Tuesday, October 26, 2004

peeling away

John Peel is dead. Turns out his name is really John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, but 'The Ravenscroft Sessions' would have been a bit thick.

This guy is almost single-handedly responsible for turning me on to most of the bands I've listened to throughout my life. Marc Bolan, David Bowie, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Birthday Party, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Joy Division, The Jam, The Specials, The Cure, The Damned, Nick Cave, The Fall, The Smiths, The Cocteau Twins... fucking hell, Wire, Gary Numan & the Tubeway Army, Sonic Youth, Jesus & Mary Chain, The Buzzcocks, Gang of Four, Adam & the Ants, Stereolab, Belle & Sebastian, The Pixies, Pavement, Elastica... there's probably hundreds more.

In the early 80's our local music shop had a connection who would record the Radio 1 broadcasts and ship them to the states... the first time I heard a lot of those bands it was on a copy of a copy of a copy of a taped radio show. Even bands from the US - the whole late 70's NYC thing - were brought to popular attention by the Peel Sessions.