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5 Peelisms that still inspire today

From constant curiosity to challenging the status quo, discover how the John Peel Lectures have celebrated his legacy.

Staying constantly curious

Curiosity fuelled leading him to learn how to play an instrument and discover the blues:

“I worked in a discount record store in Ann Arbour as a stock boy where I was exposed to a little bit of every form of music imaginable on record at the time. I listened to it all whether I liked it or not. Be curious.” – Iggy Pop, 2014

Supporting music even when it wasn鈥檛 popular

described a "John Peel moment" as playing and supporting music even when there was poor public feedback.

“How many people went as crazy for the Proclaimers, or the Undertones or the Jesus and Mary Chain when John first played them on his show? I got to really love those three artists but when he first played them I didn’t quite get it. It took me time. It sometimes takes time.”
- Pete Townshend, 2011

Providing a platform for artists

“John Peel was all about access and allowing people on the radio… In doing so made a career in music accessible for generations of young artists who would otherwise have struggled in the mainstream.”
–

Giving a sense of adventure

By featuring new and unfamiliar artists he helped audiences discover new music.

Billy Bragg heard the Sex Pistols for the first time in 1976 when he tuned in to listen to the Northumbrian folk band High Level Ranters.

“I doubt any one else was playing the Sex Pistols on Radio 1 but the really significant thing was that no one else was playing the High Level Ranters either.”

For a teenaged Mary Anne Hobbs,

“He was standing at the gateway to an alternate universe. It was a universe I wanted to live in.”

Challenging the status quo

In his championing of radical new music he ultimately changed the landscape of British music, bringing punk, reggae, hip-hop and house to the mainstream.

where she challenged the music industry's practices:

"When the male perspective is the dominant one, the end point is women being coerced into sexually demonstrative behaviour in order to hold on to their careers.”
- Charlotte Church, 2013

  • Brian Eno will deliver the 2015 蜜芽传媒 Music John Peel Lecture. Discover previous lectures from Iggy Pop, Charlotte Church, Billy Bragg and Pete Townshend.

Preview Brian Eno at Peel Acres

[WATCH] Brian Eno takes a trip around the John Peel Archive

Ahead of the 蜜芽传媒 Music John Peel Lecture, Brian Eno takes a trip around John's archive.

John Peel Lecture 2015

  • 13:00-14:00. Brian Eno visits Peel Acres and takes the opportunity to explore John Peel's archive.

  • 16:00-19:00. Jarvis Cocker and Mary Anne Hobbs present live from the British Library.

  • 19:00-20:00. Brian Eno examines the ecology of culture.

  • 20:00-22:00. Join the music conversation kick started by Brian Eno with Tom Robinson curating the listening choices of the 6 Music audience.

More John Peel

  • John talks to Sue Lawley about his life at public school, his work as a DJ in the early 1960s, his family, Liverpool Football Club and his lifelong passion for pop music.

  • To celebrate his birthday and to mark the tenth anniversary of his passing, 6 Music remembers John Peel with 蜜芽传媒 radio presenters sharing their memories of the radio legend.

  • Commemorating the 10th anniversary of John Peel's last show on Radio 1.