Please note this is an old page and Fly Global Music has now moved. Please follow this link and search for the entry in the new site.

My thoughts go out to John's immediate family and his worldwide family of fans. His Radio 1 colleague, Mary Ann Hobbs, after going to his 65th birthday party at Peel Acres recently admitted on air that she, like me and countless millions of music fans listened to his shows on an am-tranny under the bed sheets in the 70s. I progressed to a mono-cassette recorder (pestered parents for it as birthday present I seem to recall). I would try to stay awake to tape the last track of that particular night's session band and all the new good new stuff. The following day, the few like-minded mates would enthuse about the shows at school. The countless enjoyable hours we spent together in 2-hour stints were like listening to your favourite uncle who was the coolest cool. The debt the record industry and music fans owe to John is immeasurable. The greatest promoter of music in all its forms. And thanks to the BBC for sticking with him (and John Walters) throughout the years.

If it weren't for Peely, the soundtrack of my life would undeniably be far worse, which is clearly the case for many millions over the world

I only met him once in the early 1980s at New Order's first London gig. Typical of the man, no VIP hang-out for him. He was near the bar chatting with fans in the crowd. Whilst I was intimidated at being near my boyhood/teenage hero I felt I had to say something and went over to shake his hand. "Hello", and just so he knew, "I always listen to your show". Probably having heard such remarks many times, he dryly but politely replied, "So do I". I was happy.

The obituaries concentrate on the number and different types of bands he broke, particularly in the mid-late 70s such as The Fall, Undertones, Gang of Four, The Specials, The Damned and many more. He also opened our ears to reggae on national radio, jazz with the likes of Soft Machine, Colosseum, Nucleus, Isotope and he was not adverse to play soul tracks that weren't making the top 40, such as Jonnie Taylor on Stax before he got a middle name and became a 'Superman Lover'.

I remember him playing 'Oh Me Oh My (I'm A Fool For You Baby)' by Joe Tex at the full 8 minutes 44 seconds off an album called From The Roots Came The Rapper (1972). He probably added some quip about when he saw Joe in Texas in the 60s. The length, power and uniqueness of such a track (years before the phrase 'rapper' was common place) wouldn't put him off playing such a record that would never see the light of day on any play list apart from his show's. That song touched me. It took me years to find a second hand copy of the album and it still sounds as good as when I first heard it. As I got older, I moved on from punk to ska, to soul, to funk, to jazz-funk to jazz (and other stuff in the middle and at the edges). If it weren't for Peely, the soundtrack of my life would undeniably be far worse, which is clearly the case for many millions over the world.

It's times like this when you realise that you weren't one of the few who appreciated what he achieved but one of many: Top Gear, Top of The Pops, T.V appearances (there was that series on Channel 4 on new bands in Europe), Glastonbury, Home Truths, World Service programmes -- even his writings in Sounds to the Radio Times clearly touched so many. He will never to be forgotten. Time to get out those old C90 tapes from the loft and have a cry. Thank you John. RIP.