Originally I wrote this for 4F.
(Unfortunately 4F tends to go down at night, otherwise they’re great.)


John Peel is better than God and chocolate.
My life is pretty good.  I have a long way to go to get to where I want
and I’m sure even when I get there I won’t be satisfied...probably because
I’m never content with anything.
My point being as each year slips by there are a few people, in my life, both private and public persons, who
I never got a chance to meet because they died.
Some I wanted to headbutt with a steel spike, others, dine over some wine and Moroccan food.

But when I was in a band my DREAM, my GOAL IN LIFE, was to be invited to perform on BBC Radio 1 Peel Sessions.
John Peel and what he did was and continues to be my structure for integrity, vision, contemporary actualization (keeping up to date and exposing it).
For those of you who have no idea who Mr. Peel was (he died of a heart attack while traveling in Peru "Death On Holiday")
he was an English disc jockey, radio and print journalist who worked at the BBC from 1967 to 2004.

The man had great musical taste and never stopped keeping his ear to the pavement to showcase unknown bands to the rest of the world.
Peel, in a boiled down version of his life, introduced BBC listeners to punk, reggae, hip-hop and electronic dance music.

A brief taste: T-Rex, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, The Faces, Bolt Thrower, The Sex Pistols, The Slits, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Fairport Convention, Pink Floyd, The Clash, Napalm Death, Carcass, Extreme Noise Terror, The Undertones, Buzzcocks, Gary Numan, The Cure, Joy Division, The Wedding Present, Six By Seven, Def Leppard, The Orb, Pulp, Ash, Orbital, The Smiths, FSK, Trumans Water, The Black Keys, The White Stripes and PJ Harvey.

The almost full list (Wikipedia)...click here
For those of you who want to probe deeper into the Peel Session bands and the songs they played:
http://www.thepeelsessions.co.uk/bands.html
BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/sessions/top125/  (They have tracks you can stream and listen to but the fuckers only give you 30 seconds...like, what’s the fucking point there?)
Anyway if you know what’s up with Bit Torrent then i suggest you search for Peel Sessions through that
since the only Peel I’ve found is on vinyl (I know there’s more but vinyl is the best way to find Peel’s recordings besides online Torrent)

The exceptional aspect about the Peel Sessions are how well recorded they are.  It sounds fucking great.
In addition to getting great performances he could be one caustic son of a bitch, which I love, when he felt that a performance was lacking or the artist was shit.
Here are a few examples:

Smog - I Break Horses: http://www.espew.com/cgi-bin/spew/1261786/smog_-_i_break_horses_(peel_session).mp3

Mudhoney - The Straight Life: http://www.jamiesummers.dsl.pipex.com/mp3/Mudhoney%20-%2001%20The%20Straight%20Life%20(Peel%20session).mp3

Pretty Girls Make Graves - More Sweet Soul: http://members.cox.net/esthercadua/Pretty%20Girls%20Make%20Graves%20-%20More%20Sweet%20Soul.mp3

The Damned - Neat Neat Neat: http://salonmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o1/mp3s/2007/may/damned-neat.mp3

Yeah Yeah Yeah -Tick: http://www.jamiesummers.dsl.pipex.com/mp3/Yeah%20Yeah%20Yeahs%20-%2004%20Tick%20(Peel%20session).mp3
Maps: http://www.jamiesummers.dsl.pipex.com/mp3/Yeah%20Yeah%20Yeahs%20-%2001%20Maps%20(Peel%20session).mp3

Interpol - The New : http://www.avdf76.dsl.pipex.com/mp3/interpol%20-%2003%20the%20new%20(peel%20session).mp3

And one of Peel’s favorite bands, The Undertones, have lyrics from their song Teenage Kicks, on Peel’s headstone. http://www.seanryanonline.com/kipsellout/02.%20The%20Undertones%20-%20Teenage%20Kicks.mp3

Life is too short to live.
Ya know?
So...here’s to John Peel. (I’m drinking a Guiness with a shot of Jameson’s in my mind...not that he’d give a fuck, but why not?)

FJP