BIOGRAPHY – John Peel

For over thirty-five years, BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel was one of the most respected broadcasters in the world, having pioneered such influential genres as punk and hip hop into the British mainstream. His Peel Sessions, in which both established and up-and-coming artists would perform live in the studio, played host to such musicians as Bad Religion, Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie, Godflesh, Bikini Kill, Fleetwood Mac and Jimi Hendrix. His service with the BBC lasted longer than any other DJ and was awarded an OBE in 1998 for his services to British music. Peel continued to attend various festivals up until his sudden death in 2004 and the tributes that followed cemented his reputation as the nation’s most loved DJ and music critic.

Peel was born John Ravenscroft in Heswall, Wirral, on August 30th 1939, just two days before the Second World War officially began. Whilst a student at Shrewsbury School in Shropshire, Peel was regularly beaten and molested by the older children, which would include receiving random thrashes in the middle of the night. As a teenager, he began to develop a keen interest in music, particularly that which was not mainstream, something that would come to define his professional career, although his tastes would include Doris Day and Frankie Laine. It was in the pages of the New Musical Express (now more commonly known as NME) that Peel first encountered a rising young American singer called Elvis Presley, whom he eventually heard during a broadcast of Heartbreak Hotel on Two-Way Family Favourites during the mid-1950s. Upon leaving Shewsbury, Peel worked for six months before being drafted for compulsory National Service as a B2 Radar Operator for the Royal Artillery, where he also served as a goalkeeper for the hockey team.

When his father offered to pay for Peel to travel to America, he arrived in Houston and landed a job as a computer programmer, where he was present at a press conference after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in late 1963. Whilst in America, Peel worked at Dallas-based radio station WRR, where he played DJ from 10pm until midnight on Monday nights. Shortly after turning twenty-six, Peel married Shirley Anne Milburn, whom he had met in a church in Oklahoma. Over the next two years, Peel worked for several different radio stations, including Oklahoma’s KOMA and KMEN in San Bernardino. Peel returned to England in 1967, where The Beatles had become a major cultural phenomenon, whilst The Rolling Stones also dominated the charts. Pirate radio had also begun to gain prominence during the 1960s and Peel became a DJ for Radio London, an offshore station that was transmitted from a former WWII ship called the MV Galaxy.

Peel began to write articles for International Times and Oz and, when Radio London closed the same year that Peel had joined, he had already contacted BBC’s deputy head of Radio Gramophone Department. But it would be Bernie Andrews, who had brought The Beatles to the attention of the BBC, who would allow Peel his first entry into the company. By 1968, Peel had begun to gain popularity and independence at the station with his show Top Gear, allowing him to champion such artists as Captain Beefheart, Marc Bolan and Pink Floyd. Peel also enjoyed success with another show, Night Ride, although its short-lived run would come to an end on September 24th 1969.

Also in 1969, Peel formed his own independent music label, Dandelion Records, alongside former Elektra boss Clive Selwood. The 1970s would see Peel’s popularity grow and his so-called Peel Sessions would see performances from Black Sabbath, Elvis Costello, AC/DC, The Boomtown Rats and Bob Marley. Having split from his wife in 1969 and divorced two years later, Peel married his second wife, Sheila Gilhooly, on August 31st 1974. One of his more successful ventures during the 1970s was The John Peel Roadshow, whilst many of his contemporaries at the BBC would not have their contracts renewed as the company struggled to work with their budget. As punk began to gain both popularity and notoriety in the UK during the latter half of the decade, Peel became known for his admiration for such artists as The Undertones (their signature tune, Teenage Kicks, became his favourite track) and Sex Pistols; he famously played their entire album, Never Mind the Bollocks, from start to finish, reserving the controversial track God Save the Queen for the finale.

During the 1980s, Peel also became known as a regular presenter for popular TV music show Top of the Pops, which he had first made his debut on during the late 1960s but would reach his commercial peak during the 1980s. Following New Order‘s appearance on the Peel Sessions in 1981, other artists to follow included Tears for Fears, Primal Scream, Half Man Half Biscuit and Cocteau Twins. He also began to embrace hip hop, showcasing such rising artists as EPMD, LL Cool J and Rakim. By 1987 he had ceased presenting Top of the Pops and would largely restrict his appearances to the radio, where he had begun to give exposure to world music and unsigned artists. As the 1990s began, Peel began to show support to the American alternative scene, providing sessions for the likes of P.J. Harvey and Nirvana.

Following on from his two-year run as presenter of a show called Offspring, Peel fronted Home Truths from 1998, which would soon gain popularity and would subsequently run for eight years. Peel would continue to bring artists onto his show to record sessions right up until his death, with the last being Skimmer on October 21st 2004. Four days later, Peel died suddenly from a heart attack whilst in Peru at the age of sixty-five. In honour of his contributions to the British music industry, the long-running Glastonbury festival renamed one of their locations as The John Peel Stage the following year. Commencing on October 13th 2005 and running annually until 2007, the BBC hosted what they dubbed the John Peel Day, asking for artists to perform gigs in honour of the late DJ and music legend.