Favourite John Peel quotes

Haha, for a dude who I disagree with hugely aesthetics/band-fan-wise, the man is good for a laff or fifty.

― disco violence (disco violence), Thursday, 13 October 2005 00:09 (7 years ago) Permalink

Thursday 13th October 2005 is being marked as John Peel Day, a year to the day since his last Radio 1 show was broadcast. I for one will celebrate by listening to a few of his (and my) faves.
Gone but not forgotten. Also, I'm about to get my new ipod engraved with "I'm sorry I think I may have played that at the wrong speed" in tribute.

― Nick Judd, Thursday, 13 October 2005 00:13 (7 years ago) Permalink

Sorry to do it this way but would be grateful if you could do this:

Dear All

I would be grateful if you would do two things for me to mark one John Peel’s passing:

1)As in the spirit of the original Festive Fifty, please send me your top three tracks (singles or LP tracks) in order 1 2 3. Please ensure you send both name of track as well as artist/group.

2)Send this email to a bunch of people, asking them to send their top 3 to me at festivefifty@hotmail.co.uk by midnight 17th December.

I will collate the answers and put out a definitive Festive Fifty at www.festivefifty.net on 24th December this year.

I know this sounds a little…….but my love of music was fuelled by Peelie and having read the Mick Wall book, it brought it home how much he gave us and I would like to give a little back myself. If you think this is bollocks, then please do not reply but do me a favour, send it on as there are plenty of people who will not feel that way.

Cheers

― Festive Fifty, Thursday, 13 October 2005 10:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

Not a quote as such, but a reflection on John's humour.
At a John Peel roadshow in Guildord many years ago, I sidled up with my autograph book and then I was face to face with John - a great moment for me.
He signed my book and chatted for a couple of minutes - which was great, but when I read the dedication I cracked up.

I'd told him my name was "Steven with a v", so, of course, that is what he'd written

― Steve Warner, Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:55 (7 years ago) Permalink

Not a quote as such, but a reflection on John's humour.
At a John Peel roadshow in Guildord many years ago, I sidled up with my autograph book and then I was face to face with John - a great moment for me.
He signed my book and chatted for a couple of minutes - which was great, but when I read the dedication I cracked up.

I'd told him my name was "Steven with a v", so, of course, that is what he'd written!

― Steve Warner, Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:56 (7 years ago) Permalink

John Peel at the Reading Festival in the 70's whilst playing tunes to an indifferent crowd in between bands - "Come on you lot, this is about as much fun as a Young Conservatives disco!"

― Kenchie, Thursday, 13 October 2005 16:41 (7 years ago) Permalink

1. David Courtenay - Rancid
2. Down payment Blues - AC/DC
3. Gallows Pole - Led Zeppelin

― David Frater, Thursday, 13 October 2005 16:50 (7 years ago) Permalink

This was back in the early 1980s when John Peel played a Theatre of Hate song, and then said:

Well, if that doesn't get to number 1, I'm going to shave off DLT's head

― Aboodi Shabi, Thursday, 13 October 2005 18:09 (7 years ago) Permalink

A great set of quotes - made me laugh and cry and every comment about the multi-talented Peely...

― Rob Scott, Thursday, 13 October 2005 18:39 (7 years ago) Permalink

I think a certain Captain Beefheart track and Ten Commandments by Prince Fari were two songs that caused Peelie to stop his car at the side of the road to listen. Any others ?

― David Earlam, Thursday, 13 October 2005 21:22 (7 years ago) Permalink

While at Reading Festival in 89, on the Sunday I went for breakfast in a rubbish cafe and while sitting drinking my coffee was joined at my table by the man himself, who lent me his Observer to read the football results from the day before whilst observing that Liverpool's result was "the usual crap against crap teams" (or words to that effect) and we ended up having a long conversation about the merits of (what would eventually be called) grunge. What a lovely bloke.

― Si.C@rter (SiC@rter), Thursday, 13 October 2005 22:44 (7 years ago) Permalink

> OK, not a Peel quote as such, but I do remember the opening of one
> particular show where - god help us - the first record up was Kylie's
> 'I Should Be So Lucky'. It played for a while and then gradually -
> very very gradually - it was crossfaded into some gutwrenching
> hideous noise by Extreme Noise Terror or some such bunch. Wonderful.

