[peel] RE: The John Peel lecture

colin bray colinbray@...
Tue Oct 22 22:51:05 CEST 2013


Just caught up on this whole thread - a fascinating read.

Following up the point of John's relationship to feminism, in my opinion he had general and authentic sympathy with it. However, this was complicated by the fact he grew up in a pre-feminist age (with attendance at an all-boys school during the 1950s being a further complicating factor)

The key is that punk fundamentally changed him and part of that change was a reconciliation of his previously unreconstructed attitude to women with his essential gentleness, hatred of injustice and exposure to punk/post punk ethics.

Quite a journey and one that I think can be tracked via the shows we have available.

Colin.


To: peel@yahoogroups.com
From: M.Luetchford@...
Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 21:02:08 +0100
Subject: Re: Re: [peel] RE: The John Peel lecture
















 



  


    
      
      
      I agree that individuals should not be criticised for having been subjected to the barbarism of a private school education through no choice of their own BUT having been there myself and witnessed the antics of the Bullingdon Club at Oxford and the related attitudes (sense of entitlement and over-confidence) and behaviours  (puerile and emotionally stunted)  in the House of Commons (a misnomer if ever there was one) the point is that the networks and attitudes that are created in those institutions still create the ruling class in this country. Those who effectively use them to wield power and influence in the city, the law courts, the civil service, the media, academia etc should be criticised and thrown out. They rule us and every aspect of our lives not because they are better but because of an accident of birth (or
 the acquisition of wealth that purchases power through accessing the privileges of teh ruling class - eg the jet set junta!). That is fully worthy of criticism and is not inverted snobbery - it is just trying to make a system that is more open, more equal and more just. Interestingly when I observed the privileged oikery of the Bullingdon Club in the 80s  I said to myself well at least they are an anachronism they will never rule the country again - how wrong I was ...
At my private (public being another misnomer) school listening to Peel and reading the NME in the punk (and post) era marked a few  (5 out of a
 population of 500) of us out as different, and questioning. But we were having a pretty miserable time of it for the rest of the time. Peel was a lifeline to a different world. I suspect many isolated private school boarders across the country appreciated him for that and he would have appreciated that as I think his school life particularly unpleasant too but like me he found refuge in music! Like Peel I have no contact with people from that time although I occasionally see them on telly in various positions of influence and they are still prats of the first order!
Kick over the statues. 
This topic has come quite a long way from Charlotte Church but hopefully others have enjoyed it as much as Mr Maudlin.        From: "thebarguest@yahoo.co.uk" <thebarguest@...>
 To: peel@yahoogroups.com 
 Sent: Saturday, 19 October 2013, 23:05
 Subject: RE: Re: [peel] RE: The John Peel lecture
   















 



    
      
      
      Agree ! It's absolutely incredible the amount of inverted snobbery in UK (inc UK media ) against people who had no choice about a public-school education ! I remember Liz Kershaw saying in her tribute to JP something like "even though he was a posh public schoolboy". Imagine the outcry if the media kept on labelling the likes of Rotten, Shaun Ryder etc as "council estate lowlifes" ! Like the old comedy sketch, everyone in UK seems to hate public-school folk, even the very-well-off middle-classes who were brought up "working class", like that nutty female Tory mp. Kershaw and his sis had very nice, middle-class upbringing by well-off teacher parents. Full marks to John Peel for overcoming/coping with all that hatred... 

---In peel@yahoogroups.com, <peel@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Just because he was a public school boy doesn't mean he didn't hold genuine and heartfelt beliefs, surely? He was certainly a pacifist, no doubt from his hippy days, but also I think a lot of his Home Truths output showed him to be a quite genuine soft-left inclined liberal.



I still remember how, at the outbreak of the first gulf war in August 1990, when all BBC broadcasters had been given instructions not to broadcast anything war-related, and even Massive Attack had had to shorten their name to Massive to get airplay, he ended his show with the perfect, haunting, fervently anti-war accapella version of "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" by June Tabor - a deathbed song of how a previously carefree Australian hobo has his legs blown off by a Turkish shell at Gallipolli in the first world war - "I'll go waltzin' Matilda no more". Still has me in tears whenever I hear it - mind you, I'm also an ex-Public schoolboy.



Rocker



 






 






 






-----Original Message-----


From: RobF <robfleay@...>


To: peel <peel@yahoogroups.com>


Sent: Wed, Oct 16, 2013 11:11 am


Subject: Re: [peel] RE: The John Peel lecture




























 





  




    


      
      
      





According to Andy Kershaw it was all an act. He was a public school boy working in the BBC. Like all the others (including Andy Kershaw)



























 On 16 October 2013 09:26, MARK LUETCHFORD <M.Luetchford@...> wrote:










        






















Suppose you are right - it was a bit trite and I suspect she was selected for media effect and an attempt to build on the Sinead/Miley/Annie Lennox debate. I found this more interesting: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03ccz14 Being a dad of teenage boy and girls and seeing what they continue to put up with 40 years after feminism's strongest flowering any further discussion/action on such subjects and challenging of the status quo is welcome in my house












Still not convinced about link to Peel - Mary Ann looked for a link in the producers in his later career being women. But as with most of his personal politics I don't remember him vocalising his views on feminism much - occasionally he expressed a politically strong sentiment - I can remember one on the miners strike when he played The Enemy Within and a few gentle comments about Thatcherism when he played the Redskins. Also a few time she criticised the glamorisation of violence and over sexualisation of gangster rap/dancehall stylee. And as I said before he did champion many women led bands. You just got a sense of his general leftism - but maybe I am projecting
 my own views?











A more interesting subject might be why we are all men (I think) - and why his devoted fans tended to be of the male persuasion ... is it something to do with the male brain?! In traditional folk music around the world the musicians are often men and the vocalists women. Does that reflect male domination of traditional society or something else? Discuss.












M








  

 


 

    From: "dunelm@..." <dunelm@...>



 To: peel@yahoogroups.com 


 Sent: Tuesday, 15 October 2013, 22:26


 Subject: [peel] RE: The John Peel lecture



  





 























 



    


      
      
      

 



For those who missed it, Ms Church exclusively revealed that
some record companies – get this – exploit the sexuality of female recording
artists in order to shift units.









Thanks for the heads up, Charlotte.











---In peel@yahoogroups.com, <M.Luetchford@...> wrote:














Heard a clip on R4 Today programme and liked what I heard ... seemed to speak sense to me about the sexualisation of the music industry to make big bucks for corporations - even liked the blaming of Madonna for the phenomena. It was worth it to hear the phrase "get your tits out for the boys" at 7.30ish in the morning. will listen to see if there was a link to Peel









  

 

 

 



   From: Pete Conkerton <klacktoveedesteen@...>



 To: "peel@yahoogroups.com" <peel@yahoogroups.com> 




 Sent: Tuesday, 15 October 2013, 0:40


 Subject: [peel] The John Peel lecture


  

 























 



    


      
      
      









Here it is then, let battle commence...



 



 



http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/jpl




 



I thought some interesting points were made, though I didn't agree with all of it. The best bit for me, though, is the lovely tribute from Mary Anne Hobbs right at the beginning.



 




Cheers aye, Pete











    


     





















 

 

  



                     
                            



    


     





















 





 

  


















































    


     

    
    












  

















    
     











    


    
     

    
    






  






 		 	   		  


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