About John Peel

"John Peel was the most important figure in British music since the birth of rock'n'roll. Full stop. He is more important than any artist because he was the enthusiast who discovered so many of those whom we think of as the big figures of pop over the past 40 years." - Andy Kershaw.

John Peel began his career as a broadcaster in Texas at the height of Beatlemania when most young Americans believed that anybody born within hailing distance of Liverpool must be on intimate terms with The Fab Four. Moving to California he was part of the emerging "underground" movement and briefly managed one of California's most progressive bands, The Misunderstood.

Returning to Britain, John joined the pirate station Radio London where he introduced audiences to the delights of mysticism, poetry and psychedelia on his legendary late night programme "The Perfumed Garden". John always believed that he "got away" with the unique style and content of the programme because the relevant executives on the station were all tucked up in bed and never heard it. The programmes quickly established a cult following among a select audience never before treated to hearing complete albums aired by then unknown bands, like Jefferson Airplane, Captain Beefheart, Love, The Doors, and new British acts like the Incredible String Band.

When the government closed down the pirates John was offered a short-term contract as co-presenter of a radical new radio show called "Top Gear" on the recently launched BBC Radio 1. Despite considerable opposition from bosses at the BBC, he was fortunate to find in Bernie Andrews a like-minded producer who fought to keep the programmes on air whilst allowing John almost total freedom in choice of music.

Due to a long standing agreement with the Musicians Union the BBC was obliged to broadcast several hours of live or in-house recordings every day, and this gave John the opportunity to give exposure to a host of new young bands in what became known as "session" recordings. Previously these in-house efforts were, essentially, performed by bands like the Northern Dance Orchestra, whose cover of a Hendrix guitar solo John likened to hearing a guitar dragged down a flight of concrete steps.

Among early session contributors were eager young acts like Bowie, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd, who were all quick to acknowledge the influence on their careers. Another favourite was Marc Bolan and Tyrannosaurus Rex, who were derided by most of the establishment even to the extent of John receiving a note from the then head of the station suggesting that no more exposure be given to Marc, as "he will never be popular". John's refusal to accept this advice was vindicated when Marc's record hit No. 1.

With John Walters as long-term producer and ally, Peel continued to broadcast increasingly diverse shows, unearthing original music through the 70s, 80s, and 90s. He was the first person on mainstream British radio to play reggae & punk (to the horror of many of his core audience, used to, and perfectly comfortable listening to, rock), and hip hop (to the horror of some colleagues who referred to it as "the music of black criminals").

Over thirty-seven years on Radio 1, until his untimely death in 2004, Dancing Jack Peel discovered and supported countless new bands and acts. Some went on to find massive international success. He championed Jimi Hendrix, The Faces, Roxy Music, The Undertones, The Fall, Joy Division, Billy Bragg, The Smiths, Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Orbital, Pulp and The White Stripes among a great many others. Innumerable artists found a smaller following, but were no less grateful for John's backing.

Without ever trying he became "the single most influential voice in British music", though it was never possible to characterise his taste or the content of his programmes. On any night you could hear artists as diverse as Melt Banana, Ronnie Ronalde, or Laura Cantrell, Autechre, Melys or Bob Log III.

With John Peel's passing, no one person has yet managed to attain the same degree of influence. We hope this website can help find and publicise some artists, for whom it might now be a little harder to get exposure. Open to every style of music, known or as yet unknown, anybody's free to explore every submission. It will also, of course, be scrutinised by major record labels looking for 'The Next Big Thing' and, who knows, maybe they'll find it.

• www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/index.shtml
• arts.guardian.co.uk/johnpeel/0,,1336461,00.html
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Peel