Sad day. John Peel died suddenly while on holiday today.

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Veteran disc jockey John Peel has died in Peru while on holiday in the ancient Inca city of Cuzco, his employer the BBC and the British embassy say.

:(

Just heard this on the news. Caught his last "Home Truths" programme before he went on holiday. Saturday mornings won't be the same :(

He talked so much about his family on that programme - can't help thinking of how they must be feeling.

To many people die before their time.. He shall be sadly missed.
:(

I just heard - how sad

Greatest loss to the entertainment industry ever... the guy was a legend. We will miss him too much.

Oh my god :o

Such a great loss. I used to enjoy listening to him on the radio.

totally shocked, if it wasn't for his excellent taste in music we would probably never have heard of the smiths and a few other really good bands

I've just heard the awful news on the radio - a desperately sad day for anyone who loves music.

Condolences to his wife Sheila and all the children.

A truly Great Man, who will be remembered with much love and affection.

R.I.P. Peely

Sad loss to the world of music.

My thoughts are with his family.

PS - Ihave never seen 3 threads created at once in all my days on this forum, just goes to show how important this man was.

yep i just formed a thread too, oh well, delete it or whatever. Just cant believe it, so sad. Playing teenage kicks in tribute to him on Radio One loads today. Its awful. Cant believe it.

What sad news. John Peel was the main influence on my musical taste in my teens. I continued to listen to him and always enjoyed the variety of music he played.

He will be sadly missed.

I was shocked to hear of his death. John Peel's show on Radio 1 was a joy to listen to, it was purely about the music, he was clearly passionate about the music and finding new music, and he didn't gloss over mistakes - it seemed to be a running joke that he pressed wrong buttons or played records at the wrong speed.

John Peel was a significant and influential person in music for goodness knows how many years.

He will be missed.

This is so sad...

I have good memories of listening to 'Home Truths' whilst slumped in the bath on saturday mornings...and of his evening shows, natch. He was also on the World Service and Radio 5.

My father would listen to Peely at night when I was in my teens - dad was in his late forties / early fifties at this time. I always thought it funny that my dad thought Peel was great at teh same time that I did!

It's no age...he'll be greatly missed. And what's worse is that there's no replacement on the horizon with the width of broadcasting experience, expertise and heart.

Joe

I remember a mate of mine who was in a really terrible punk band once sent him a tape. He was so pleased because John listened to it and returned it with a note that simply said "You're crap!!" He was so pleased at the fact that he had actually listened to it and bothered to reply. I guess that's the kind of man he was.

I feel quite shocked. His son Tom was at uni in Sheffield and John Peel got an honorary degree from here.

Nobody flew the flag for innovative new independent music like John Peel did, and sadly nobody will get the chance to do it again on such a large scale over such a long time period. He really did change my life.

The man was a legend, and a lovely chap to boot. RIP.

Saw John playing out at Chibuku in Liverpool back in March. Just amazing - he played Joy Division, REO Speedwagon, Status Quo, happy hardcore, Jeff Mills' 'The Bells', Motown, New Order, folk music and more, and took the roof right off. And of course, he finished his set with the Kop Choir singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' followed by... what else?... 'Teenage Kicks'.

It was an honour and privilege to be there and finally meet him - I can honestly say that my life was changed when I stumbled on his radio 1 show back in 1979, during a bout of under the duvet listening.

I'm going to have to stop there because I could go on all afternoon. :(

Originally posted by mikey
Sad loss to the world of music.

My thoughts are with his family.

PS - Ihave never seen 3 threads created at once in all my days on this forum, just goes to show how important this man was.

i formed one too which was subsequently deleted after 2 minutes!

Chords
D Db Bm A G G#
|-10--9---7---5---3---4--|
|-10--9---7---5---3---4--|
|-11--10--7---6---4---5--|
|-12--11--9---7---5---6--|
|-12--11--9---7---5---6--|
|-10--9---7---5---3---4--|

intro D Db Bm Db (x2)

Verse 1
D .....................................Db
a teenage dream's so hard to beat
Bm....................................Db
every time she walks down the street
D....................................... Db
another girl in the neighborhood
Bm..................................... A
wish she was mine, she looks so good

Chorus
G........................................G#
i wanna hold, wanna hold her tight
A ........................................ D
and get teenage kicks all through the night

Verse 2
i'm gonna call her on the telephone
have her over 'cos i'm all alone
i need excitement, though i need it bad
and it's the best i've ever had

RIP John, this is a great loss to anyone who loves music. I can't quite believe that he's gone and that I will never hear his distinctive voice on the radio again.

I'm absolutely gutted, what a loss.

This is sad. He will be missed by many, especially my Missus. She loved him.

I've just scoured the net. There are obituaries to John Peel on message boards and forums for just about any kind of music you care to think of.

That says it all really.

the man got me into and excited about more bands than anyone/thing else ever. His complete and utter love of music was so compelling and engulfing that I couldn't help but be suckered in by it/him.

And I shall love him forever for doing so.

RIP John - the UKs only superstar DJ.

Thanks for starting a thread on this, couldn't think of what to say but feel he has had such an impact on the music I love and the music of our region that something had to be said.

