Eijah Wood takes over from John Peel : Official

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

In a move that shocked the billy no mates world of staying up late and listening to the radio, the BBC announced this morning that Elijah Wood, better known as hobbit Frodo Bagginses and soon to be seen as the most unlikely football hooligan this side of Violet Elizabeth Bott will take over from John Peel on his Radio One show.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3705115.stm

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 13 May 2004 11:39 (twenty-two years ago)

only when peel is away, mind, not permanently.

am i alone in thinking that peel is turning into as big and arrogant a shit as moyles? some of the patter he gives to his wife on air is worthy of the taliban.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 11:43 (twenty-two years ago)

will be utilising Comedy Samwise?

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 11:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Turning into. He always has been, with his anti-pop late night trainspotter noodling. How exactly does a man who openly refers to his wife as THE PIG manage to continue playing to the under thirties and get held up as a staple of British life is impossible to fathom. How he contniues with such an obvious lack of technical skill (haha he played the wrong record AGAIN! AT THE WRONG SPEED!) boggles the mind.

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 13 May 2004 11:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Does this mean we'll be getting Wood sessions?

― mzui, Thursday, 13 May 2004 11:46 (twenty-two years ago)

he should do the breakfast show

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 11:47 (twenty-two years ago)

apparently it's for a couple weeks while Peel takes his annual holidays.

But what does it say of Britain and the BBC that they have to hire a celebrity Yank as a stand in.

Peel is 65 this August - what happens re: contingency planning for his long term replacement.

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Thursday, 13 May 2004 11:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Jason Orange was also considered

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 11:52 (twenty-two years ago)

The Orange-Peel sessions.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 13 May 2004 11:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Martian, to be fair with regards to contingency planning this (happy) eventuality is way down the list after bombing of the FA Cup and the Trooping Of The Colour (and what to do if Nicky Campbell decides to sign another BBC contract).

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 13 May 2004 11:55 (twenty-two years ago)

it was implied Matt, IMPLIED

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 11:57 (twenty-two years ago)

it would be easy for radio 1 to replace most of their dj's - any robot can follow a forced playlist, but radio 1 and 6 music are incapable/ unwilling re hiring freeform djs with their own informed style/ agenda.

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Ah Martian, this is where we disagree. You see a DJ's job to play records. These days, and much more important, is having personality which can entertain between the records.

Which admitted does throw Radio One's hiring policy into even more confusion.

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:04 (twenty-two years ago)

forget radio 1 for a moment, if i were the station controller at 6 music, many things woould change - music first, less idle gossip would be top of the list.

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Radio 1's specialist night shows (Westwood, Peterson, Tong, Nelson, Friction/Nihal) have been consistently well managed for years tho

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:11 (twenty-two years ago)

so is burger king. doesn't mean they're any good.

westwood's show might as well be called the jay-z/50 cent show these days.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:13 (twenty-two years ago)

i was referring to daytime radio 1 shows and people like Munter Marsden

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Peel refers to his wife as The Pig in reference to her laugh which supposedly sounds like a pig snorting. It's a nickname not a term of abuse. If it were I doubt she'd be hanging around with him after 30 years of marriage or put herself up for mocking on national radio.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:16 (twenty-two years ago)

the "mocking" just seems to have become noticeably more pronounced as of late. he also patronises his producers to the point of humiliation.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:21 (twenty-two years ago)

What's all this then?

1. John Peel is the only DJ who has completely free-reign over what he plays.

2. No wonder he plays the wrong song every so often. You would too if you got sent 50 demos a day every day and still had to find the time to listen to new music.

3. So he's older than his audience.. so what?

4. He isn't "anti-pop" he just doesn't play much pop music because that is his job. It's like complaining that Trevor Nelson doesn't play enough metal. Anyway, what the fuck were the Cuban Boys about? Like it or not, that shows he has a pop sense of humour (albeit twisted).

5. Shut up.

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:28 (twenty-two years ago)

If he didn't own half of Norfolk I magine his oft belittled children would not be on speaking terms either.

