Product Description

John Peel was born in Cheshire in 1939 and, after National Service, he eventually went into broadcasting while travelling in America, where his Liverpool accent convinced them he must know the Beatles, and he was even present when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot. In 1967 he returned to the UK and joined Radio One at its start. His late-night radio shows were cult listening for music fans of all ages, and many bands admit that without his support, they would never have made it. While Radio One changed, he remained a constant factor in its schedules, and in 1998 he was awarded the OBE for his services to broadcasting. It was in that year that he also began his multi-award-winning show Home Truths on Radio Four. Mick Wall tells the story of arguably the most influential man in the history of British rock music, speaking to those who knew him well to build up a complete portrait of this hugely popular figure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4923620 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 295 pages

Review
'This excellent biography ... paints an affectionate portrait of this unpretentious, humorous presenter who seems to have been loved by everyone who met him.' SUNDAY TIMES 'Wall's book pays fair tribute to a man who, everyone agreed, was just a really decent bloke.' BIRMINGHAM POST 'This is a warm, affectionate, well-researched book, written by a fan to share with other fans.' LEICESTER MERCURY '[a] poignant tribute to arguably the most influential man in the history of British rock music.' DAILY POST (WALES) 'This is a warm, affectionate, well-written, well-researched book, written by a fan to share with other fans.' SUNDERLAND ECHO

About the Author
Mick Wall was the founding editor of Classic Rock Magazine. He's the author of numerous music titles, including books on Iron Maiden, Don Arden and Black Sabbath. He ghosted XS All Areas: the autobiography of Status Quo, and is a former dj on Capital Radio. In the late eighties he was a regular guest on Andy Kershaw's Radio 1 show -- it was then, one night at the BBC that he first bumped into John Peel. Peel helpfully showed him how to use the coffee machine.

Customer Reviews

Sloppy writing, but an easy read

I read this book on the beach in little more than a day, and felt afterwards I knew very little more about the man. This book's bulk is made up by lists and direct quotes from the valedictories of other writers, rock musicians and BBC people -- as much as is legally possible without having to get permission from their publishers.

As other reviewers have written, this is a pretty shabby book, exploiting the fact that Peel had apparently written little of his own autobiography before he died. There are many clues to the speed with which this book was rushed out. For example, on one page Wall says that T Rex's 'Ride a White Swan' went to number one. Just a few pages later, Wall admits that it only went to number two. One sentence contains both 'success' and 'successful' just a few words apart.

Throughout the book, Wall cannot make up his mind whether Peel survived for so long because he was his own man, or whether Peel, like Madonna, repeatedly reinvented himself to find a new audience. Only I'm not sure Wall realises there is any inconsistency in this.

I liked Peel a lot, and can remember listening to him under the dormitory sheets in the 1970s, praising Stevie Wonder's 'Songs in the Key of Life' to the hilt. The presence of Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven in many of Peel's early festive lists also hints at the extent to which his tastes changed.

Personally, I feel that once Peel decided to embrace punk in 1976, he had a pernicious influence over many other BBC deejays. Several deejays such as Andy Kershaw just got too close, and found it hard to want to appreciate any music that Peel had already condemned. And the trouble is that Peel often condemned bands, not because there was anything wrong with their music, but simply because the band had become too successful.

So Peel comes across as the consistent champion of the underdog. I wouldn't go so far as classifying him as an underachiever himself, because no-one in authority ever seemed to think he had much potential. But this book gave me the impression that he could have achieved rather more if he had embraced TV more readily and he hadn't been so timid about flying.