I still have this on tape - one of my most cherished recorded moments. To be precise, it was Kylie's "Put Your Hand On Your Heart" which was pummelled out of the way by a track by Japanese thrash band SOB.

Oaf

― Oaf, Friday, 14 October 2005 06:22 (7 years ago) Permalink

(Peel liked Kylie though, maybe as a person more than musically, yes. she was very kind to his kids several times. see also: courtney love)

(btw, peel's last show was 14th October last year, not the 13th - it was the thursday but this year the 14th is a friday so they've moved it forward a day - http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/alt/tracklistings/peel_archive.shtml?20041014

the bbc don't seem to link to the tracklisting archive anymore. they are still there, just not linked to from anywhere that i can see. a pity)

― koogs (koogs), Friday, 14 October 2005 10:12 (7 years ago) Permalink

Went to see the inaugural John Peel Memorial 5-a side competition in Liverpool on 13th Oct - loads of teams made up of Liverpool bands, and one made up of John's family and friends, with Sheila presenting the medals. Anyone got any memories of him from those celebrity 5-a side competitions at festivals e.g. Phoenix? I know he used to enjoy seeing hip 'indie demi-gods' making fools of themselves in shorts!

― Roy Goulbourn, Friday, 14 October 2005 13:22 (7 years ago) Permalink

You may well hate it, but the Cuban Boys Peel-sampling tribute "Your Nation Needs You" is downloadable at their website.

http://www.cubanboys.co.uk/

― everything, Saturday, 15 October 2005 16:43 (7 years ago) Permalink

hmmmmm just posted this but it's gone. well again: i'd love to listen to some old john peel stuff again as i used to love listening to him at night when i was living in england (i am from germany). couldn't find any useful links online though :( so maybe someone is interested in helping me? please contact me.
thanks!
marie

― mariemarie, Sunday, 16 October 2005 19:50 (7 years ago) Permalink

I'm probably paraphrasing, but I remember a great line from the late 90's, just after an LTJ Bukem track...

"...I believe thats referred to as intelligent drum and bass, which obviously means there's a genre of stupid drum n bass out there...."

Genius. What a guy...

― Dave Justice, Sunday, 16 October 2005 22:13 (7 years ago) Permalink

I've just posted this on another thread but darnit it show's how different he was from other DJs. After playing The Fall "New Puritan" which contains the line "Bands sent tapes to famous apes/Male slags, male slates, famous apes" he said "Am I one of the famous apes? I rather fear that I might be...".

― Ned T.Rifle, Monday, 17 October 2005 07:12 (7 years ago) Permalink

Does anyone remember the recordings John and John Walters used to do for the Alan Freeman show in the 70's? A friend used to have few tapes of these - I'll borrow them and MP3 them if he still has them.

― Rob Clarke, Monday, 17 October 2005 08:55 (7 years ago) Permalink

I'll never forget Peelie's euphemism for sitting in the lavatory: "crouched in the necessarium".

― Paul Slade, Tuesday, 18 October 2005 07:51 (7 years ago) Permalink

Las time i saw John i had the hangover from hell.. he just busied himself making tea and toast for us..Smashing thing to to as we had broken one of the windows to his dining room about two in the morning ..
Among all of the other great things he done in life, my overriding memory is that he was one of my pals grumpy dad....
Just a normal guy with some great music in his box i suppose...

btw... never have i seen so many records and cd's....!!

― fuztownsend, Friday, 21 October 2005 19:38 (7 years ago) Permalink

In 1983, just after the invasion of Greneda which overthrew its left-leaning government, John played a single called He's Read' after which he commented dryly: "Red Lorry Yellow Lorry's 'He's Read.' And that's Read, spelled "R-E-A-D", so you can call off the Marines..."

― Richard Price, Saturday, 22 October 2005 08:10 (7 years ago) Permalink

(That should of course be 'Grenada'` not Greneda....

― Richard Price, Saturday, 22 October 2005 08:11 (7 years ago) Permalink

Always remember hearing some astonishing stuff one evening about 12 years where he played an Ali Rakkhar and Ravi Shankar track, which was a spell bindingly live performance recorded way back at the Monterey festival. As the track concludes with thunderously lighting quick tablas & vocal ragas with blistering tempo he goes:

(with a sense of awe in his voice)"...... welll I liked to see you do that electronically chaps!" to the audience.

