JOHN PEEL

The sudden death of John Peel from a heart attack on 25th October 2004 while on holiday in Peru has saddened myself and everyone who knew him either personally or from his radio programmes on Radio Four and Radio One. He was a man who achieved fame without compromise and by basically being himself. 
I cant remember exactly the first time I heard John Peel, it was certainly his late night programme on the pirate station Radio London and it would have been 1968. At that time even the pirate stations were just playing whatever was in the music charts, while the BBC had yet to come to terms with what young people wanted to hear on the radio. Peel played whatever he wanted and his choice of music was both eclectic and obscure. On the closing down of the pirate stations he signed on with the newly formed BBC Radio One and stayed there, the only one of the original presenters. 
He listened to everything which was sent him and as a result was the first to play many artists and new musical styles which later became popular, as far as I remember he was the first to play reggae on British radio. The list of bands and singers he championed and who later achieved success would be a long one. His encouragement of new bands was well known. I think the secret of his longevity was that he never bought into the lifestyles of the music he championed, it was always about the music, he was always an ordinary bloke, but extraordinary at the same time.
In more recent years his Saturday morning Radio Four programme "Home Truths" won many awards and a big audience who may never have listened to his Radio One shows.
He lived at Finborough near Stowmarket for 30 years. Integrating into the community and being a well known figure locally. He supported several charities locally in his own quiet way including Mid Suffolk Rethink. Among his honours were an OBE and an honorary degree at The University Of East Anglia.
Personally I owe him much in opening my ears to a range of music that I would never have heard otherwise. The extent to which he will be missed can be judged by the many tributes to him from Radio and music personalities also a personal tribute from Tony Blair, these along with photos, music and much else relating to the man can be found at - 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/alt/johnpeel/

Other links are -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3955369.stm for a biography
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/3955417.stm more tributes

STOWMARKET HISTORY AND HERITAGE
2007
email neil@stowman.plus.com