I’m home sick from work with a cold today (too much canvassing out in the cold rain, I guess), so I can blog… Unfortunately, it’s bad news that I have to blog about this morning – bad news for the music-loving world in general, bad news for me specifically – John Peel is dead. I just got word from Kez and it’s depressed the hell out of me. Not only was Peel the biggest public supporter of my one-day-a-year band, the Monkey Power Trio, he was also one hell of a nice guy. He will be sorely missed.
For those of you who have never had the pleasure of hearing the good-natured Mr. Peel before, we have some outtakes on the Monkey Power Trio site… I think I speak for the rest of the band when I say that our upcoming record will be dedicated to his memory. In an era where Ashlee Simpson and her pre-packaged and focus-grouped ilk pass for music, Mr. Peel was a beacon of hope. It fucking sucks that he’s dead… but I don’t blame him for leaving.
Goodbye, Mr. Peel. Say hello to Hendrix for me.
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I just saw this at Boing Boing and was about to email you when I thought to check and see if you already knew. It was a shock indeed.
If you are interested, and haven’t seen it already, you can leave a tribute comment here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/3955417.stm
Thanks, Colin. I just posted something:
“Mr. Peel played the music of my band, The Monkey Power Trio, when few others, outside of the American college music circuit, would. He was responsible for introducing us to England, and I’ll always love him for that. But that
Nice tribute, Mark. There’s a nice article at sfgate about him. I actually cried a little reading it. He was a big supporter of many bands over the years that wouldn’t have gotten airplay otherwise. Thank you, John Peel, for without you, I would probably not know my beloved Joy Division. :’-(
John Peel:
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/bigtimemcfly/images/7-picture2.jpg
What kind of asshole would come to this site, read what I’d written about Peel, a man that I very much liked and admired, and then think that it would be appropriate to link to a photo of the man lying dead in his coffin? My hope is that this was just a poorly thought out tribute, and not a deliberate act of provocation. If it was the latter, I wish you
I too came across the afore mentioned photo of our dear friend in a wooden box on yahoo. I was shocked not only by the picture itself but my response too. My knee-jerk reaction was one of disgust. My gut reaction questioned how such a picture could be thoughtlessly published at this sensitive time. It made me sick and I couldn’t leave the page quick enough vowing never to associate with this shameful company in any way. But the sad truth is it’s just news. More graphic coverage was given to Diana’s death which by the same token probably upset many people in a similar way. The fact is that – John Peel is dead. I HAVE to keep reminding myself. But every time I do I just well up like before.
Look, I’m probably just rambling now but I’m having trouble getting my head around this. When I first heard the news it was shock disbelief and then my heart sank for Sheila and the kids. We’re one big family scattered across the country and worldwide. I can’t believe we’ll never again have evening get togethers. He wasn’t a Star, or a personality. He wasn more than a DJ – he was our friend. These same sentiments have echoed over and over in every tribute I read. We loved him because despite his elevated position he was one of us. Pure and simple. He never tried to be anything else and we’ll never stop loving hime for it.
I just wanted to share some of my thoughts with you Mark old chap. Yeah the guy’s a idiot for posting but we only have to look at the picture for a few seconds while he’s probably had to put up with being a wanker his entire life!
If anything good comes out of this then perhaps it’s the galvanised feelings I now have to record my recently written songs put more time into my music which has taken a back seat to all of life’s ‘essentials’. Yup that’s what I’ll do continue “In The Spirit Of Peel
It’s funny that you should write today, Gary, as I was just thinking about Peel and how, in addition to being an influential appreciator of our work, he was also the sole conduit between us and England, a country that, I believe, most of us in the band can trace our roots back to. Given the current situation here in America, I’m fealing very isolated as of late. And, the loss of Peel just comounds that… Here’s hoping that there are other opportunities to build bridges between our two countries.
Well then that’s it I guess. John Peel was laid to rest among a healthy throng of musicians, media types and his numerous friends gained from his radio show. I thought about attending myself out of respect but I think I would have found it too emotional. Bet the pubs did good trade after the service. I do feel terribly for the family. Sheila looked as one might expect. The amount of love and tenderness that has been shown towards the family is, I’m sure, a bit of a double edged sword. Representative of all the love he inspired and of the love that is lost. Life will simply never be the same for so many of us.
On a more optimistic note mark, I wandered over to the Monkey Power Trio site and downloaded a few of your musical gems. They cheered me up :)
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Report from BBC News
Thousands mourn Peel at funeral
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4005023.stm
like so many, I felt Peely to be a friend, my spiritual brother in music, and I love the man more than anyone I’ve never met in my life, and more than many I have.I don’t know if this might be seen as ‘bad taste’, but I try to cheer myself up with the thought that JP died pretty much on a high – he was on a much anticipated holiday in an exotic location he’d wanted to go to for many years, the person he loved most in the world was with him, his all-round satisfaction with the perfection his life had been for him, I think, made him an essentially happy and complete person. Neither he nor the family with him had to go thru any of the many & various miserable ways there are to transit the void – it was sudden, and one would imagine relatively painless. Obviously very, very sad for those left behind, but for the man himself, I think, it was the perfect exit. He would have hated the ‘mawkishness’ of a lingering death.