What song reminds you of John Peel?

[Old Goat]

"All I want for Christmas is Dukla Prague away kit" Half Man Half Biscuit - his show was the only place I ever heard it.

And Fish Heads - anyone remember that?

 

[dougdeep]

In the early seventies he played more "progressive" stuff, I first heard Captain Beefheart on his Sunday afternoon show.

 

[perseus]

Peelenium

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/alt/johnpeel/peelenium_1960.shtml

 

[Theatre of Trees]

"All I want for Christmas is Dukla Prague away kit" Half Man Half Biscuit - his show was the only place I ever heard it.

And Fish Heads - anyone remember that?

Fishheads, fishheads, rolypoly fishheads, eat them up, yum!"

 

[Lush]

Fishheads, fishheads, rolypoly fishheads, eat them up, yum!"

Great video too. If you like fish.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Early Fall stuff. Nobody anywhere played that stuff ever. Except for John Peel - who LOVED it. And KEPT loving it. So... anything off 'Live At The Witch Trials'.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Just listened to Belfast by Orbital and it's done me right in.

 

[Southy]

Teenage Kicks, got to be.
Love will tear us apart and atmosphere, rember listening to his show the night Ian Curtis hung himself.
Silicon Teens - Memphis Tenesee
In a Rut
Rebel without a pause by PEnemy
Orbital Belfast, Chime, Satan
Capt Beefheart,
Link Wray
Pulp
The Smiths
we could go on all night

 

[Theatre of Trees]

Silicon Teens - Memphis Tenesee

I still have my vinyl copy of that.

 

[Cian]

Just listened to Belfast by Orbital and it's done me right in.

I'm listening to his last Orbital session from June now, rather emotionally, albeit partially for Orbital as well, considering I got into them pretty late and only managed to catch one gig.

 

[On the Left Wing]

Oh You Pretty Things - David Bowie 1971 ... first time I ever heard of Bowie .... listened to Peely every night

 

[John Byrnes Mullet]

He said that when he first heard "Teenage Kicks" he just broke down and cried as it reminded him so much of his teenage years he was a great guy and I always remember him.

 

[Squiggsy]

Smiths - There is a light that never goes out. Topped the festive 50 in 1986.

Seems very apt.

 

[Brixtaan]

Born Slippy - Underworld

I was in the Maida Vale studios 6 months ago,having won a phone competition watching Underworld do a classic live Session with just John Peel,Annie Nightingale and a couple of studio nerds.It was so good he gave them another rare half an hour.

His death is possibly the first celebrity one that i actually feel mournful about.The world is a poorer place without him.

 

[Bob!]

Misty in Roots the album 'Live from the counter Eurovision' He used to play that all the time.

Love it!!

R.I.P. Peely

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I have a reel-to-reel tape of a Top Gear programme from the late sixties. Sadly, I don't have the equipment to play it any more. But I do have a list of the songs on the tape. This is just one of John Peel's playlists at the point that he impacted on my taste in music:-

Jethro Tull - A Song for Jeffrey
Difference - Sweet Sounds Everywhere
Jethro Tull - Serenade to a Cuckoo
Jerry Jeff Walker - Mr Bojangles
Lightning Slim - Mean Old Lonesome Train
Tyrannosaurus Rex - One Inch Rock
Family - The Weaver's Answer
The Doors - Five To One
Pentangle - No More My Lord
Pink Floyd - Let There Be More Light
Barclay James Harvest - Need You Oh So Bad
The Kinks - Love Me Till the Sun Shines
Buffy Sainte Marie - From the Bottom of my Heart
Family - Be My Friend
Spooky Tooth - Forget It, I've Got It
Barclay James Harvest - Pools of Blue
Country Joe & The Fish - The Mojo Navigator
Family - Three Times Time
Steve Miller Band - Roll With It
The Kinks - Monique
Nice - America

I guess this list dates from 1968, since the two Barclay James Harvest songs were recorded at a BBC session in that year.

 

[Seagoon]

Walk on by - The Stranglers (from some freeby single with the B/W album) - remember insisting that I listen to Peel with my mum and dad when I was about 14 while dad tried to tap his feet along to the stranglers with me. RIP.

 

[hill 16 southwick]

Love on the Terraces - Serious Drinking.

and same as gully Dark Streets of London - Pogue Mahone which marked the start of a 20 year love affair with the Pogues

Had a flick through my CD collection and it's amazing how many sleeve notes gave thanks to Peelie

 

[bardo]

"Sabre Dance" - can't even remember who it was by, but got it on a vinyl single somewhere. He played it on 'Top Gear' about 1969 and he was so blown away with it that he played the whole record again! I can even remember being in the bath when I heard it. I was as gob-smacked as he was about the track and I got straight out of the bath and went down to my local record store to try and buy it, but they'd never heard of it - of course not, Peely was always weeks ahead of everyone else when it came to new bands.

 

[Gwylan]

Sabre Dance was by Dave Edmunds, wasn't it?


There are several bands who stick out for me: The Fall (and I thought Mark E Smith was piss-poor on Newsnight last night), Can, probably my favourite band of all time, Joy Division, The Ruts, The Undertones (obviously), Half Man, Half Biscuit, Misty in Roots, The Sugar Cubes and many more.

But the one record that I will always remember is one that he played a lot around 1974, Roy Harper's 'When an old cricketer leaves the crease' ; a marvellously evocative song.