John Peel also played a mean Jaws Harp on the Third Ear Band's album Alchemy.

[Peel] Wish we'd had one of him in Australia. :-(

JP was also seen on TOTP beside Rod Stewart, playing the mandolin on Maggie May.
It was well known that if you sent him a demo he would listen to it - for fear of missing something. Thus Blur, the Undertones and many more got a play on his show before any record companies had heard of them.
I also admired him for 'Home Truths', although it wasn't really my sort of show - the way he could get ordinary people to talk about extraordinary and/or very painful things was an example of the interviewer's art that most others could learn much from.

[Breadmaster] I think you could say "one of the greats of music" in the same way that Jean Cocteau was.

[Breadmaster] Alternately, one could simply troll through an on-line CD store for "John Peel" and see how many now-famous bands owe their early exposure to the man. Shameless marketing can sometimes have an unexpected benefit to the consumer and these "John Peel" CDs are some of the best in my collection (although I don't collect them as such, I do add them to my exsisting collections of material by bands I like).

How is everyone writing in bold and italic and normal? (At least on the other forums).

[Knobbly knees] try following this link to DrQu+xum's Basic HTML.

I love that page. It's taught me a lot... and in real life too.

To start a new topic, what are we all listening to as we post?

[nights] The cooling fan.

As I take worshipping the almighty Crescent very seriously I always post in complete silence, while sitting in the lotus position.

The hum of the server, the toot of the sandwich van pulling up in the car park, intermittent Tourette-like outbursts of frustration and the clattering of keyboards as my colleagues - nay, UNDERLINGS get on with their proper work while I skive.

[nights] My tinitus.

For some reason, the latest CD I've bought is one of chamber music - trios, quartets and quintets - by Schumann. So that's what I'm listening to.

oh gosh you're all funny. I'm listening to one of my legendary mix tapes on headphones while sat in the library.

[nights] You think a background whistle that cannot be silenced no matter what you do is funny? You are one sick puppy.

I'm listening to the music of a band called Elbow. Somewhere between Schumann and tinnitis.

The beat coming from the morons downstairs.

It's gone very quiet in here. You don't all live beneath me, do you? Only that would be a sure sign the cyanide cake we sent them worked.



Oh, have I said to much? *prepares to destroy the evidence*

*too much

I've been listening to various radio shows today, and will start to listen to the last HHGTG episode in a bit. Probably. Other than that, it's the whirr of three or four computer fans and the occasional whine from the cats.

But what I'm really listening to is the sound of my going up the wall as the local anaesthetic from my dentist's visit wears off and my gums itch and my teeth hurt. Aargh!

I was watching TV with my flatmates the other week and they switched onto something about cosmetic surgery. Squeamish enough as I am at the best of times, I started busying myself with the fridge when they started describing how one woman was going to have reshaping surgery on her genitalia. When they proceeded to mention that she was having the operation under local anaesthetic, I decided it was time for me to leave the room.