John Peel RIP

RIP indeed.

(4 threads too, this is heavy)

fuck. that is devastating news. we (not me personally) interviewed him about six months ago: above and beyond the sheer wonders he's worked getting good music heard, he also appeared to be a genuinely decent bloke.

RIP john: thanks for making some lonely teenage nights a lot more bearable!

Met him 2 or 3 times and had the pleasure of interviewing for our 'zine back in the early '80's.

He was a very quiet, private, modest and self-effacing man and I really don't think he'd have been able to cope with all the praise that's going to be flooding in over the next few weeks.

A few years later I got to know him a bit through a friend and spent a number of evenings drinking with him before the show and sitting in the studio watching him broadcast. He was exactly the same in the flesh as he'd seemed on my headphones. He had that ability to be affable with everyone - in many ways he was a benevolent sociopath.

By the time I met him my tastes had diverged from his and have never really got totally back in sync, but I know my record collection, my listening, and therefore my life would not have been the same without his guidance. A true Reithian and a teacher of the old school...

:(

RIP, John

Change 'early' for 'late' and that's me.

The last time i met him he showed me around maida vale and where the radiophonic workshop used to be. And told me that he didn't know Delia Derbyshire but he did know Delia Smith. This will be an everlasting memory of a celebrity who actually contributed something to my life.

May you have teenage kicks all through the night John.

peel guided me musically during my impressionable youth more than anyone else...

RIP

RIP.

Like most Brits, Peel entirely shaped how I thought about music. Yes, we fell out slightly when he became techno-obsessed, but that's to be expected.

I'd been compiling a Festive Fifty archive on slsk, I feel compelled to put it on when I get home.

"After announcing Peel's death on Radio 1, the station played his favourite song, Teenage Kicks, by the Undertones."

RIP Peelie.

A great loss as a man, a great loss to music.

Peel did deserve to go gently into old age. He contributed uncalculably to British culture. Many famous people are indebted to Peel. He was very important. But he never let that importance go to his head. He was always that affable endearing shambolic cove with whom you would love to share a pint or two. The world is a poorer place for his passing.

Sincerest condolences to Sheila and the family. But also a hearty thank-you. John was unique.

I wanna hold her, wanna hold her tight
Get teenage kicks right through the night

I'm gonna call her on the telephone
Have her over cos I'm all alone
I need excitement, oh I need it bad
And it's the best, I've ever had

I wanna hold her wanna hold her tight
Get teenage kicks right through the night

I wanna hold her wanna hold her tight
Get teenage kicks right through the night

xxx

Blasting this repeatedly right now is so cathartic.

RIP Peelie. I'll always remember the Festive 50s, the endless championing of bands I'd never of -- or heard of again -- and, most of all, the deep, abiding love of music.

As said on ILE, devastating, shocking, unfair; it is all casting a jagged black shadow of incomprehensibility and unassimilability across the bright London afternoon.

What would have been the last song he spun over the air?

This is still available on the radio player till about 11 tonight - please listen to it again.

also Lou Macari!

R.I.P. john...

On the day after Chris Moyles was declared the "Saviour of Radio 1" by Mark Thompson is the day that Radio 1 lost its one true asset.

It's all too sad.

Feeling stung, what a shame.

I was lucky enough to be involved in a Peel session a few years ago.

Well, once I found out, I just *had* to work a Fall reference into one of the tracks, just to say a sly hello to JP. I looped and slowed down MES singing LEAVE THE CAPITAL! and at the fade out of one of our songs I played it through my gutar from a scrappy dictaphone speaker.

Of course, Peel noticed! I was thrilled when he played Leave The Capital the night before our broadcast. After the session track played out, the next night, he made a comment along the lines of 'Ah, the great man ranting away' over the MES loop/fade.

Like I say, I was so pleased.

Moyles, you'd better be on your best fucking behaviour about this tomorrow morning, oughtn't you?

well i know it's not anyone would want to hear or probably agree with but there's a huge poster by Old Street roundabout featuring Zane Lowe and the legend 'In New Music We Trust' - make of that what you will

Same slsk username as here, aldo_cowpat

but this is so so so different.

my teenage spiritual awakenings/traumas were all soundtracked by John Peel shows.

literally stunned by the news.

m.e

yes, it's a bit like criticising Michael Buerk for wearing a purple tie when the Queen Mother died. They've had to do a tribute on the turn of a dime so you can hardly blame DJ Spoony for it.

