John Peel

Being insanely busy with school I haven't had any time to work on this, but with the events of today I will make an exception.

John Peel, the longest-serving DJ on BBC Radio 1 whose career spanned over four decades of music, has died today at the age of 65. I only began listening to his show about 3 years ago, which was broadcast on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings on BBC Radio 1, but quickly it became one of my institutions -- rarely a week would go by when I missed one of the shows. The one thing about John Peel's shows is that you never knew what was going to come next, whether it be a tune from the 40's, some electronica or death metal - the show was as varied as my tastes in music were, and in that it was an excellent fit. The other thing I loved about John Peel was his humour, whether it being some sort of snappy retort after a song had finished to his never-ending propensity to play LPs at the wrong speed - sometimes even claiming that they sounded better that way. Because of this, even though I was only familiar with him for a short time I feel a great sense of loss knowing that no more of his shows will be produced, that I will never again hear his voice broadcast live.

None of this even mentions the insurmountable impact he has had on music over the past 40 years, being the first DJ to play punk, reggae and hip-hop far before they were commercially successful. Dozens of bands from the White Stripes to Blur to Pink Floyd were played by John Peel before they were played anywhere else.

The BBC has a great set of links honouring his life, first an obituary, the tributes already sent in from across the world, and a picture gallery spanning his entire life. This site apparently run by the London Times Review, has the best collection of reasons why John Peel was so special. My sincerest condolences go out to all of his family, friends and fans across the world. His presence will be greatly missed.