Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Peel Eve

The accepted line about John Peel Day seems to be that he'd be acutely embarrassed by it. Given he seemed acutely embarrassed by the idea anyone liked his shows this seems a touch churlish, and what would be his problem with knowing people were remembering his musical impact anyway? Full Peel Day gig details and a wealth of information on the Radio 1 site, while the Cuban Boys want you to play their The Nation Needs You at midday tomorrow in tribute. It's better than the Ever Fallen In Love? all star cover, which isn't as bad as it initially sounds (although, we think, Robert Plant adds an unneccesary vocal ad-lib about halfway through, and apart from Barry Hyde at the start we can't make out who's who properly) despite Tom Ravenscroft's declaration in this week's NME that invites were sent out to new bands based on who he would have loved. Futureheads, Datsuns, Soledad Brothers - well, he played them both first. El Presidente? Seriously, Tom? Hear Phill Jupitus debut it on 6 Music on Monday via the wonder of RealPlayer or see the video exclusive on Channel 4 on Thursday at 11.05pm. Meanwhile the Guardian have revisited his top 20 album list, including Neil Young's famous Arc disc of live feedback.

Background reading: his last Radio 1 playlist which you'll note wasn't actually a year ago tomorrow; clips from his pirate days; Sonic Youth's Fall covers Peel session; Radio Rewind gets some mp3s up; tributes from Spike, TV Cream and, after a fashion, Wikipedia.

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