New member

[alan@...]

Hello All,
Just discovered this group while looking for a Times article about JP 
on the internet. I've copied the article, by Matthew Bannister, 
below. BTW, I'm no longer in the 15-to-24-year-old range which 
Matthew refers to.

Any Colorblind James fans out there?

Alan


When I was Controller of Radio 1, I gave a public pledge that while 
there was breath in my body there would be a show on the network for 
John Peel.

I wanted to allay John's nervousness following the departure of many 
other ageing DJs. I saw him as a vital totem for the station, a Radio 
1 equivalent of the ravens at the Tower of London, symbolic of a 
public service commitment to new music.

Well, there is still breath in my body, but I no longer have any say 
in John's Radio 1 future. Following all the recent publicity about 
Jimmy Young's prospects at Radio 2, the naturally insecure Peel must 
be feeling even worse anxiety.

Consider the facts: he has been on the network for 34 years and is 
the last survivor of the original 1967 line up. (In fact he and Jimmy 
Young started on Radio 1 on the same day.) The station is 
increasingly focussing on attracting 15-to-24-year-olds who have no 
nostalgic memories of John introducing them to prog. rock, glam rock, 
punk, two tone, reggae, hip hop and many another fascinating musical 
innovations. And John's articulate, downbeat presentation style 
sounds increasingly at odds with the archetypal inarticulate

Radio 1 "yoof" presenter. It does seem very peculiar to employ a pot
bellied, 62-year-old in a cardigan to champion sounds deliberately 
designed to make most parents' toes curl.

But the surface similarities between Peel and Young belie the many
differences. Unlike Young, Peel has always aggressively moved ahead 
of the musical times, almost wilfully seeking the new and the obscure 
at the expense of the popular. His absolute rejection of the vagaries 
of fashion and his refusal to talk down to listeners may be the very 
strengths that continue to attract successive generations of fans. 
And, also unlike Young, Peel has his retirement plans well in hand. 
With Home Truths on Radio 4, a current series on Radio 2, a Radio 
Times column and copious voiceovers, he won't be out of work if the 
call to leave Radio 1 ever comes.

It is not coming yet, though. John's three shows a week are heard by 
1.1 million listeners, and his Radio 1 contract runs until February 
2003. Maybe I can breathe easy.