And his idea of choosing what he plays runs pretty much along the lines of "will anybody else play it? No - then I shall champion it".

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:30 (twenty-two years ago)

what the fuck would you know about it?

go back to slitting your wrists to the ailing tune of crawling king snake or something.

anyway, one shudders to think what a mess elijah wood will make of the programme.

"uuuuuhhhhhh...this is...uuuhhhh...like...uuuhhhhhhh....thuh...mountain....uhhhh...like....goats...duuuudes.....uuuuuhhhhhhhhh."

couldn't they get eli woods to do it instead (if he's still alive?).

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:30 (twenty-two years ago)

(nb: that was an xpost to dog latin)

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:31 (twenty-two years ago)

that having been said, i don't mind peel being anti-pop or playing stuff that no one else would play.

that kind of being the point of the bbc licence.

if anyone wants to hear state-approved pop 24/7 there's always capital.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Marcello: You shut up!

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:35 (twenty-two years ago)

make me.

prolonged exposure to ilm would be enough to turn anyone anti-pop.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Burger King is alright, i had an Ultimate Breakfast Roll this morning

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:37 (twenty-two years ago)

actually ilm has made me slightly more pop in a way.

COME ON THEN!

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:37 (twenty-two years ago)

dude burger king is never alright

― cinniblount (James Blount), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:38 (twenty-two years ago)

There was a certain amount of slagging Busted for doing Teenage Kicks... (i.e. reading out letters/emails/text messages, without commenting much himself)

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:39 (twenty-two years ago)

fuck you and your White Castle/ivory tower ;)

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:39 (twenty-two years ago)

(x-post obv)

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Peel probably doesn't mind Busted doing Teenage Kicks, he played the lullaby version by someone or other

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:40 (twenty-two years ago)

BUGGER YE ALL I'LL HAVE THE LOT A YA!

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Fuck john peel. That m*mus essay, "on gatekeepers", was otm about him.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:41 (twenty-two years ago)

What is wrong with being anti-pop? Music tastes are so subjective, you can't like every genre. It's not like pop is any kind of ignored genre in the general scheme of things.

― european son, Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:41 (twenty-two years ago)

someone said that the Busted version was better, and Peel said something like Psghthsgdfssssssh.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I think the jesus and mary chain said that burger king is better than mcdonalds.

they would be right about that.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:42 (twenty-two years ago)

busted doing teenage kicks was indeed dire. teenage kicks should be showered on the cretins and be as painful as possible.

stevem i think you'll find that "Your Woman" was recorded by White Town not White Castle.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't see any reason why Elijah Wood would necessarily be awful... all sorts of inadequates have managed to sound okay on the air.

Pash - haha, don't make me revive this thread.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:42 (twenty-two years ago)

julio, burger king being better than mcdonalds (which it isn't; i went to burger king only once, threw up almost immediately, the food was dire) is equivalent to saying that tony wren is a better bassist than david leahy.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:44 (twenty-two years ago)

it's actually White Town's real name that I always get wrong - Joshi Myoshi etc.

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:44 (twenty-two years ago)

jody watley.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:45 (twenty-two years ago)

BOLLLOOOOOCCCKKKKSSSS!!!!

BOOOOO!!!!!

THINK YOU'RE F*CKIN SHADWELL YOU RUNT?!!

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:45 (twenty-two years ago)

i preferred MacD's to BK for years but have recently converted. I decided there was no way the Big Mac could've been an immaculate conception, or that Ronald Mcdonald was the real Messiah.

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:46 (twenty-two years ago)

jody wildgoose! now there's proper pop for you!

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:46 (twenty-two years ago)

as for dog latin:

told you once before and i won't tell you no more GET DOWN GET DOWN GET DOWN!

or you won't get any of my burger king leftovers for your tea tonight (only eaten once)

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha matt dc that thread is great! (reads some more) o no hang on it's rubbish (reads some more) oh hang on it is good (reads more still) no it's shit, isn't it? (etc)

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:47 (twenty-two years ago)

What I am saying you two bob WANKER is that YOU and YOU are fuckin' old bill!!!