RIPJP

what a legacy to leave behind though...

What's my prize?

RIP

I guess we'll probably never see a DJ have this kind of influence ever again huh?

John Peel's contribution to rock and roll is inestimable, may he rest in peace.

That is fantastic! A prize beyond my wildest dreams: especially since I already happen to have a picture of DLT that's been signed by all the members of Showaddywaddy - so I now have a complete set which I'm sure would really impress all friends, if only I had any!

R.I.P

:-(

(x-post)

It's curious that he's an obviously had an enormous effect on rock music in general, and is revered as a cultural force in the UK, but outside of alt-rock fans here, his name barely registers. CNN had a small obit on their frontpage, but so far nothing on MTV's, Rolling Stone's and Spin's sites (though it might be early for them).

Right now I think I'll play Bridget St. John (yet another artist he nurtured) in tribute.

that's the one thing that cheers me slightly: that we did love him, and we did show that love.

John was born in Heswall near Chester, and after completing his military service in Britain in 1962, went to Texas and began working for WRR radio in Dallas. At this time The Beatles success was reaching its peak and John with his Liverpool connections found it helped his ratings to claim acquaintance with the group. He was in Dallas when John F Kennedy was shot and was at the press conference just before Lee Harvey Oswald was shot.

For the next three years he moved to various radio stations in America, among them KOMA in Oklahoma City and KMEN outside Los Angeles. He returned to Britain in 1967 and joined Radio London with the celebrated show The Perfumed Garden.

John has been with Radio 1 from the beginning in 1967, establishing himself with the late night programme Top Gear. John was the first DJ to give exposure to punk, reggae, hip-hop, long before they crossed over into the mainstream. Almost anyone who is anyone in the world of music has recorded a session for Peel.

Apart from regularly topping music paper Best DJ polls, John won the 1993 Sony Award for Broadcaster of the Year and in 1994 was named Godlike Genius by the NME. He also presents Home Truths for Radio 4.

John has been awarded a host of Honorary Degrees MA (University of East Anglia), Doctorates (Polytechnic University of East Anglia and Sheffield Hallam University), Hon. Degrees (Liverpool University, Open University, Portsmouth University, Bradford University) and a Fellowship (John Moores University Liverpool).

John is a lifelong fan of the Archers. He lives in Suffolk with his wife Sheila, affectionately known as The Pig.

John recently celebrated 40 years on the air and continues to seek out the best new music around.

RIP.

Play it loud and play it fast tonight.

Steve

Though I never actually heard his show until I streamed it online a couple years ago, I still feel like I've known the man for ever. Like he was a close friend (which seems to be how a lot of people feel).

I'm inexplicably a wreck over this.

(this made me think of the thread on ile asking abt present-day heroes. seeing this thread made me realize that john peel was one of mine.)

Yay! Time for our favourite John Peel stories!

Apparently he once jacked in his job to drive Don Van Vliet and Drumbo around in his mini while they were on tour!

Oh and you all just absotively, posilutely have to listen to this!

he was also a big champion of electronic music so please save your generalizations for elsewhere.

I swear I remember listening to it on his show (under the bedclothes on a schoolnight, natch) at least 6 months before they blew up...

only since the internet have i really had a chance to hear his shows,but i still have enormous respect for the man and what part he has played in forming my musical tastes.

truly sad.

And big band, and Zimbabwean pop, and UK garage, and J-Pop, and techno, and folk, and hiphop and country etc...

Weirdest thing I ever heard him play - Naomi Campbell's 'Ride A White Swan'. He liked it!

I'm now going home to play the Mary Chain and The Fall loud enough to make the neighbours bang the wall. Then I'll sooth them wih "Another Day" by This Mortal Coil when hey come round to complain.

multiple xpost - some of the Festive 50 stuff [1983-1989] that aldo_cowpat mentions upthread is also available from my slsk folder, username Onimo. I'll stick the machine on as soon as I get home (7pm) and you can help yourselves.

