The Independent Oct 15 / Peel's last pirate tapes

[Tom Roche]

http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article1873859.ece



  Peel's last pirate tapes

  Thanks to a devoted fan, the legendary DJ's 
final offshore show will be heard again

  By Anthony Barnes, Arts and Media Correspondent
  Published: 15 October 2006

  As he signed off his final late-night Perfumed 
Garden show, pirate DJ John Peel was convinced it 
was the end of his brief, subversive radio career.

  Now, almost 40 years later, listeners will once 
again experience the dying murmurs of his show 
when the BBC puts his last Radio London programme 
back on the airwaves later this month.

Peel was forced off air when pirate stations - at 
the time the only outlet for pop music in the UK 
- were outlawed in 1967, leaving him high and 
dry. Luckily, within days he was rescued from 
obscurity and signed as a launch presenter for 
Radio 1 and became one of Britain's best-loved 
and respected broadcasters.

Peel would spend two of every three weeks aboard 
the Galaxy, moored off Folkestone, presenting his 
midnight show. Because the boat was in 
international waters, it was beyond the reach of 
British broadcasting restrictions until offshore 
stations too were outlawed in August 1967.

Peel's final broadcast saw him choosing some of 
the most popular tracks of his five marine-based 
months, including then little-known acts Pink 
Floyd and Captain Beefheart. As he told 
listeners: "Who can tell what's going to happen 
from now on? I have no job to go to. I'm not 
unduly concerned about it though, because 
something good is going to happen. Good things 
are happening, and a lot of people are realising 
what is going on and a lot of people are coming 
over to our side, so to speak - if there is a 
side to be taken."

That programme has survived in a bootleg tape of 
the whole five-and-a-half-hour broadcast, put 
together by an anonymous fan. The recording has 
now been distilled into four half-hour shows to 
be broadcast by BBC6 Music from Monday 23 
October, to mark the second anniversary of Peel's 
death. Producer Hermeet Chadha said yesterday: 
"We have cleaned up some of the sound but not too 
much. Listeners will once again be able to hear 
what it was like to listen to John Peel in 1967 
as though he was speaking directly to you. It's 
incredibly idealistic and at his heart he was a 
real hippie."

Indeed, before bowing out, Peel waxes lyrical in 
typical "summer of love" style: "I may just fade 
away and disappear, but that's not particularly 
important. The important thing is that if anybody 
has gained anything from [the show] and learned 
that they should try to understand the people 
that live next door to them or that live down the 
street and love them, then that's good."



Peel's pop picks: where are they now?

Pink Floyd - Astronomy Domine

Then-frontman Syd Barrett was asked to leave in 
1968 because of his erratic behaviour. Died in 
July.

The Electric Prunes - Wind-Up Toys

The Californian psychedelic legends split in 1970 
but reformed in 2001 to record a new album.

John's Children - Desdemona

Singer Marc Bolan left to form T-Rex. John's 
Children recorded a new single this summer.

The Misunderstood - I Can Take You to the Sun

British-based guitarist Tony Hill fronts Fiction. 
Singer Rick Brown now an "astral gemologist" in 
Bangkok.



© 2006 Independent News and Media Limited