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:48 (twenty-two years ago)

BK and McD are both shit.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:48 (twenty-two years ago)

(i'll stop now).

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:48 (twenty-two years ago)

i might be fuckin' old bill. my other half quite fancies becoming a policewoman.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:49 (twenty-two years ago)

so you're a Wendys-booster eh Pash?

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:51 (twenty-two years ago)

peel has brought some good things to attention for sure, but the naysayers are definitely right concerning his condescending self-righteous manner. i dont think its necessarily mattered that his playlist has always primarily been quite poor, thuogh the removal of his gatekeeper status has certainly downgraded his position as a figure of influence.

i think the problem, and its a recurring one in music it seems, is that there is an assumption that because he plays "punk band from enniskillen #1665" that he is therefore not a reactionary bourgeois daily mailite at heart, which seems to me to be a flawed approach

― gareth (gareth), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha, no i'm not FUCK YUO aDN DiE st3v3m!!!11 ;)

i am shotting marks and spencers sandwich counter, and hate all those who diss them.

(x-post, Gareth = 100% correct!!)

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Is "reactionary!" the new "fascist!" ?

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I haven't really seen any evidence that Peel IS a reactionary bourgeois daily mailite. On the other hand, I haven't seen any evidence that he isn't.

I'm not sure I care really, any more than I care about the political orientation of Gary Lineker or Steve Lamacq or whathisface from TOTP.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:58 (twenty-two years ago)

The new 'Taliban', N. - haven't you been paying attention?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Peel once devoted his weekly column in the Radio Times to Jeff Mills and Dave Clarke. They were - crazy times, and-uh, anything felt possible.

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 12:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, with his usual wait and see policy, Gareth has yet again speared exactly what it is that is so thoroughly annoying about Peel.

I wonder what the average Radio One listener would say (or the average Peel listener for they are not the same thing) if they drafted in a new 65 year old to do a new show. The assumption that youth = dynamism is as incorrect as tradition = good.

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:00 (twenty-two years ago)

haha that thread turns back into this debate: Momus's backing Pizza Hut!

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:01 (twenty-two years ago)

wonder how peel feels about imminently being up against mark radcliffe on radio 2?

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Ironised.

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:02 (twenty-two years ago)

well, whether you consider peels political beliefs relevant or not is a side question i think. i bring it up here primarily because its part of his 'good guy schtick'.

i agree that his opinions or expecting him to be 'nice' or whatever isnt especially central, and choosing which music you like on the base of the niceness of its creators/propogaters isnt going to give you many good records necessarily. but the myth of peel as nice guy etc, is surely not only one that shuold be debunked, but is a mask that has slipped/been revealed more over the last 5-10 years anyway.

i also think the supposed eclectism of his shows is overstated, although i am not necessarily a fan of eclectism anyway, but thats another story

― gareth (gareth), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:03 (twenty-two years ago)

These days, and much more important, is having personality which can entertain between the records.

And yet Christian O'motherfucking cunting talentless twat-cunt Connell won some kind of AWARD for his shitty mcfuck toss cuntrey.

― Markelby (Mark C), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:04 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm reading the thread matt dc linked to, and m*mus is blowing it a bit on it i think.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:06 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd like it if John Peel was my dad.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:06 (twenty-two years ago)

What has he actually done that's so bad? I actually quite like Peel but never listen to his radio show or read anything he rights or even pay a huge amount of attention to him. He's just kinda there. So yeah, examples please.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Pash the last post on that thread is YOURS!

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't know to what extent it's stated, but the eclectometer still reads "Very High".

Perhaps there's more music "around" than when he started. Certainly there are more ways to get it.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:09 (twenty-two years ago)

One thing's for sure - any 65-year-old DJ would be preferable to that balding pseudo-Cockney ex-drug dealer pirouetting incompetently around Trafalgar Square bellowing MAYYYBE ISH BECOOOSSS OI'M A LAHN-DAHN-AH!