Beautiful man were Peel.
Since his passing, I trully haven't listened to Radio 1 since. There trully is no one that can hold a light to him.
FACT!

― Phil Vickery, Saturday, 22 October 2005 22:17 (7 years ago) Permalink

Hi,
I don't have any quotes (sorry) just wanted to say hi.
John Peel can't be replaced, unlike any other DJ, and well done to whoever set this page up (i found it thru a link)
This place really cheered me up, and made me laff out loud many times.
Life's not quite the same..is it?

If anyone has anymore links to mp3's etc, t'would be massively appreciated.

:o>

― Davy G, Tuesday, 25 October 2005 15:22 (7 years ago) Permalink

When it was the last item on the radio one news during John Peel's show that Robbie fowler had been fined £1000 for revealing a t shirt in support of the sacked liverpool dockers, a familiar voice was heard to intone, I'll pay your fine Robbie.

― ally may, Tuesday, 25 October 2005 15:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

c.2002 John read out a request from a fan and it went something like this: "I have a postcard hear from William and he would like to hear a track from Bowie. Well no problem William, and we do really read all correspondence that we receive. And the date on that post card...1976....well better late than never eh..."

― Vince G, Wednesday, 26 October 2005 22:52 (7 years ago) Permalink

He played a track by David Bowie and commented "Do you think if his parents had called him Neil instead of David, anyone would care about David Bowie now?"

Peel's biography, Margrave of the Marshes, is currently being read by an actor with totally the wrong kind of Liverpool accent on Radio 4's Book at Bedtime. Peel's syntax (which often worked well in short journalism) is tortuous and laboured; he strains too hard for effect. As a result, you need to concentrate hard to follow the story, and the final impression is of someone protecting himself from any real revelation (and vulnerability) by quirky faux-jovial humour and a rather forced attempt at "breezy charm". I know Peel admired Vivian Stanshall's variety of dry, eccentric English humour, but he isn't quite able to pull it off himself. Perhaps he just wasn't feeling the necessary joie de vivre for this style during his last couple of years.

― Momus (Momus), Thursday, 27 October 2005 11:22 (7 years ago) Permalink

On the occasion of his 40th Birthday show in 1979 just after he'd spoken by telephone to Kenny Daglish during the last track wishing him a Happy Birthday he said: "Its like hearing the voice of God you know"....
Another quip followed a particularly trippy Julian Cope track in the mid-80's where he exclaimed: "Well, you don't get there on crates of light ale"!!
Finally, following a Bauhaus track in the Festive 50 of 1982 he said: "Bela Lugosi's Dead - and only yesterday the Board of Directors said they were behind him 110 per cent"! Irreplacable

― Mark Stanfield, Thursday, 27 October 2005 11:43 (7 years ago) Permalink

(By the way, Ben Thompson's review of Peel's biography in The Independent is much better than Simon Garfield's in the Guardian.)

― Momus (Momus), Thursday, 27 October 2005 11:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

Fantastic reminders of the great man everybody. Does anyone know anywhere where you can download complete peel shows???

one of my favourites:

...after playing a record....

"Mmm..think I played that at the wrong speed.......sounded better for I think"

― James S, Friday, 28 October 2005 06:46 (7 years ago) Permalink

This is a wonderful tribute to the great JP.

Unfortunately I cannot remember the name of the band, but after the track finished he dryly remarked.

"A somewhat disappointing track there, on an otherwise flawless album."

― Jon T, Friday, 28 October 2005 08:24 (7 years ago) Permalink

John presented channel 4's Music for the Millenium,Top 100 albums of all time, after the segment on Joy Division, John says there were so many bands who were trying to sound like Joy Divison I got hundreds of demos..."it was the most depressing time of my life"

― Alan Treacy, Tuesday, 1 November 2005 04:58 (7 years ago) Permalink

When he introduced I wish it could be 1965 again by the Barracudas he said "I don't actually"
On the lunchtime show in 1993 he said he liked Kylie after he played the one with the French title.

― Richard Thompson, Thursday, 3 November 2005 15:07 (7 years ago) Permalink

i have just finished reading 'musgrave of the marshes', the john peel autobiography which his wife sheila wrote half of (as he had passed away when he had only got to the year 1964 in his story). i loved every page of it.

anyway, sheila must have read this thread as my 'fades in gently' quote gets a mention, as does my nom de plume - stirmonster. how queer!

btw, ilm is referred to as a dimly lit corner of the internet. ha!

