John Peel
"John Peel has been described by his former producer and friend John Walters as "the single most important figure in popular music over the last 25 years" and it would be difficult to argue with that assessment. He was born in Heswell near Liverpool and, after completing his military service in Britain in 1962, went to Texas and began working for WRR radio in Dallas. At this time The Beatles success was reaching its peak and John with his Liverpool connections found it helped his ratings to claim acquaintance with the group. He was in Dallas when John F Kennedy was shot and was at the press conference just before Lee Harvey Oswald was shot.
For the next three years he moved to various radio stations in America, among them KLMA in Oklahoma City and KMEN outside Los Angeles. He returned to Britain in 1967 and joined Radio London with the celebrated show The Perfumed Garden.
John has been with Radio 1 from the beginning in 1967, establishing himself with the late-night programme Top Gear. John was the first DJ in the UK to give exposure to punk, reggae, hip-hop and rap, long before any crossed into mainstream. Almost anyone who is anyone in the rock world has recorded a session for Peel's show.
Apart from regularly topping music paper Best DJ polls, John won the 1993 Sony Award for Broadcaster Of The Year and in 1994 was named Godlike Genius by the NME at the BRAT Awards for his outstanding contribution to music.
John has been awarded a degree by the University of East Anglia and is a lifelong fan of the Archers. He lives in Suffolk with his wife Sheila, affectionately known as The Pig, and their four children. His other great love in life is Liverpool FC."
Biography from http://www.bbc.co.uk
John has compiled two 'Peel Sessions' for Richard D. James but they are still unreleased.