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:10 (twenty-two years ago)

balding?

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:13 (twenty-two years ago)

there's less up there than he had in the big breakfast house.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:14 (twenty-two years ago)

If you want to listen to a nice DJ, go to Sara Cox. She's nice.

Personally, I don't think it matters. Either way.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:17 (twenty-two years ago)

i dont know andrew, i think it depends on your definition of eclecticism. when i first heard peel it seemed very eclectic certainly, but looking at the wider world, it really isnt/wasnt. although it is more eclectic than many shows, of course. but, as far as i can see,

1. he plays a lot of things but from a small number of disparate genres?
2. more music is easier to hear now
3. listeners are more varied in taste now (this is a more subjective viewpoint, perhaps incorrect, maybe deserving of a separate thread, but, it seems to me that the boundaries between various subgenres have blurred on the music side (as in much dance music), and dissipated on the listener side, subcultural audiences much less regimented than 5 years ago (internet?)

― gareth (gareth), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:20 (twenty-two years ago)

i have never listened to Coxy

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:20 (twenty-two years ago)

sara cox nice?

"arse tits how big is your penis" for two hours?

fellow professional geordie lauren laverne on xfm is infinitely nicer.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Peel eclecticism = Beefheart - Warp - Cuban Boys and most things inbetween

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:21 (twenty-two years ago)

you forgot photogenic female alt country singers.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:22 (twenty-two years ago)

sara cox seldom if ever talked about sex on the morning show. are you sure you aren't mistaking her with going to see a plastic surgeon?

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:22 (twenty-two years ago)

hark at you. you're probably still tuning into gay byrne's wry weekend wingding.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:25 (twenty-two years ago)

In one of those Capital ads, Johnny Vaughan skips down Swallow Street right past my workplace. Quite why they chose that disgusting, fetid pissalley in order to convey a youthful, vibrant and funky image of London I will never know.

I remember when Sarah Cox covered the Breezeblock for one week, she was funny and self-deprecating ("that annoying bint from breakfast here") and not bolshy and ladette at all. And she played a pretty great selection of tunes and got Erol in to do a set.

Is Mary Ann Hobbs still any good? If they put her on around Peel time instead of the midnight graveyard slot I suspect I would listen religiously.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Gay Byrne retired after beating Johnny Carson's record.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:26 (twenty-two years ago)

mary ann hobbs is i fear stuck in an eternal 1997 but the monday breezeblock's still worth catching if you don't have to go to work in the morning, as most of us do. the guest mixes are usually pretty good.

"that disgusting, fetid pissalley" - that's no way to talk about johnny vaughan!

*checks*

oh yes it is

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:28 (twenty-two years ago)

i think the beefheart/warp/cubanboys thing highlights my point.

one, they're not really especially eclectic. white us/uk off-kilter. warp prob fans of beefheart
two, under 20s that are fans of one are much more likely to be fans of both than perhaps 5 years ago

― gareth (gareth), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:28 (twenty-two years ago)

also, far too much of a fondness for smelly 1971-style geetar-rawk.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Who's the other professional geordie then?

Yes, Lauren Laverne is nice too.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:34 (twenty-two years ago)

And his idea of choosing what he plays runs pretty much along the lines of "will anybody else play it? No - then I shall champion it".

what, like the white stripes?

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't get me started on the annoyingness of Mary-Ann Hobbs. Does she still play Lo-Fi Allstars every other track?

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:35 (twenty-two years ago)

MAH is unlistenable, though I am sure she is nice. I was with Matt DC until he brought her up.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:36 (twenty-two years ago)

i got a bit bored of Hobbs, the Breezeblock seemed to get smaller and smaller every week, and the same old tunes kept cropping up. I meant to listen to last week's online tho to see what had changed - and she's probably rinsing tracks from the Blue Album

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:37 (twenty-two years ago)

What does off-kilter mean, apart from not pop?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I know what he means.

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:39 (twenty-two years ago)

eclecticism with a thematic constant running through everything.

