The memory of John Peel Vs the Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph, that bastion of the sort of thinking that is abhorrent and makes a mockery of free speech, three days ago published this editorial that can only serve as a reminder of why John Peel was important and why conservatives are a threat to a decent way of life. Mike at Teenage Kicks ran this this morning, and I am still so incredulous I am doing the same.

This is by someone called Michael Henderson:


" There is something embarrassing, to be frank, unmanning, about the inscription on the memorial to John Peel, the broadcaster, who passed away four years ago. Freshly carved in a Suffolk graveyard, the stone reads: "Teenage dreams so hard to beat".

Strictly speaking, there should be a comma after "dreams", those phantoms that are, apparently, "so hard to beat". But, whatever else he did in his 65 years, before his unfortunate death on holiday in Peru, Mr Peel did not speak strictly. On this occasion, therefore, and making further allowance for the fact that the line is borrowed from a pop song, it is permissible to overlook that solecism.

All the same, it is embarrassing. The man lived 65 years, and in that time he must have had the kind of experiences that bring a few drops of wisdom; at the very least, a smattering of self-knowledge. Yet he chose to be remembered by the words of a song that, like the adolescent dreams they are supposed to evoke, are thoroughly wet.

One doesn't necessarily expect a Wordsworthian invocation to see into "the life of things" from a man who spent his working life among the sharpies and ne'er-do-wells of the most venal industry in the world. A man who taught me was at Shrewsbury with Peel (or Ravenscroft, as he was known in those days), and remembered him as "the dimmest boy in school".

People have been known to improve with the years, so, once more, we shouldn't be too hard on the chap for his lack of sparkle in the classroom. He seems to have been a harmless man, loved by those close to him. Yet, like so many young people who found their voice in the 1960s, and were indulged thereafter, he never really grew up.

A man who tells a television audience, as Peel did, "I wish I had the courage to be a terrorist", to milk the applause of the credulous, forfeits the right to be taken seriously on any matter under the Sun. Worse, he presents himself to the world in the colours of a buffoon.

There is going to be a lot more buffoonery in the next few months, as the BBC pulls out all manner of expensive stops to mark the 40th anniversary of les événements. They will all be wheeled out again, the well-heeled Trots from Trottington Hall, to tell us how we got things so badly wrong back then, and how, if only we had got the revolution groove, baby, life would now be much sweeter.

Again, it is that refusal to grow up, the reluctance to let go of those comforting illusions that seek to make simple what is, of necessity, complex. We all have illusions, of course. Life without them would be intolerable, even if that longed-for century at Lord's remains vivid only in our morning reverie.

But no sentient being who has absorbed the lessons of life would ever submit to the sovereignty of "teenage dreams". Child-like visions, by all means. Had Peel chosen to inscribe Winnie the Pooh on his memorial, or summoned the spirit of Ratty and Toad, that would have been all right. Innocence always trumps self-deception.

And self-deception is exactly what is wrong with that memorial. Its banal sentiment is not child-like, merely childish. Pop music speaks to teenagers because, green in judgment, they lack the emotional resources to respond to anything deeper. With helpful instruction, and a bit of curiosity, that should come with age, though in this case it didn't.

In fact, it often doesn't. We have now reached a strange, indeed a unique, stage in history, when the ageing process has been reversed, with predictably grim consequences. We read about it again this week, only this time "teenage kicks" meant something else altogether; something literal and devastating.

People in their fifties and even sixties are seen on our streets every day behaving like teenagers. In their eating and drinking habits, clothing, language, and leisure pursuits, they can be hard to distinguish from people young enough to be their grandchildren. No wonder those youngsters fail to grow up.

Funeral directors across the land have spoken with sadness in recent years of the lack of respect shown to the dead. The passing of loved ones used to release feelings of love, loss and reflection. Now they are just excuses to have a bit of a larf. Death: just one more reason to roll out the barrel.

Peel was, in effect, 65 going on 17, with a teenager's fear of disapproval. He made his name as a disc jockey playing any amount of bilge because, as he said, "people send me their tapes, so I play them". Scared of being considered out of touch, he jumped on any bandwagon that happened to be passing.

It is also worth noting that he was a keen fan of football, a game (or industry) that tends to pickle its most fervent followers in a jelly of arrested development. Should you doubt that, feel free to attend any fixture today and study the behaviour of spectators in even the most expensive seats. If you have never been to a football match, you are in for the kind of surprise that greeted the good woodsfolk who stumbled across the Teddy Bears' Picnic.

"Teenage dreams so hard to beat". Feeble stuff. What it really means is: "I never grew up"."

Several holes I would like to pick in this travesty of journalism.

Firstly, to make a very thinly veiled link with the muder of Garry Newlove and the song Teenage Kicks beggars belief. This is utterly crass.

Secondly, the rampant generalisation about football fans. John was at Heysel in 1985 when 39 Juventus fans died, and was deeply affected by it. Yes, there are unpleasant people at football games, there are unpleasant people everywhere.