― stirmonster (stirmonster), Sunday, 6 November 2005 20:04 (7 years ago) Permalink

My world is richer because Peel played me Preposterous Tales by I Ludicrous.

Opening gambit circa 1987: "Sit back and unravel your jumpers to the limpid beauty of A Witness".

We need an archive of the shows, people.

― Jeff Jepson, Monday, 7 November 2005 17:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

xpost.. it might be that's because this thread is linked to off the radio 1 peel pages..

― jellybean (jellybean), Monday, 7 November 2005 19:26 (7 years ago) Permalink

You have an JS error at the gb page.

― Daanko, Wednesday, 9 November 2005 12:03 (7 years ago) Permalink

From the late 70's, paraphrased:

'This one's dedicated to anyone doing their O levels at the moment. Ah, don't worry about it. I only got 4 O levels and I did OK. If I got a few less I could have got a daytime radio job...'

― rob clarke, Saturday, 12 November 2005 10:13 (7 years ago) Permalink

if you can, get the virgin in-store cassettes from 79. there are some on themixingbowl site. he isin fine form throughout - seemingly in sarcastic mode for all of the recordings. utterly brilliant.

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Saturday, 12 November 2005 10:36 (7 years ago) Permalink

A couple of years ago, John had The Scratch Perverts playing a live mix session in the studio. About halfway through, one of the Perverts' turntables broke down and the music stopped.

JP... "Oh. Well, er, I've got a Scratch Pervert here. Is it broken? Oh. OK. Er, hang on. You mess about with that and I'll see if I can find something to... er... play. Right. OK, here's something to listen to and we'll see if we can get this fixed. I've no idea what this is, by the way. Are you OK?".

He was just brilliant.

― Dan K, Friday, 18 November 2005 10:04 (7 years ago) Permalink

during the height of his love for jack and meg.........

'i cant believe we ve been on air for 12 minutes and i ve not yet played anything by the white stripes'

― TedMaul, Tuesday, 22 November 2005 03:43 (7 years ago) Permalink

from the aforementioned Virgin in-store tapes...

song ends... "And that's Any Trouble and it's called Yesterday's Love. Was is Coventry you said, was it, Ian? The other day apparently they were playing one of these tapes in Coventry and people were just standing there listening to them and not buying any records. And, of course, the message in any shop -- and in the Virgin stores no less than in any other -- the message is CONSUME! CONSUME! Buy! Buy! ...and then fuck off out of the shop."

― mcnichol, Wednesday, 23 November 2005 17:19 (7 years ago) Permalink

I too am Reaidn 'Margrave..' the only problem being I can't not hear it in his voice and this transfers over to when i'm reading something else! Great book though, stick it on your Xmas lists.

― MitchellStirling (MitchellStirling), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 23:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

"blow it out your arse, needledick"

― Sasha (sgh), Thursday, 24 November 2005 02:34 (7 years ago) Permalink

Quite a few of the quotes on this thread pop up verbatim in Margrave of the Marshes (*cough* Undertones, page 312 *cough*), including several from his time at Top Of The Pops. Nice one, Sheila!

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Friday, 25 November 2005 09:10 (7 years ago) Permalink

Well, we all remember them well.

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 25 November 2005 09:18 (7 years ago) Permalink

some time in the year 2000

"i do think this is the best radio program in the world, i mean i know that sounds a bit big headed. but its nothing to do with me, really. does it sound big headed to you? I think it really is, i dont think there is a better radio program in the world."

― adam neil, Tuesday, 13 December 2005 10:25 (7 years ago) Permalink

Was listening to Jack Rose's Peel Session last night from a couple years ago. In between songs he praises Rose and announces the next song. What starts is "Totally Wired" appropriately. You hear 5 seconds or so before Peel is back: "That's not Jack Rose, that's 'Totally Wired,' how did that happen," he mumbles some more as you hear him searching around for the right thing. It was a pretty funny typical Peel moment.

― TRG (TRG), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 14:13 (7 years ago) Permalink

"Janice has just phoned to ask if I can play some Whitney Houston.

Haven't got any Whitney tonight, Janice, but here's Bolt Thrower"

― carl lyons, Thursday, 15 December 2005 22:04 (7 years ago) Permalink