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:39 (twenty-two years ago)

or even aesthetic constant. nothing above or below the brow.

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:39 (twenty-two years ago)

mind you I've never heard peel's show

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:40 (twenty-two years ago)

It's not REALLY eclectic, same 12 notes running through it all, no microtonality in the slightest, bunch of closet conservatives...

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:42 (twenty-two years ago)

bit harsh on the Lo Fis there Matt

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:43 (twenty-two years ago)

I like Peel's show (although I haven't heard it in some time since my radio aerial went walkies about a year ago). I don't believe anyone could sit through the whole thing and enjoy every tune he plays but there's always something really great on there - usually something I'd have never bothered listening to before.

Plus I think it's great that one can tune in to major national radio and hear V/Vm or Bal Sagoth.

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Lauren Laverne a professional Geordie? I always thought she was a Mackem.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:44 (twenty-two years ago)

and peel NEVER plays any microhouse or eski and i bet he's never even HEARD of the JUNIOR BOYS!

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Rinsing tracks off the Blue Album suits me just fine Steve!This tracklisting doesn't look that bad actually, apart from Kid606 and the Beasties.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Is that a joke re microhouse?

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:47 (twenty-two years ago)

i thought microhouse was a joke.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:48 (twenty-two years ago)

A mackem she is. But 100 miles from Sunderland, no-one knows what that means. 'They' all think 100 miles circumference London is all Cockneys...

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:48 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah i know ronan, what the fuck would i know about it?

i should go away and listen to some ailing life and death of a serial killer.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:49 (twenty-two years ago)

It is awfully hard to keep up with everything.

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:51 (twenty-two years ago)

damn straight

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:52 (twenty-two years ago)

I think Capital thought that having an ex-drug dealer public schoolboy who has done time was more representative to their audience.

And he is losing his hair.

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Peel has played Junior Boys

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:57 (twenty-two years ago)

when's the last time he played any improv?

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:58 (twenty-two years ago)

are people deleting the posts marcello is replying to, so we don't get the references?

worked with lauren at 6music when she was covering for Phill Jupitus, she was *great*...

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:58 (twenty-two years ago)

how can you play improv?

are they all live albums?

― chris (chris), Thursday, 13 May 2004 13:58 (twenty-two years ago)

that's CONVICTED AND IMPRISONED ex drug-dealer people. Gosh, I know none of us approve of cocaine use but let's be clear about this.

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:00 (twenty-two years ago)

anybody is great compared to phil jupituss!!

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:01 (twenty-two years ago)

cue predictable remarks about the physical impossibility of covering up for phill jupitus...

"oh thank heavens they recovered my stolen harp!"

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, you'd have to remove your ears.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:08 (twenty-two years ago)

See, over here, we've normally just assumed that UK music radio is John Peel and nothing else. No I take that back, some Janice Long and Mark Radcliffe sessions got released as well.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:12 (twenty-two years ago)

You must have had some KID JENSEN sessions as well from the glory days of the early '80s when Peel and Jensen were known as "The Rhythm Pals"!

as in HI Kid JENsen here ALways PUTting the EMphasis on the WRONG SYLLable alRIGHT we've GOT NOO SESSions toNIGHT from HowARD Jones and the CACK-TOW TWINS!

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Fucking hell, *I* know what a Mackem is and I'm from thousands of miles away from Sunderland.

Both L. Laverne (who is about as big as the french fry in PJ's lunch) and S. Cox are extremely nice women but let's stand aside for the other 60something 1fm DJ, Miss Annie Nightingale! The one that talks about shagging is Z. Ball.

Ed and I saw J. Peel in the hospitality area at Sonar, passed out from la bouze. This was not pretty.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:15 (twenty-two years ago)

The Michael Mayer John Peel session was nothing to do with this John Peel was it.

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I haven't heard Peel in years (never that regular, and Keith Cameron on XFM (in its pre-capital days) was far better, and he was never annoying) but as I recall he has never played free improv (I even remember him calling Ornette coleman's stuff 'crazy' even though its been abt 40 years since the LPs were released).

