Tonight Brian Eno gives the John Peel Lecture at The British Library. Like many thousands of music fans in Britain, I doubt there can ever be anyone of his stature, cultural bravery and sheer self-effacing friendliness and familiarity. When John died, something in British pop culture, a huge light, went out. So I wrote a song for John.
My Mate on The Radio![]()
A song for John Peel
Although we never met
I’ll never forget sixty-seven
They were pirate ship days
When music held sway
And we thought we were living in heaven.
When you spoke to the world
To each bloke and each girl
We all felt like we had a new brother
Now it’s forty years on
And although you’re gone,
We’ll remember you like no other
You were my mate on the radio
You gave me the best, kept me in the know
You were gentle and fun, flower power and sun
And I always tuned in to your show to hear
My mate on the radio.
Ivor Cutler and Cream,
Jethro Tull, Soft Machine
Frank Zappa, The Smiths and The Fall
Family, Free, the blues, poetry
Together we fell in love with them all
Songs in wellington boots and Misty in Roots
Undertones hip hop and funk
Muddy Waters and Wolf, Blind Willie McTell
Without you we’d all have been sunk.
Killing Joke Gang of Four
The Pistols The Damned
The Undertones, Faces, Banshees
Memories are still clear
of those great Top Gear[i]Years,
Only God knows what you meant to me
The Faces The Buzzcocks , all part of your scheme
Helping them all to live their musical dream
I’m so sorry that you had to go
You were my mate, yes my very good friend,
We never shook hands but right up to the end
You were my mate on the radio.
[i] John Peel’s original BBC Radio 1 show was entitled TOP GEAR, long before overgrown juveniles
And petrolheads Clarkson and Hammond sullied our screens.