From: David Bassin (bassyd_at_pacbell.net)
Date: 2004-11-02 09:04:17
Last Tuesday around 7am, I sat down at the computer with my morning
coffee and checked the news. I froze when I read the headline, "John
Peel: Dead of a Heart Attack at 65." One of my heroes was gone and it
was an unexpected shock. I went to work and fought to maintain my
composure the only way I knew how - by keeping as silent as possible.
I got home that night and began prepping for my show, but then I lost
it. I sat down and thought about the man who had meant so much to so
many and I remembered this story:
A little over 20 years ago, I was working for the U.S. arm of Rough
Trade, the fiercely independent British indie label. One of my
counterparts in the UK office would often send me cassettes of John's
radio programs and I would listen to them over and over, absorbing
the new sounds, John's droll sense of humor and of course, his
legendary "Peel Sessions."
Prior to traveling to London in 1983, I sent John a letter expressing
my interest in meeting him during my trip. The night we arrived, I
turned on the radio and was thrilled to be hearing him live for the
first time. I called the Radio 1 switchboard and the receptionist
said, "John never takes calls while he's on the air, but I'll check."
A minute or so later, he picked up the phone, we chatted briefly and
he invited me down to the BBC. A day or so later, I showed up at the
studios and when I entered his office, I found John seated in a
chair, opening a stack of packages that rose nearly to his chin. "I'm
sorry," he said, "I'd get up, but I'm just too tired." We laughed,
chatted for a few hours and he later hooked me up with one of his
producers, who ran off copies of the New Order sessions that had
recently been recorded. That evening, I sat in with him while he did
his show, all the while a little awestruck.
What impressed me the most however, was his generosity and enthusiasm
for the music he introduced to his audience. He wasn't trying to be
"the king of all media" - he was just a man who loved his work and
loved sharing it with others. When the BBC began live streaming over
the Internet, I would listen to John's shows as often as possible and
was delighted to hear that he hadn't changed a whit. The music was
still exciting, often aggressive, unlistenable and stood out from the
other BBC DJs (with the exception of Gilles Peterson), who were
charged with playing the sappy pop and top-40 dreck of the moment.
As the years passed, John's airtime on Radio 1 was increasingly
marginalized as the station sought to fill the evening hours with
more of the same commercial programming that ruled the rest of the
dayparts. He began a Saturday morning program on Radio 4 called "Home
Truths," that dealt with family life, animals, hats and more. He
passed away while on holiday in Peru with his wife at his side.
John exemplified everything that I and many others working at
non-commercial stations have aspired to in our DJ careers. We seek to
educate and entertain - not with our egos, but with music that we
love and wish to champion. If we are privy to a few perks along the
way, that's cool, but it's more about "the nod" - the listeners who
call because they can't wait for the break to know what it was you
just played; the letters and e-mail thanking you for making a
difference in their lives, even if it's only for a moment; the people
who recognize your voice in a record store and introduce themselves
as long-time fans.
That's why John did it. In his own unique, humble way, he changed the
face of popular music and helped to launch the careers of many a pop
star that might never have made it, were it not for his support and
airplay. He was my hero and heroes are hard to find. He will be
deeply missed.
The Radio 1 and Radio 4 sites are filled with tributes from friends,
colleagues and fans and there are several shows dedicated to his
memory that can be streamed via RealAudio. I urge you to visit them
before they're gone.
Radio 1: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/alt/johnpeel/
Radio 4: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hometruths/
~~~~~~
Tonight we continue our ticket extravaganza with more shows from the
SFJazz Fest (Jaga Jazzist/Supersilent, Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Gary
Burton), Medeski, Martin & Wood and Steel Pulse, along with plenty of
new releases and old classics. I hope you'll join me, live or via the
archives.
P.S.: Go see The Incredibles - it's one of the best action films this
year....and it's a cartoon.
Ciao for now,
David
If you'd like to submit music for consideration on FreeFall, the
mailing address is:
David Bassin / FreeFall
111 Laidley St.
San Francisco, CA 94131
**************************
Last week's playlist and rebroadcast available online now:
<http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?autostart=dbassin>http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?autostart=dbassin
FreeFall 222: 10.26.04
Kahil El'Zabar's Ritual Trio - Pharoah's Song - Africa N'da Blues (Delmark)
Jan Garbarek - As Seen From Above - In Praise Of Dreams (ECM)
Okada Taxi - The Age Of Aquarius - Wise Retrogression (Planet Groove)
Isa - Echo - The Sound Of (Bambola)
Nitin Sawhney - Rainfall (Bugz In The Attic Mix) - Got The Bug (Palm)
J. Boogie's Dubtronic Science - Purple Perpendicular Phonics - Live!
In The Mix (Om)
GB - A Funky Afro Rican Weekend - Soundtrack For Sunrise (Sound In Color)
No Comply - 4th Floor Fiesta - 12" (Freestyle)
Alex Attias Presents Mustang - Closer To Me - Back Home (Compost)
Sylvie Mark + Hal 9000 - Blutenspass - Krazeee (BPitchControl)
Junior Boys - Last Exit - Last Exit (Kin)
As One - Spook Who Sat By The Door - Out Of The Darkness (Ubiquity)
Depeche Mode - Home (Air "Around The Golf" Mix) - Remixes 81-04 (Reprise)
Bobby Hutcherson - Hello To The Wind - Now! (Blue Note)
Zap Mama - Bandy Bandy - Ancestry In Progress (Luaka Bop)
Machinedrum - Inner Outer - Bidnezz (Merck)
Horst Jankowski - Speech Kraft (Forss No Sleep 'Til Dawn Rmx) -
Jazzreworks (MPS)
Jaga Jazzist - Another Day - The Stix (Ninja Tune)
File Brazilia - The Hull Priests - Dicks (Twenty Three)
Delgui feat. Marilyn David - Boogie Bridge (Gerd's 4Lux Rmx) (4Lux)
Sun Ra - Sunset On The Nile (Eddy + Dus Kontrapunkt Rmx) - Panorama
(Perfect Toy)
Massive Attack - Polaroid Girl - Danny The Dog OST - Virgin
**************************
FreeFall airs Tuesday evenings, 10pm-midnight PT on KUSF - San
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56K:
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**************************
FreeFall thanks the following underwriters for their support:
Amoeba Music (<http://www.amoebamusic.com>http://www.amoebamusic.com)
- The largest independent record stores in the U.S., with three
locations: Berkeley, San Francisco & Los Angeles.
-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Listen to "FreeFall," Tuesday evenings 10pm-midnight PT on KUSF (90.3 FM) San Francisco (http://www.live365.com/stations/kusf). Web: http://www.geocities.com/davidbassin/freefall.html "FreeFall" archives are available 24/7 at www.Live365.com: Last week's show: Broadband: http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?autostart=dbassin Two weeks ago: 56K: http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?autostart=davidbassin