RIP

this had not even occurred to me.

fuck. taking his name out of the listings is gonna really bring this home. i think i'm going to get someone else to do it: seriously.

from p221 of Simon Garfield's 'The Nation's Favourite'

as other Americans have noted, I only became aware of him through the mighty Peel Sessions releases. To me, the definitive version of "New Rose" remains the Peel one which starts with "Are we really 65 on the charts?!" First heard it -- and first heard The Damned -- on the 21 Years of Alternative Radio CD from 1988; it would be a couple years before I heard the original. And yeah, as others mentioned, was first able to hear him live these last few years thanks to the miracle of this here internet. Most recently, just a few weeks ago when he had Jeff Mills on. Thanks as ever to DJ Martian for posting about that one, and for generally keeping us all informed when there would be interesting guests on the show.

I've known at least two or three minor US indie bands over the years who were positively thrilled to have received play on Peel's show. Forget about minor victories like selling out a press-run of a self-released single or CD; it seemed like the ultimate validation was to get airplay on the Peel show, even if only once.

First thing I instinctively reached for was the Soft Machine Peel Sessions, where Wyatt improvises lyrics to "Moon in June" including a shout-out to Mr. Peel. Got the Dandelion catalog (Siren, Medicine Head, Tractor, Bridget) and some Fall cued up next. Thanks for your good work, John.

In the early '90s, Carol and I used to occasionally give our last half-hour on the air to one of those packaged "Peel Out in the States" shows. Unless I'm misremembering, even there sometimes he'd start a record at the wrong speed.

this person reckoned that the beeb would never again allow one person to gain so much internal political clout as JP - one of the radio 1 studio's aircon goes down, many requests for action to R1 management, nothing - this had been going for months and months. JP is informed of problem, digs out bulging private phonebook and calls one of BBC governors at home, next day problem sorted.

BBC, UK, everyone had him down to keep broadcasting 'til he croaked Alistair Cooke style ie 80? 90? 100? who gives a fuck? they would've knighted him long ago if he would've been uncool enough to accept it.

Home Truths was gonna be his vehicle into serene senility.

so young. very very sad.

it's pretty early on, around 15 mins in? it may be listed as a Mr & Mrs Christmas track on the site

I meant to ask, what was the last song he spun over the air?

RIP.

I'm listening (via R1 stream) to the Peel tribute show. It's great, they're playing everything from faves I know and love ("Love Will Tear Us Apart", "Chime") to things I hadn't heard about before today's threads (The Damned's "Cars" "cover", Laura Cantrell). They've just played PJ Harvey and SFA back-to-back. This is great fun, albeit bittersweet fun, of course :(

A major loss to British broadcasting, and it does feel personal: he did so much to get me into alternative music of all sorts, and importantly did it in an avuncular, laconic way.
One of his major contributions was to increase a knowledge and love of music in his listeners; the younger of us (I first heard him aged 14 in 1997) have benefitted not just from his shows, but the passions they have instilled over the years in his listeners... he does have a legacy and it is showed in the effect upon so many listeners. Let's hope that his example can be followed... he is an 'irreplaceable' personality, my word yes, but there's an ethos that I don't feel we can afford to lose.

Heartfelt condolences to his family, and rest in peace John.

I first heard him aged 14 in 1987. I love that the 10 year age gap just changes one digit.

Still can't find the words. A personal hero, and an absolute lifeline during my miserable fucked-up adolescence.

As has been said in one of these threads; it just felt warm and right that he always was *there*, doing his show in inimitable fashion, even if we might have moved on from being regular listeners...

Seriously, this is so fucked. I hope the BBC have got at some of those shows on tape. I hope they start classes *teaching* DJs to appreciate music like JP did.

Won't make for the loss of the guy himself though :-(

Samurai Seven - Sound Of The Suburbs
High Fidelity - Lazy B
Delgados - Everything Goes Around The Water
Radio Sweethearts - Real Ghost Town
Nought - Cough Cap Kitty Cat (1998)
Pat Thomas - Remembering
Lab 4 - Reformation II
Lucie Chivers - Dioddef Amdanat
Reviver Gene - Strap Me Up
60ft Dolls - Baby Says Yeah
Blew - In C
The Jones Machine - That Booze Magic (Cheggars Mix)

Robert Wyatt - Free Will And Testament
Solid Doctor - Holy Roller
Back To Base - Electric Eye (Crown Yourself King Mix)
Mr Ed - Blue
Lianne Hall - Cosy
Fun'da'mental - Ja Sha Taan
Exploding Thumbs - Desert Song
Waterson-Carthy - Ye Mariners All
Twosheds - Don't Go To Darlington
Myormay - Clear
Comatose - Turtle's Head

Still struggling to come to any sort of terms about this; especially as it does feel all too likely that we might have seen the end of his sort of ethos; aye, the Reithian ideal, but geared towards independent/alternative ends... it may be possible there could be a national DJ with a notably eclectic taste in records, but it'll take an awful lot of time for anyone to match the broadcasting skills of Peel, and crucially his empathy with all the listeners; he brought a lot more to the table than just a wide musical taste... his whole character was wonderfully reassuring and 'traditional' in some ways, and this, i think, helped him achieve an audience for his music shows...

