Favourite John Peel quotes

(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!

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

:o>

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.

one of my favourites:

...after playing a record....

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

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."

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!

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.

'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...'

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.

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

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."

"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."

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

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d148/jonwilliamspwn/JonWilliams.jpg

Sometimes I think I'll go mad with the wonder of it all

"Somebody brought me a little white label of a record, unmarked, and I haven't had a chance to listen to it except during that long Dylan record a moment or so ago. And it turns out to be the debut single by Generation X. And that, I feel, is something I should share with you."

Also in 1977 he contrived another listening break for himself:

"At the beginning of the programme I mentioned that we were going to play you three versions of Hey Jude, and indeed we are. The first and the third of them are by Godfrey Daniels and they are excellent - almost as good as the one in the middle in fact."

We were then treated to a glorious doo-wop rendition and soulful ballad with towering Phil Spector-style 'wall of sound' production, separated by The Beatles' definitive version. Thirteen minutes later...

"Three versions of Hey Jude. And are you still with me!"

Wonder what he was listening to on this occasion? Answers on a postcard...

John Peel played a gig at Wolverhampton Poly in 1978 and this represented the only time I met the great man. And I say met in a very loose manner. I didn’t really have a conversation as such but communications were made via pieces of paper being handed backwards and forwards.

First up was an autograph request on the only scrap of paper I had to hand. It came back duly signed with the legend “John Peel is fab”. However the “b” was not well formed and, since then, people who have seen the treasured autograph have repeatedly asked why he signed “John Peel is fat”! I’m sure he would have been highly amused!

Later I decided that I’d try a request. However, I was hardly going to sacrifice the signature, so what else could I scavenge? Then I recalled the Beecham’s Powder sachet I had in my pocket (I had an awful cold at the time!). So I downed the powder without the aid of any water – quite a feat without choking as anyone familiar with the medication will be aware. A hurried request was scrawled on the back of the packet and it was again passed up onto the stage registering a few funny looks from the people with John! “It’ll go straight into the bin,” I was convinced. No-one in their right mind is going to take any notice of some idiot with white powder all over his face handing him a empty aspirin packet! Oh well.

For the next week or so I listened in to his show and there were plenty of mentions of Wolverhampton:

“Well all of this week’s programmes are dedicated with a gratitude bordering on reverence to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ipswich Town and Leeds United who did us a lot of favours on Saturday. Very grateful for that…”

Wolverhampton Wanderers doing Liverpool favours. How times change!

“I had a magnificent weekend and a I earnestly hope you do too (sic). I mean that most sincerely. On the Saturday I went to Derby to see Liverpool win with two of the most handsome goals I can remember seeing in a very, very long time. But the night before that I’d been in Nottingham to see Essential Logic, who were very good – you may remember their session on Wednesday which a lot of people asked me about then, and were impressed with - and also Robert Rental and The Normal who I thought were very good also. But the stars of the show were Stiff Little Fingers, the first time I’ve ever seen them live, and they really were devastating. And I came away from Nottingham, and from my subsequent gig in Wolverhampton, with the usual pocketful of bits of paper and dedications and, for the second week in a row, I’ve left these at home so I shall have to read them out on tomorrow night’s, and Wednesday night’s, and Thursday night’s programmes. My apologies for that.”

Ah, a pocketful of pieces of paper – promising!

“At me gig at Wolverhampton the other day, someone said to me how come you’ve stopped playing records by Souixsie and the Banshees and I thought to myself why have we stopped playing records by Souixsie and the Banshees?”

And later in the week…

“And what else is there? Oh yes, I got a bunch of requests that I came away with at the weekend which I didn’t read out because I’d left ‘em at home and I’ve got some of them now but not all of them. Gaffa for Carl of Nottingham, Kevin Coyne for Sarah, Stu, Bob and Drum, Ultravox for Nick and Val and something for Dan, David, Howie and Deborah. And of all of these something is what’s gonna get played. In fact it’s the Neon Hearts because quite a few people at the gig in Wolverhampton asked for something by the Neon Hearts and I didn’t have it with me. This is their Popular Music.”

So was that my request? I’d made it for my then girlfriend and her cat! There was a David and a Deborah (separated by Howie!) and Deborah rather than Debs (as requested) but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers! Still not totally convincing, though.

“The Only Ones. Three tracks coming up from the LP Even Serpents Shine. And at some stage of the weekend’s festivities somebody called Dave came up and said would I play something by The Only Ones for Debs and Katch. So they got a bonus. Three tracks, as I say. The first of them’s called Inbetweens.”

