MUSICBOX™ 2hr Broadcast
With a Tribute to John Peel
on diversityfm.fm.co
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft,
OBE (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as
John Peel,
Was an
English disc jockey, radio
presenter and
journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original
BBC Radio 1 DJs,
broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004. He was known
for his eclectic taste in music and his honest and warm broadcasting
style. He was one of the first broadcasters to play
psychedelic rock,
reggae and
punk records on British radio, and he is widely acknowledged for promoting artists in various styles including,
alternative rock,
pop,
death metal,
British hip hop and
dance music.
Peel's Radio 1 shows were notable for the regular 'Peel sessions',
which usually consisted of four songs recorded by an artist live in the
BBC's studios, and which often provided the first major national
coverage to bands that later would achieve great fame. Another popular
feature of his shows was the annual
Festive Fifty
countdown of his listeners' favourite records of the year.
Peel
appeared frequently on British television, as one of the presenters of
Top of the Pops In the 1980s, and he provided
voice-over commentary for a number of BBC programmes.
He became popular with the audience of
BBC Radio 4 for his
Home Truths programme which ran from the 1990s,
Featuring unusual stories from listeners' domestic lives.
