John Peel – Margrave of the Marshes
John Peel – Margrave of the Marshes
It is obvious that disc-jockeys , as a class, are essentially parasitic. We are, with lamentably few exceptions, neither creative nor productive. We are, with lamentably few exceptions, neither creative nor productive. We have, however, manipulated the creations of others (records) to provide ourselves with reputations as arbiters of public taste. There is no more reason (nor no less) why I should be writing this column than you – however I am in this unmerited position and you’re not. I believe very much in radio as a medium of tragically unrealized possibilities and also in the music I play. Therefore accepting the falseness of my own precarious position I will do what I can, wherever I can, to publicise these good things I hear around me. These musicians have made you aware of, and appreciate of, their music, not J. Peel.
John Peel, Disc and Music Echo, 1969
Sometimes it can be awfully boring to read an auto/biography about an individual that I know too much about. Typically, these just offer a rehash of their lives or contain information that I know too well about already. Picking up a book about an interesting topic or person that I spent too little time or did not have the opportunity to listen to, well that is a different story.
Before the internet, before cable television, before our lives were consumed with the media, there were individuals such as John Peel who dedicated their lives to offering the public an opinion that was outside the norm.
John Peel did this on a medium that today that is all but dying and that medium is Radio. ‘Margrave of the Marshes’, is the story of Peel told from both Peel and his wife Sheila.
Peel left this world all too early, hit by a sudden heart attack while vacationing in Peru. These events never allowed for Peel to finish his autobiography for which his wife Sheila promptly completed.
As an American I never had the opportunity to be able to listen to Peel on any sort of basis. Every once in awhile I would find an album, a demo, bootleg or some other sort of recording by a band labeled “The Peel Sessions”, and for many a band, getting to play on Peel’s show was a way to arrive at notoriety.
When he died, Brits wept and bands played tribute in his honor. Only then, do we get a full impetus of what he left for fans across the globe.
You did not have to listen to John Peel to be influenced by him because Peel not only influenced listeners but he influenced bands.
Peel believed in the individual and the fan and did not believe in the corporate environment that tries to sell to the lowest common denominator. He challenged his fans as well as himself. He was a fan of music, setting up his office in his house with it full of CDs, LPs, Demo Tapes and whatnot.
What Peel was successful at doing was being passionate and humble at the same time. I got the feeling that Peel never thought he was the best father or even the best DJ.
John Peel was Great Britans answer for that cool guy down at the end of the hall who had the best record collection and would play a mix tape of his. We are not talking Bee Gees or Bay City Rollers but Captain Beefheart, T-Rex, Sex Pistols, and or introducing his audience to other genres such as Reggae and the like.
Realize that this was before the internet, before we were linked to every Tom, Dick and Harry’s blog, and on the limited medium of Radio, Peel offered his audience the full potential of it.
Typically, when I finish a book, I try to take something from it. For me, I look at this lowly blog which is probably read by like three people. I hardly have the audience of a John Peel but I also realize that if someone takes something from an article, an album or a book that I have read and also found it amazing or even atrocious then there is something positive that is going on.