Ah heaven!

“Well, we continue to tiptoe elegantly through The Only Ones’ album Even Serpent’s Shine. More on tomorrow night’s programme I shouldn’t wonder. The tracks there are called Inbetweens, Out There In The Night, and then the first track on side two which is Curtains For You.”

A small claim to fame but, at the time, it was most appreciated. Debs and Katch got away ultimately but I still have a cassette tape of highlights from the week’s programmes with John’s autograph fashioned into a makeshift sleeve.

Thanks John for the soundtrack to a mis-spent youth.

John Peel played a gig at Wolverhampton Poly in 1978 and this represented the only time I met the great man. And I say met in a very loose manner. I didn’t really have a conversation as such but communications were made via pieces of paper being handed backwards and forwards.

First up was an autograph request on the only scrap of paper I had to hand. It came back duly signed with the legend “John Peel is fab”. However the “b” was not well formed and since then people who have seen the treasured autograph have repeatedly asked why he signed “John Peel is fat”! I’m sure he would have been highly amused!

Later I decided that I’d try a request. However I was hardly going to sacrifice the signature so what else could I scavenge? Then I recalled the Beecham’s Powder sachet I had in my pocket (I had an awful cold at the time!). So I downed the powder without the aid of any water – quite a feat without choking as anyone familiar with the medication will be aware. A hurried request was scrawled on the back of the packet and it was again passed up onto the stage registering a few funny looks from the people with John! “It’ll go straight into the bin,” I was convinced. No-one in their right mind is going to take any notice of some idiot with white powder all over his face handing him a empty aspirin packet! Oh well.

So for the next week or so I listened in and there were plenty of mentions of Wolverhampton:

“Well all of this week’s programmes are dedicated with a gratitude bordering on reverence to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ipswich Town and Leeds United who did us a lot of favours on Saturday. Very grateful for that…”

Wolverhampton Wanderers doing Liverpool favours. How times change!

“I had a magnificent weekend and a I earnestly hope you do too (sic). I mean that most sincerely. On the Saturday I went to Derby to see Liverpool win with two of the most handsome goals I can remember seeing in a very, very long time. But the night before that I’d been in Nottingham to see Essential Logic, who were very good – you may remember their session on Wednesday which a lot of people asked me about then, and were impressed with - and also Robert Rental and The Normal who I thought were very good also. But the stars of the show were Stiff Little Fingers, the first time I’ve ever seen them live, and they really were devastating. And I came away from Nottingham, and from my subsequent gig in Wolverhampton, with the usual pocketful of bits of paper and dedications and, for the second week in a row, I’ve left these at home so I shall have to read them out on tomorrow night’s, and Wednesday night’s, and Thursday night’s programmes. My apologies for that.”

Ah, a pocketful of pieces of paper – promising!

“At me gig at Wolverhampton the other day, someone said to me how come you’ve stopped playing records by Souixsie and the Banshees and I thought to myself why have we stopped playing records by Souixsie and the Banshees?”

And later in the week…

“And what else is there? Oh yes, I got a bunch of requests that I came away with at the weekend which I didn’t read out because I’d left ‘em at home and I’ve got some of them now but not all of them. Gaffa for Carl of Nottingham, Kevin Coyne for Sarah, Stu, Bob and Drum, Ultravox for Nick and Val and something for Dan, David, Howie and Deborah. And of all of these something is what’s gonna get played. In fact it’s the Neon Hearts because quite a few people at the gig in Wolverhampton asked for something by the Neon Hearts and I didn’t have it with me. This is their Popular Music.”

So was that my request? I’d made it for my then girlfriend and her cat. There was a David and a Deborah (separated by Howie!) and Deborah rather than Debs (as requested) but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers! Still not totally convincing, though.

“The Only Ones. Three tracks coming up from the LP Even Serpents Shine. And at some stage of the weekend’s festivities somebody called Dave came up and said would I play something by The Only Ones for Debs and Katch. So they got a bonus. Three tracks, as I say. The first of them’s called Inbetweens.”

Ah heaven!

“Well, we continue to tiptoe elegantly through The Only Ones’ album Even Serpent’s Shine. More on tomorrow night’s programme I shouldn’t wonder. The tracks there are called Inbetweens, Out There In The Night, and then the first track on side two which is Curtains For You.”

A small claim to fame but, at the time, it was most appreciated. Debs and Katch got away ultimately but I still have a cassette tape of highlights from the week’s programmes with John’s autograph fashioned into a makeshift sleeve.