Marcello is spot-on in mentioning Stanshall and Cutler, btw, in his blog tribute; he did more than any in encouraging these sort of incomparable people. Peel was good in not just going for blanket 'styles' of music, but finding people who didn't fit into 'genres' one iota.

And it could be Geoff, and it could be John
With a new ball sting in his tail
And it could be me, and it could be thee
And it could be the sting in the ale.

I only ever got hear him via the BBC World Service once a week. In that short space of time they broadcasted his hour-long show, I was totally thankful to finally hear what all the fuss was about after only ever reading about this legend (yes 'legend' is now offical) in UK mags such as NME, Record Collector, MOJO, and radio guides.

It's weird, tears have welled up after reading everyone's posts, and yet, I too, feel I've taken the same journey as others on ILM. He was the "Indie Uncle" I never knew! The respect I garnered for him was due to what I'd read other than heard. Damn! I just wish I had a friend in England who could have sent me regular tapes of his shows, looking back.

My sympathies go out to everyone who sheltered under his musical umbrella: he would have been the only reason I wished I was a teenager throughout the '70s.

To quote one of the great '80s bands he so championed.."There is a light that never goes out...".

Rest In Eternal Peace" John Peel

courtesy of TV Cream (UK)

I was unexpectedly very emotional all day-- PFM officemates, it wasn't my lingering cold that caused my sniffles-- so I can't imagine how those of you in the UK who grew up listening to him felt. The Electrifying Mojo is the closest Peel-like figure I could name in my own life, and that doesn't even touch Peel's impact for you all. And thanks for all of the kind and touching words and links-- even as a lurker, it was a great day to read ILx.

I figured PJ Harvey would mention Peel tonight at the show and she did, and then brought on a current Fall dude to perform a cover of "Janet, Johnny + James" from The Real New Fall LP during the set. I suspect that's exactly the kind of tribute he would have liked -- something new rather than old.

this is the track featuring Peel's voice

I think I drew the line at the quality of the World Service broadcasts, though.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/media/g2/onemusic/nottingham/datsuns.ram

one mad mad picture ..

"This is dedicated to our best friend. John Peel"

And so they played "Carry on screaming". Tear to the eye. Carry on indeed, John.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio3_aod.shtml?andykershaw

Ha ha! OTM OTM! I've considered myself an anglophile since I was a teenager and have followed UK music religiously and yet I've never felt so envious of the Brits until I realized I actually knew very little about Peel, the man. I listened to his show a lot in the early 90's but wow I wish I'd been able to as a teenager. I remember considering getting a shortwave radio, even wrote down the correct frequency to use but I just don't think I had enough money then.

I'll check out the Kershaw show - I have been tuning in to the Rob Da Bank shows in the original Peel timeslot featuring music Peel picked and prerecorded Peel sessions that hadn't been broadcast yet. Also there is Peel doing a half hour show on the BBC World Service site that he recorded in advance - with two more of these shows on the way. (I say this for anyone outside the U.K. who might be looking for a way to hear the man himself in action)

I've recently been looking up the Festive 50 lists and trying to get ahold of any stray songs that I don't already know of yet. I have recently discovered I am head over heels for mid-80's band the Very Things - they were like Bauhaus crossed with The Fall crossed with Half Man Half Biscuit or some such wonderful thing - pop and goth at the same time. Incredible.

I'm gonna see if that Kershaw show is still up.

Some good stuff there, bookended with spot-on choices. Neil Young's 'Country Home' is great: its the opener of 'Ragged Glory' & when I first got a copy I listened to that track about 20 times on repeat before I wanted to hear the rest of the album!