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)

apparently when john walters produced the show in the early '70s peel regularly had sessions from d bailey, brotherhood of breath, amm etc.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:18 (twenty-two years ago)

wonder how peel feels about imminently being up against mark radcliffe on radio 2?

-- Marcello Carlin (marcelloc

Actually this, and gareth's stuff about eclecticism reminds me, when I was a little part of this tiny synthesiser music scene in the '80's, several of the other people who were in it scraped up and managed to self-release 12" vinyl albums, people like this, for example. It was all really deeply unfashionable, and off the map -thirty- and forty-something men making funny-peculiar music on home-built analog synthesisers. Despite people sending their albums to Peel, I don't recall them ever getting any airplay. OTOH, The kind of rump ot that scene is still around in its tiny way - people knocking off phaedra on arturia moog modular & g-media m-tron, which is kind of a lot less phun, but still, when I used to listen to Radcliffe's evening show on radio 1, he did actually play some of this stuff that people had sent him. Obv, it could just be that radcliffe liked it, and peel didn't, but discovering radcliffe's evening show, and hearing the difference between his seemingly genuine love of the music he played, and at the time peel's dreary dutiful take on stuff is what made me go off him a lot.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:20 (twenty-two years ago)

i hope radcliffe has a lot more freedom to play what he wants on radio 2 and is not shackled by their playlist requirements, i.e. leann rimes, jamie norah winehouse, etc.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:22 (twenty-two years ago)

i think john peel is a bit harder to nail down in a few snappy putdowns than you lot seem to want. seeing as he is the ultimate ILX hate figure im not surprised that he is getting a kicking here.

whats a gatekeeper btw? is that like, some sort of tastemaker who by way of trying to inform, ends up dictating taste to a rather small audience who arent quite as important or of the now as perhaps they think they are?

well, if thats the definition, then yeah i agree, ~~ILX~~John Peel definately has this gatekeeper status.

― ambrose (ambrose), Thursday, 13 May 2004 15:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not convinced that John Peel is "the ultimate hate figure", I can think of plenty of people who get worse here.

To me, a gatekeeper is one who decides who gets in, and by extension, decides who is kept out.

Sure, a small internet list has as much "gatekeeper status" in the real world as a national radio dj.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 13 May 2004 15:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I only really hear Peel on Home Truths, saw him in Rough Trade once. He's okay, I guess, I reckon he'd like my early hum'n'space recordings, I considered sending him a CD, but then I thought, "I never really listen to John Peel", nevermind.

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 13 May 2004 15:32 (twenty-two years ago)

The idea that John Peel has the least bit of control over "who is kept out" doesn't make sense to me. His adoption of Bearsuit of Meanwhile Back In Communist Russia isn't going to make them achieve critical darling status or wider acclaim any more than his rejection of, say, Radiohead is going to prise them from the canon.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 14 May 2004 07:36 (twenty-two years ago)

peel played the last three radiohead albums extensively on his show when they came out.

peel is hardly the ultimate ILx hate figure. he's about 50 laps behind the petridish and the collective personnel of p'fork.

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 14 May 2004 07:48 (twenty-two years ago)

and nick hornby obv.

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 14 May 2004 07:49 (twenty-two years ago)

no, Peel doesn't have any control over who is kept out - Matt is completely OTM here. He does however, greatly influence (maybe 'control' is too strong a word) who manages to get in and this is something that all popular music listeners should thank him for, not only those who listen to his show. Peel's show and the music he champions helps ensure that UK guitar music isn't wall-to-wall Radiohead and Coldplay all the time.

I must admit I have only listened to Home Truths a couple of times and I don't see the appeal. It leaves me cold. Quite liked his Radio Times column tho. Peel should prolly write more. Sometimes when you listen to him speak on the radio his style sounds more like a written style....maybe that's just cos its in stark contrast to the shouty, "aren't we having so much fun" style which you get from daytime Radio 1.