Thirdly, he jumped on every bandwagon passing - tosh. Peel played punk, hiphip and reggae, amongst others, when other DJs wouldn't cover these genres, taking abuse from racist idiots, particularly for reggae.

But mostly, what I find spectacularly offensive is the way he makes people seem idealistic and naive for wanting to have changed things. Yes, the comment about terrorists seems misguided, but take any comment out of context and you can cause anyone to look stupid and misinformed, or worse.

As a teacher, I'm privileged to teach young people, and learn a lot from them, something Mr. Henderson seems to find impossible. Yes, I may be idealistic, but if I wasn't, I would have ended up cynical and given up long ago. I don't kid myself that I make a difference, but if I can help people to think for themselves, then I must be doing something. Is hanging on to your dreams and aspirations really refusing to grow up? As well as his long-running Radio 1 show, he also presented Home Truths for
many years on Radio Four, something Mr. Henderson omits.

I know next to nothing about Mr. Henderson, so I'm not going to make childish insults about him, but this article is insulting to so many people.

Elvis Costello -Tramp The Dirt Down.' mp3

Another Festive Fifty themed post

What can I say? It was just such fun (if bloody time consuming) doing yesterday's Peel-related Post here that I thought I'd do something similar again...In the process, I have realised that a great number of these come from 1982, confirming my belief that 1977-1982 was the greatest era ever, for music. Followed by 2001-2008, obviously).

First up, Pete Wylie under various guises had several entries in the Festive Fifty, here are two of my favourites. It's sometimes hard trying to work out what was Wah!, Mighty Wah! or Wah! Heat (or Shambeko Say Wah! for that matter, but I think these were both as the Mighty Wah! That is what the CDs say, anyway)

Mighty Wah! -'Come Back.' mp3

Mighty Wah! -'The Story Of The Blues.' mp3 (1982 Festive Fifty, No.7)*

The song Shipbuilding was written by Elvis Costello in 1982, about the Falklands War and Robert Wyatt recorded it first, nearly topping the Festive Fifty in 1982. Elvis Costello recorded his own version for Punch The Clock in 1983. Both versions are fantastic, Wyatt's version and piano are gorgeous, though Costello's version is great too, and features Chet Baker on trumpet.

Robert Wyatt -'Shipbuilding.' mp3 (1982 Festive Fifty, No.2)

Elvis Costello -'Shipbuilding.' mp3 (1983 Festive Fifty, No.48)

And in different guises, Coventry also had a fair amount to say about social issues of the time, both at home and abroad.

The Specials -'Ghost Town.' mp3 (1981 festive Fifty No.21)

The Special AKA -'Free Nelson Mandela.' mp3 (1984 Festive Fifty No.41

As 'New pop' replaced or post-punk evolved, depending on your point of view, there were certainly many bands who were commercially successful on in both the charts and the festive fifty (even Frankie Goes to Hollywood made the Festive Fifty in 1984, with their nine-weeks-at-the-top-of-the-proper-charts Two Tribes). Though Peel bemoaned on his 1994 Festive Fifty that some of the records had made the chart, and where had he gone wrong, it's probably fair to assume he had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. These are both from 1982:

Yazoo - 'Only You.' mp3 (1982 Festive Fifty No.12)

Associates -'Party Fears Two.' mp3 (1982 Festive Fifty No.14)

Peel also played Hip-Hop when no-one else on Radio 1 was doing so (Peter Powell reportedly once told him that he shouldn't on the grounds that Hip-Hop was the music of Black hooligans, allegedly).

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five -'The Message.' mp3 (1982 Festive Fifty no.3)

Erik B & Rakim -'Paid In Full.' mp3 (1987 Festive Fifty no.27)

* There are several different versions of this track in existence, including the Parts 1&2 version that Peel played on one of his last ever broadcasts in 2004. I have put the 'Part 1' version here.

When is a cover not a cover?

OK, maybe I've just got too much time on my hands, but this question has been occuring to me for a while...And where does that leave prefering one version over another?

First up, 'China Girl.' Co-written by Iggy Pop and David Bowie in 1977, it appeared on Iggy's The Idiot in 1977, and then on Bowie's Let's Dance in 1983. I suppose that Bowie's version is a cover coming technically afterwards, but he did produce The Idiot. And I sorta prefer Iggy's voice on his version, but i love the bass on the Bowie version. Hmm, go figure...

Iggy Pop -'China Girl.' mp3

David Bowie -'China Girl.' mp3

And what about 'Shipbuilding?' Elvis Costello co-write this poignant ballad about the Falklands' War, in 1982, Robert Wyatt recorded it first and had ahit with it, then Costello recorded his version for his own Punch The Clock LP in 1983. I like Wyatt's voice, but Chet Baker's trumpet is heartbreaking.

Robert Wyatt -'Shipbuilding.' mp3

Elvis Costello -'Shipbuilding.' mp3

As for this last one, well, I guess it always was a James Kirk track, even if there were twenty years between the version he did in Orange Juice and then recording it for his own solo You Can Make It If You Boogie in 2003. Or was it?

James Kirk -'Felicity.' mp3

Please leave any thoughts below...