Thanks John for the soundtrack to a mis-spent youth.

John was famous for playing records at the wrong speed and supplying numerous ad-libs to cover his embarrassment. I seem to remember that when he played a track from XTC’s dub experiments album Go Plus at the wrong speed he kind of liked it and decided that it was in keeping with the spirit of the concept and therefore OK to continue playing the track at the slowed down speed! CDs had a lot to answer for and reduced our listening pleasure! However, he could also manage his party trick with session tapes!

“The first from Ivor Cutler - without his accordian and without his band - is The Obliging Fairy (giggles).”

The tape runs at an alarmingly slow speed.

“It’s not like that either! That doesn’t sound entirely happy. I tell you what I’ll do, while we’re sorting that out – is that a technical problem? That’s what we call a technical problem…”

Great fun! On the same evening he played a session version of the fondly remembered Egg Meat.

“This is another from Ivor Cutler, An oldie actually. I mean an old tune, an old piece, it’s called Egg Meat.”

Ivor announces the title Egg Meat

“Told you!” inserts John before Ivor recounts the weird and wonderful story of a young lad helping his mother to feed meat to the eggs!

“Well, I’m as mystified as you,” he stated at the conclusion, “ but no doubt William, [aged] 3, could understand it entirely!”

Hope the Ivor Cutler quote will make up for it!

"Why does the iron monger sell egg meat?"

I found out on TV Cream that God (aka Mr Peel), Kid Jensen and Paul Burnett formed a somewhat unlikely fighting party to pound the daylights out of Simon Bates after an especially torturous Radio One Christmas Party, but Simes had buggered off before they could lay hold of him.
Who's up for a John Peel Memorial Lynching of that irritating little twerp? Let's do Chris Moyles and his band of tosers while we're about it.

The day after it happened, someone had emailed/texted into the breakfast show along the lines of "Enough about john Peel" to which Chris Moyles basically was "Sod off you, We've just lost a mate, alright!"

So, he's ok by me.

.. the other DJ at Radio One for whom Peel had difficulty disguising his contempt was Andy Peebles. I have several hilarious put-downs on tape. For example:

1) introducing Glasgow girl-group Strawberry Switchblade with... "Andy Peebles would doubtless describe them as 'Those Bonnie Wee Lassies from North of the Border' "!

2) and saying in another link the phrase "if I may say so." He continued.. "You probably wonder why I say "if I may say so". One of my colleagues at Radio One says it all the time in a context I can't fully understand. I find myself screaming at the radio "why SHOULDN'T you say so!!".

and best of all...

3) introducing a session track entitled 'He's An Angry Bastard But I Like Him' by Norwich band Serious Drinking, circa '84. Peel preceeded it with an inane Radio One jingle featuring the voice of Peebles. As it ended he enthused, in his most mischievous voice, "That's Andy Peebles. He's an angry BASTARD but I like him!!"

I stumbled upon this message-board just recently. Brilliant! So many reminders of quotes I heard at the time and also lots that I missed. I have approx 120 C-90 tapes of Peel from (mainly) '78-93, with the bits I didn't want edited out and replaced with 'fillers' of classical music or film soundtracks I'd borrowed from the record library (Ennio Morricone is excellent for creating a grandiose intro before a Fall, Cocteau Twins or Smiths session track!). Many years were spent with stopwatch at the ready and finger on the pause button...

Anyway, before I reminisce further and start coming over all dewy-eyed, I have a special REQUEST. Does anyone have a taped record of the special Saturday afternoon series of six shows Peelie recorded in (I think) 1981, when he sat in for John Walters, on holiday from his regular 'Walters Weekly' spot?? These were one hour compendium programmes including some of Peelie's all-time favourite records along with fantastic old sessions from the 60s (Sun Ra, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Fairport Convention, Ann Peebles etc) and many curiosities and audio-articles from the BBC archives which were nothing to do with music but very funny. Some fascinating stuff - plus of course liberal lashings of the Great One's sardonic wit. Looking back now, I suppose the programme was a kind of precursor to 'Home Truths'.

I got in touch with Peely a couple of months before he died to ask if he knew whether R1 had any tapes of the series. Louise in his office replied saying that they didn't - and apparently John could hardly even remember recording the programmes! But, believe me he did - and they were superb.

If anybody has some or all of the 'Peel's Pleasures' series on tape and would be prepared to either make a copy or else lend them to me to copy, please could they contact me at on p3t3r_r4p4p0rt@h0tmai1.com.

Many thanks.