Peel Sessions bands index 1992-2002
http://www.vheissu.freeserve.co.uk/bands.html

The Orb : who can forget that 20 minutes plus opus.. A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld (Loving You)
Appliance
Nought
Aereogramme
Global Communications
The Boredoms
Circle
Godspeed You Black Emperor!
and Stereolab stole some music ideas from Hatfield and the North and National Health

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40519000/jpg/_40519207_sheila300.jpg

Isn't this exactly what all of us mean when we say that music changed our lives? The difference with Peel was that it happened to him numerous times throughout his life in his thirties, forties, fifties - not just, unlike most people, just the once during adolescence.

From what I understand, that song featured the voice of the only person Peel would have wanted to be instead of himself.

OK, nobody took my meager bait up there. I was refering to comic genius Vivian Stanshall, a great mate of Peel's apparently. The other day I can across a copy of the brilliant "Sir Henry at Rawlinson's End," Viv's contribution P.G Wodehouse Upstairs/Downstairs comedy, and of course it eventually turned it out that Peel played a part in the making of it. Man, the guy really had a hand in everything. John Hammond couldn't shine his shoes.

He had this theory that if you wanted to insult someone you should get their name slightly wrong

I remember him playing a Bowie track in about 1978 and saying 'If he'd been called Neil Bowie instead of David, do you think people would still revere him?'

This may be worth a new thread, but a whole lot of people completely renounced prog around '77, and I think Peel wasn't the cause of this, just the most prominent example. When something new comes along it does cause a reevaluation of what's there, and punk, to a lot of us, felt like a very clear statement of what had been unsatisfactory in what had been on offer for the last few years in rock (this was obviously part of its explicit intent, even manifesto). I suspect it is hard to grasp the force of this impact if you are much younger than me, and I am struggling to think of something that has worked the same way more recently.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/prius/partthree/story/0,14196,1322037,00.html

Rethink

John Peel wants radio playlists scrapped and more stations taking risks with the music they play

Interview by Chris Borg

.........

These are words of wisdom from John Peel that everyone at Radio 1 and 6 Music should be made to read.

Keep It Peel
John Peel Night on Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 will pay tribute to the late John Peel through a night of live music to be broadcast on Thursday 16th December from 7pm.

The night will be hosted by Steve Lamacq and come from the world famous BBC Maida Vale studios, the scene of many a Peel Session.

Throughout the evening every studioat Maida Vale will be taken over as a whole host of bands perform and talk about John and the music he loved.

The schedule for the night will run as follows:

7pm - 8pm
Teenage Dreams So Hard To Beat
Kicking off Peel night, Radio 1 takes a look back at the career of the great man with a one hour documentary celebrating his extraordinary life. The show will feature tributes from The Undertones, Orbital, the Cure, New Order, Supergrass, Robert Plant, Underworld, Siouxsie Sioux and the Buzzcocks.

8pm - 11:30pm
Live music from bands that John championed including the Wedding Present, Nina Nastasia, Hefner, Trencher, Melys, Steveless, Stuart Murdoch (Belle & Sebastian), Special guests tbc. Steve Lamacq will be introducing the bands and linking it all together.

11:30pm - 1am
The DJs take over with sets from Underworld, Hixxy, Coldcut, Shitmat, Grooverider plus Dynamite MC on mic duties.

Teenage Dreams So Hard To Beat

Aldo, did you actually do this? I've just been asked to play a six-hour Festive 50 set in Hamburg next week, to commemorate the first anniversary of the lovely chap's untimely demise, and I could really do with, ummm, lots of songs.

Of course, if anyone has the whole blimmin' lot on CD and is prepared to lend them to/born them for me, for a small fee, I would be VERY interested INDEED!

Anyone else?

I guess I should probably get me hence to the YSI thread with a hefty list...

that's not how you spell cocteau. you're thinking of 'gateaux'...

er, so that's three weeks from now then... 8) he died on the 25th, not the 13th. nobody at the bbc seems to have realised this though.

Koogs, if you can perhaps YSI any of your Top 10s as zipped folders or something, that'd be unfathomably amazing - depending on which years they are, obviously...

that said, if anybody knows of anyone who's done a cut-up/mash-up of Peel's voice and made it into a track - Carter's "Rubbish" excepted - I'd love to hear it!

And here is a lovely Peel/Down Down mash thingie by the Cuban Boys

as for mashups, there's one on the 'listen with sarah' site but i don't know whether it's suitable for public viewing 8)

as for mashups, there's one on the 'listen with sarah' site but i don't know whether it's suitable for public viewing 8)

http://www.nme.com/images/82_151005_johnpeel_cover.jpg

Are they using the image of John Peel as a pseudo icon brand for street cred? [when the NME in 2005 doesn't match the diverse ethos of John Peel.]

http://telegraph.co.uk and then click on his face...