On Saturday october 10, 1981, John Peel played a Radio one Roadshow at Sheffield Polytechnic. Jarvis Cocker gave him a copy of the first demo tape they had ever done - the Ken Patten tape - and John Peel promised to listen to it on his way home. A week and a half later, Jarvis' mum got a call from John Peels producer inviting them down to London to do a session.

One of the major turning points for Pulp - one of a number of bands from Sheffield that have 'been touched by Peel'.

Of course, John Peel has had a major influence on music as a whole and will be dearly missed as both an influece and a man who championed the music that a lot of us know and love.

You will be missed.

Dammit, best dj in the world taken before his time. No matter how old or young you were, or what music you were into, you couldn't fail to like and admire Mr John Peel.

Any indie nights tonight? Suddenly feel the need, but it being a tuesday... Maybe tomorrow.

Great loss!

I was listening to Home truths late last night and was thinking, it's not the same when John doesn't do it.


Interesting fact about JP is that he was at the assasination of JFK near the grassy knoll.

I will always be grateful to Peel. In the 80s [85/86], I did two sessions for his Radio One Show as sax player/percussionist in the Sheffield Industrial Funk/Experimental band, Workforce. Peel apparently heard our demo whilst travelling on the MI, and promptly booked us. He repeated the 1985 session three times, and the 86 session twice. I will always remember the experience with gratitude and pride.
I hope that people will remember how very, very witty John Peel could be too, in addition to his well documented kindness and generosity. He could say the funniest things, and could have made it as a comedian in his own right.
Peel will definately be missed as a man who made dreams come true, who gave a chance to some very eclectic performers who otherwise would not have had an audience, and as a first rate broadcaster. In sharp contrast to many other broadcasters, Peel was in love with music, not himself. I hope the angels are singing Fall songs! God bless you John.

Ex Hula boy here with similar fond memories of two sessions we did for him....It was the most amazing honour to be asked to be on his show....The studios in Maidavale were top class and the recordings were always special...Our single "Freeze Out" was taken from our first session,recorded and mixed in about 3/4 hour, mostly live with a few overdubs...thats the way it worked....
Without doubt he help shape my musical career as well as that of many other musos in this city and all over the globe....
A special man....Rip mate....

Its funny how the world works - John Peel dies but Cliff Richard is still allowed to carry on making music. Makes no sense to me.

I'm a lot more hurt than i thought i ever would be over a "celeb" death, i guess that shows John Peels range.

Chris.

As the day's progressed I've become more stunned.

Like Chris I'm rather surprised at how gutted I feel right now.

I was involved in student and community radio in the 1990s and Peel was a serious influence on the late night show that I presented. I think he showed that you could put together a mix of music that could only be called eclectic and produce an entertaining, weird and occasionally infuriating but always interesting show.

The thing with Peel was his passion for the music - none of the posturing and the self-absorption of many presenters where the music simply exists to fill the gaps between the sound of the presenter's voice.

I think I need a serious dandielion break right now.

Joe

Originally posted by timo
I hope the angels are singing Fall songs! God bless you John.

Amen to that-uh!

Not only John Peel died, but music itself :(

So long John :(

This evening's 'Front Row' programme on Radio 4 was just lovely. You can hear it again (for now at least - not sure how long it'll be online) at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/frontrow/index.shtml

I'm still shocked by this, I'm not quite sure what to say, I've known for a few hours now and i still can't believe it.

I'm listening to Radio 1 to the tribute to him and somehow it seems a fitting send off. I can't help but well up about his, much like steve lamacq himself.

RIP John Peel, still feels odd to type that.

He will be more missed than I can ever say, a constant companion via the radio to so many he would even meet. He has certainly touched my life, sometimes making the solitude bearable, more often just being a background soundtrack to whatever I would do in the evening.

I might give up radio for a bit, I don't think it'll feel the same, there will be nowhere where I won't be sure what I will end up listening to.

Wilf

A year or so back, a friend of a friend who 'works' with stone had a sculpture/installation landscape piece featured in the Sheffield Telegraph.
He was contacted by 'Peely' to construct the same piece for his wife sheila as a birthday present at 'Peel Mansions' - the work to be undertaken whilst she was away.
He accepted, and went to do the work expecting to be put up in a hotel or bed and breakfast. He was actually invited into the home and stayed as a welcome guest, drinking and eating with the family, and listening to john broadcasting his show from home.
John Peel has always being around, It is a real loss. Hard to find the right words, really.

I was really sad to hear the news of john peels death.

On the bright side the radio 1 tributes to him - playing songs they knew he would approve of - it was the best days music ive heard in a long time.

Do you remember when he was on room 101 and he put 'death' in? I remember thinking he shouldnt be worrying about that yet. Its so upsetting and i think the fact that people are so genuinely upset is just because of the fact he was such a genuinely nice sounding man when you listened to him on radio/tv.

Like someone allready said, Saturdays wont be the same. Im a lover of Home truths and can listen to it when John was away. He made the show.

A huge loss to the world.


R.I.P. JP

We need someone to champion the little guy like he did.
I remember being in a band in manchester in the late eighties and Johns show was the only place that you could get the stuff played. We were on his show a couple of times before fading into obscurity. We would get all the mates round as they let you know when it would be played.
I loved the guy.

RIP John