― MarkH (MarkH), Friday, 14 May 2004 07:50 (twenty-two years ago)

am I the only person who is bothered by Marcello's constant referral to Petridis as petri dish? I'd be pretty upset if someone was constantly corrupting my name to refer to me as a piece of lab equipment used to grow moulds.

― MarkH (MarkH), Friday, 14 May 2004 07:52 (twenty-two years ago)

yea, he has much less control now because of wider and more disparate media outlets. but he was the epitome of the gatekeeper until the widening of outlets. a peel championed band had a much greater chance of success, and even if they failed, they would be heard by the target audience repeatedly. and, until there were other outlets, it was much more difficult for a band/artist that might appeal to that core audience to be heard if peel wasnt playing them.

peel was where people had to go for a number of things, and if he wasnt playing your record, you were missing out on the main outlet for your stuff. that, surely, is the epitome of gatekeeper (nb, this, in itself, is not a criticism of peel at all, merely how the land lay at that time)

― gareth (gareth), Friday, 14 May 2004 07:55 (twenty-two years ago)

it is in keeping with mr petridish's mouldy opinions.

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 14 May 2004 08:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Mark, Petridish is the given sobriquet for exactly the reason you pointed out. Give him some music and he will grow mould* about it.

*Write something terrible.

― Pete (Pete), Friday, 14 May 2004 08:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember years ago there was a big fuss in the music papers when Peel 'refused' to play a record by the Shockheaded Peters (one of Moz's faves, IIRC) - the debate abt his status as gatekeeper or whatever has been going on for an awfully long time

― Andrew L (Andrew L), Friday, 14 May 2004 08:09 (twenty-two years ago)

so basically, ppl don't like it when a DJ's choice of records is shackled by a playlist and they don't like it when dj's have free reign and are able to actually express their opinions and not play records if they don't like them...so what other option is there???

― MarkH (MarkH), Friday, 14 May 2004 08:14 (twenty-two years ago)

PLAY EXACTLY WHAT I LIKE ON EVERY SHOW.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 14 May 2004 08:15 (twenty-two years ago)

these days radio is for appearing on, not listening to.

we should therefore all have our own shows, playing what we like, and listened to only by our good selves. that's demographics in action for you.

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 14 May 2004 08:25 (twenty-two years ago)

its not a question of liking it or not liking it. it is merely a statement of fact. peel was a gatekeeper, now he is less of one, but the reasons for this are not to do with peel himself. he is still playing whatever he chooses, the only difference is that there are now more outlets for music to crossover, then there were fewer. this isnt a moral judgement or a criticism, im not saying peel should or shouldnt do anything, im not saying there should or shouldnt be other places playing things. i am saying now there are other ways to hear things too, which means that the gate that peel stands by, well, the wall around it is now gone

― gareth (gareth), Friday, 14 May 2004 08:27 (twenty-two years ago)

we should therefore all have our own shows, playing what we like, and listened to only by our good selves. that's demographics in action for you.

my radio 'show' launches online soon

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 14 May 2004 08:28 (twenty-two years ago)

the gate that peel stands by, well, the wall around it is now gone

marvellous metaphor G :)

― CarsmileSteve (CarsmileSteve), Friday, 14 May 2004 08:30 (twenty-two years ago)

snooker or darts?

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 14 May 2004 08:30 (twenty-two years ago)

leaving an abject clearing of variegated debris and abnegated remnants of lives past, tantalising in their desuetude.

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 14 May 2004 08:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't hate Peel at all, but admittedly rarely listen to him these days. Went through the teenage phase in 1998 or so of listening avidly and being into his sort of thing, but I just don't engage so much with the rather mediocre rock he can tend to play, at the moment.