(firefox users may want to add http://*NetGravity* to their adblock lists beforehand - the page kept crashing out on me...)

Where's Barry Davies when you need him?

(Apart from ensuring there are no skips + setting the levels to avoid clipping, I can't do any postprocessing or give guarantees re quality, though.)

"ok, you can have 'razzmatazz' but only if i can have 'everything's gone green'" etc

then, when i've got my dream list, i'll figure out what i'm missing. i know already that i'm in serious need of a lot of HmHb and Cocteau action, but a lot of the latter is hardly dancefloor material...

I still can't believe he's gone.

If they were ignoring the anniversary you would be complaining Martian. Although, yeah, it's clearly much easier for the NME to deal with Peel as part of the past now than it was when he was still challenging their orthodoxy.

and the news was embargoed until 2pm on the 26th here, to let his family know i guess, so who knows the exact time...

(have just been puzzling over this myself. do deaths all occur in GMT?)

still, 8(

was on a train (on way Home for a funeral) when the news broke and i didn't find out until i got there about 4:30ish. spent rest of the day glued to the radio.

that last show is 5.5 hours long in total and oddly mainstream. has been available on web for a while (if it's the one i'm thinking of). a lot of it's patched together - new recordings with his links put back in. it's also the show where he reads out that bit of winnie the pooh. worth a listen.

QFT.

"As we all know, John was a great supporter of the kind of music that, perhaps for time reasons, we just don't get the chance to give our full backing to on Radio 1. He was the first to play both reggae and punk to a British mainstream audience, and his death was mourned throguhout the indie, rock, dance, rap, and pop press. So, in a tribute to that, here's "Californication" live at the Reading Festival. Godspeed John"

Peel Box being broadcast throughout the day on radio6 (about 20 tracks i think, spread throughout the day. some are listener choices, some are chosen by his family)

two years! wow. i don't believe in any kind of afterlife, but if i did then i hope JP would be rocking bells out of it.

i'd second that. i listened to the last two driving down the treacherous A9 in torrential rain the other night, and they were absolutely great. true, he's not yet played anything that's made me go "JESUS CHRIST THAT'S AWESOME" but then i guess his dad only did that, ooh, twice a week :)

he's funny, nasal, self-deprecating and enjoyable, and plays all manner of stuff i'd never hear anywhere else. egg plus meat equals man, for fuck's sake! (who were shit, but never mind).

try dandelion radio too. (myspace.com/dandelionradio)

As a rule, if any band have this:

http://cyberai.com/peeltribute.jpg

Pass along this small tribute, copy this code.

on their Myspace, then they always certainly never listened to a Peel show in their life because the music was a "bit weird".

http://www.jonhorne.co.uk/jptapes/jptapes.html

Happy 70th.

Thread still makes me ;_;

sad stuff indeed.

Six years ago. There's still an obvious void left behind.

I've been reading "John Peel: A Life in Music." The haphazardness of his early years makes it clear that the music world was very lucky to have John Peel end up doing what he did for so long. I can't imagine the stars ever aligning again to let a dj tenaciously investigate and promote and record new music, yet have the continuity of decades and the platform of a national radio broadcast.

Wow. Six years. Still missing Peel big time.

Of course there are enough shows ripped by kind people on the internet that I could probably still spend the next decade or so listening to him as much as I did in my teenage years (still sometimes find bits of paper I scrawled misheard song titles on to look up on Ceefax the next morning), but for some reason I've done very little of that. Partly not knowing where to start, partly the sadness of a show so forward-looking trapped in amber.

I listen to his shows all the time. God bless the internet.

where are some good places to get old Peel shows?

I found a bunch of Festive Fifty episodes on P1rate B4y.

there's an entire internet group dedicated to preserving and archiving those sessions... a friend of mine is in it and tyler I can try to hook you up if you fail to find other sources.

I have a bunch of "Peel out in the States" CDs, and a couple of C90s where I hadn't edited out JPeel from the songs (I did this once, tape lost anyway)

Er...this is impressive. 254 shows from '67 - '04:

http://soundcloud.com/das-boy/sets/john-peel-show/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPzyN8Qq5XA