[peel] Peel replacement Huw Stephens

[markbursa@...]

Again...good bloke but he was 17 
at the time and the BBC in London  used to tell Wales what to play.
He used to get ribbed in the office a bit  cos he was the youngest - 
he must only be about 22 now  !



Therein lies the root of the problem. The massive advantage that John Peel  
had was his knowledge of half a century of music. Someone pointed out in an  
obituary that he'd listened to more music than anyone else on the plant. This  
gave him the ability to place new music in context: to tell the original from  
the derivative (and he'd play the original, even if it was shit).
 
This established a key element in the listener's relationship with the DJ -  
you trusted him, because he demonstrably knew his stuff. He always had 21 
years'  listening experience over me.
 
Some 22 year old indiekid isn't going to be able to deliver that - no  matter 
how good his radar at finding new indie bands that sound good to him.  I've 
got 21 years' listening experience over him... The situation is worse with  
dance and urban DJs, for whom context is almost irrelevant.
 
The BBC has predictably used the slot to:
 
1 - promote some young talent  - fair enough, but one suspects Huw,  Ras and 
Rob are
ambitous and won't want to devote the rest of their lives to a two-hour  
graveyard slot playing Shitmat records. Part of Peel's success was his  
UNambition. The new boys probably fancy themselves as the next Zane (or worse -  the 
next Timothy Westwood).
2 - promote 1XL. Non-ironic R&B popular with the chav massive - no  thank 
you. I'd rather the didn't use Peel's slot to justify its licence  fee
3 - put everything into neat little boxes that the management trainees can  
understand. 
 
I suspect the slot will ultimately become a haven for big label pluggers  
trying to see what might fly. With three young DJs it's doubtful if anyone will  
be able to stand up to them - the pluggers could simply divide &  conquer.
 
At least internet radio gives us other options. Imagine what might have  
happened to British music had John gone to Peru in 1978.
 
Mark