Yet, how could I hate someone who has throughout the years championed Viv Stanshall, The Fall, Lee Perry, Kenickie and Ronnie Ronalde? ;)
There may have been much indifferent music - very true, as someone says above, that no-one's ever going to like all he plays - but overall his contribution to British music has been considerable. People say he does not play much Jazz; he plays weekly (or daily) jazz 78s from the 20s/30s... Hardly a crowd-pleasing or 'indie' gesture, if not revolutionary either. The bloke may not be into free jazz or improv, but that isn't going to be for everybody, and it must be remembered that he has always supported Soft Machine and Robert Wyatt. I first heard Wyatt on Peel's show and this had a cumulative effect of opening me up to Jazz.

It's not his remit to be playing pop, obviously; why should it be when you look at the rest of R1? ILMers ought to realise they're not going to easily get a show that plays Spears and Spearmint, or
National radio establishes such barriers, and as Marcello implies, you can listen to music in whatever order of your own accord, so what's the need to have a music radio show of exactly your taste?

And how people see him as being 'offensive' to his wife is beyond me; he was always referred to her as such with seeming affection. It sounds to me bizarre that this would certainly take on an unsavoury edge... but then I don't listen to the show often.

Overall, I am pro-Peel; where else on national radio channels are you going to get 30s jazz, dub and Half Man Half Biscuit?

― Tom May (Tom May), Friday, 14 May 2004 12:40 (twenty-two years ago)

My x-post; third paragraph tails off after 'or'; I had meant to come up with another such comparison... hmmm, Eamon and Ayler? :)

― Tom May (Tom May), Friday, 14 May 2004 12:42 (twenty-two years ago)

fuck, eamon and ayler, you're right, i never got the comparison before! the high-register plaintiveness bordering on mania, both voices ultimately going back to church. brilliant!

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 14 May 2004 13:06 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

One year later and a certain death having happened and the opinions in this thread are almost shocking in comparison to those on the RIP thread, though I wonder how much of what was stated here was sheer contrarianism or intentional role-playing -- hiya, Marcello! (I'm actually quietly intrigued by the fact that Suzy's take on Peel passed out at Sonar was negative here but positive over on the RIP thread, but I suppose that's an example of how we look back on things in different ways, which might also explain much of what was said here).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 14 May 2005 08:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Suzy's take on Peel passed out at Sonar was negative

is there a link to this? sorry if it's easy to find, i'm lazy. ;-)

― nathalie's baby (stevie nixed), Saturday, 14 May 2005 08:35 (twenty-one years ago)

It's upthread a bit there, I'm not saying she was ragingly annoyed but it's just noting a difference in tone:

Ed and I saw J. Peel in the hospitality area at Sonar, passed out from la bouze. This was not pretty.

-- suzy (theartskooldisk...), May 13th, 2004

vs.

Aw, I'm all filling up. Last time I saw him he was passed out on one of the cushions backstage at Sonar, surrounded by his wife and huge family. :.......(
-- suzy (theartskooldisk...), October 26th, 2004.

I guess you don't know what you've got until it's gone, etc.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 14 May 2005 08:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I am actually referring to two different Sonars! The *June* 2004 one featured the Ravenscroft massive; the 2002 one was Peel's solo mission.

― suzy (suzy), Saturday, 14 May 2005 11:57 (twenty-one years ago)

All is clear. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 14 May 2005 13:25 (twenty-one years ago)

three months pass...

http://www.defamer.com/hollywood/2005_09_ewoodpussy.jpg

― O'so Krispie (Ex Leon), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:26 (twenty years ago)

That's his girlfriend giving birth to Wood. Anyone know who she is?

― nathalie's pocket revolution (stevie nixed), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:29 (twenty years ago)

Isn't that Roxymusak?

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 14:47 (twenty years ago)

She looks... familiar. He used to date the actress from Run Lola Run

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:48 (twenty years ago)

They're remaking The Kingdom again?

― k/l (Ken L), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 15:51 (twenty years ago)

http://www.veryverygay.com/elijahwood/vvg.html

― mark p (Mark P), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:38 (twenty years ago)

Ha! That website is fantastic.. I particularly liked this reasoning...

'There is no way that single, non-related people could live in the same home and not be having sex. Therefore, Elijah is clearly gay.'

― jellybean (jellybean), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:51 (twenty years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.