you got was an interesting in-between track which showed off the band's live capacity, but with studio fidelity.
My favorite such Peel session might be The Only Ones. But there were many, many other revelatory ones.
Jon B. - Oct 26, 2004 9:19:02 am PDT #5587 of 10003
A turkey in every toilet -- only in America!
The Peel sessions weren't necessarily recorded live, but due to time constraints, they were generally more "raw" than a band's studio recordings.
DavidS - Oct 26, 2004 9:27:44 am PDT #5588 of 10003
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
The Peel sessions weren't necessarily recorded live, but due to time constraints, they were generally more "raw" than a band's studio recordings.
They weren't much more than four track, though, right?
Hayden - Oct 26, 2004 9:32:45 am PDT #5589 of 10003
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."
Peel tirelessly advocated for The Fall, too. I'd go so far as to contend that Mark E. Smith would be a dockworker without John Peel. My favorite Peel Sessions: Sonic Youth doing Fall songs a year or two ago, the Slits inventing Brit rap in 1979, and Can engaging in some serious sonic deconstruction in the late 70s.
Jon B. - Oct 26, 2004 9:54:00 am PDT #5590 of 10003
A turkey in every toilet -- only in America!
They weren't much more than four track, though, right?
I think they used a 16 track recorder.
DavidS - Oct 26, 2004 9:59:54 am PDT #5591 of 10003
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I think they used a 16 track recorder.
Pffft. Sgt. Pepper was made on an 8 track, wasn't it?
Jon B. - Oct 26, 2004 10:05:07 am PDT #5592 of 10003
A turkey in every toilet -- only in America!
Yeah, but Martin bounced stuff around. It's not like they recorded everything at once onto 8 tracks. In any case, I don't think Maida Vale got the 16 track until the late 70's.