Tony Blackburn v John Peel
- Thread starter Tooting Gull
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Dave the OAP
Well-known member
I think he just raises the old Pop music facists debate...you get them on here all the time.
To be honest some of teh stuff John Peel and Andy Kershaw used to play was INHO absolute shite, however they had their audience and tailored their music for them.
To be honest some of teh stuff John Peel and Andy Kershaw used to play was INHO absolute shite, however they had their audience and tailored their music for them.
I would agree with that, however John Peel, through his championing of new bands and new styles contributed towards the creation and evolution of music. Blackburn just lived parasitically off it.
Silent Bob
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
- Dec 6, 2004
- 22,172
It's still fun to abuse the fuckers though.
Prof P
New member
- Sep 22, 2004
- 112
Without Tony there would have been no Smashy and Nicey, no Alan Partridge and a lesser Chris Morris. Most DJ's are utterly facile and forgettable, no one on this thread will ever forget Tony because of his monumental self-belief, unquashable ill-judged and wide of the mark social commentary and unabashed heart-on-the-sleeve twatishness. All the things that made Steve Coogans fictional character a joy to watch and listen to. But, and this is what makes this man a real God, TONY WAS THE REAL DEAL!
Just read Tony's comments about John Peel again if you don't believe me, the man is genius.
I liked John Peel, I knew him personally and he was a kind man, intellegent and 100% committed to new music. But, strictly speaking, in this wonderful business that we call 'show', JP is dwarfed by TB's unique and unbridled talent.[/QUOTE]
Good post.
And just while we are 'showboating', I knew Blackburn a bit when I worked in radio. He knew exactly what he was: very cheesy, desperately uncool, the butt of countless jokes and it was difficult not to be fond of him. You don't have to like his shows but he's so utterly harmless that this bit of mishief making in his book doesn't make him a c*nt, as has been sugested. He's just a bit of a gormless twat.
Just read Tony's comments about John Peel again if you don't believe me, the man is genius.
I liked John Peel, I knew him personally and he was a kind man, intellegent and 100% committed to new music. But, strictly speaking, in this wonderful business that we call 'show', JP is dwarfed by TB's unique and unbridled talent.[/QUOTE]
Good post.
And just while we are 'showboating', I knew Blackburn a bit when I worked in radio. He knew exactly what he was: very cheesy, desperately uncool, the butt of countless jokes and it was difficult not to be fond of him. You don't have to like his shows but he's so utterly harmless that this bit of mishief making in his book doesn't make him a c*nt, as has been sugested. He's just a bit of a gormless twat.
Screaming J
He'll put a spell on you
I'll buy that. I'm on the fence on this one. I only liked John Peel when he started liking punk because before then a lot of the stuff he layed was either completely inaccesible or boring. To his credit I think he partly recognised this, post punk - unlike that other bore 'whispering' Bob Harris.
However Peel did ignore a lot of soul and funk music - I suppose it just wasn''t to his taste - and that's what Blackburn was really into and did promote when he could (as on Jazz FM as it used to be called up here in the NW). He wouldn't have had the chance to play much of it on his breakfast show on Radio 1 because of the dreaded playlist; althpugh he was a complete twat on that.
Liverpool 2 v 2 Blackburn
supaseagull
Well-known member
what a choice - on one side, Tony Blackburn...DJ for the masses who dumbs down radio whenever he appears and on the other hand John Peel...Always to be remembered as saying that Brighton were a small club who didn't deserve to be in the old Div 1 in the 80's...Personally, apart from this, I always found John Peel to be slightly more entertaining that watching marrow being boiled to a pulp...The words 'jumping' and 'bandwagon' immediately come to mind when I think of him and was as much of an idol to early indie as Blackburn was to britpop!
What makes me laugh even more is that Peels early influences were more akin to that of Ant & Dec than the late, great Ian Curtis!
What makes me laugh even more is that Peels early influences were more akin to that of Ant & Dec than the late, great Ian Curtis!
dougdeep
New member
I love the way people on here assume that because they dislike something, then it is shit.
Icy Gull
Back on the rollercoaster
- Jul 5, 2003
- 72,015
I consider Cliff Richard to be shit but appreciate that what he does he does well, is that the same?
Jam The Man
Well-known member
Not just people on here.. i think it's a good measure of many views on music. I don't like Prince, but I have enough intelligence to recognise that millions of fans think he's got something to contribute to music...
The other thing I don't get is when a song comes on the radio and people say "I used to like this song (or this group)".. i always ask them back "don't you like it now then?".. they talk as if music MUST be fashionable or people might laugh at them...
No-one should ever be ashamed of their music tastes whether it's Fats Waller, Fats Domino, The Fat Boys or Phats and Small. All music has it's place.
I've noticed as well. Also, if you don't agree with the majority view then you must be an imbecile or worse.
The Large One
Who's Next?
Why? If anything, he created the bandwagon - or at least many other people jumped on his bandwagon. One way of testing the water is asking how many people have ever claimed John Peel got famous on the back of their success, as opposed to how many people got famous on the back of John Peel's work?
FWIW I was never a fan of half the music he played, but I did understand its cultural importance, and what I liked about him wasn't really the quality of the music he played, it was more the effort he was putting into keep music evolving. The irony is that I preferred the music Blackburn played, and the people he could passionately talk about - but these people were already famous. In that sense, Peel was pro-active, Blackburn was re-active.
The point is - I could have championed soul music all the while indulging in constant acts of self-promotion, and done it quite easily, but I couldn't have done the job John Peel (an accidental hero) did.
Theatre of Trees
Well-known member
Peel did play some shite but with his shows you really never knew what would be coming next. I actually used to listen to the first half of the show then tape the last bit and would spend a lot more time fast forwarding through things that I didn't like but was still able to discover some gems in between.
The problem with Blackburn is that his taste never really moved, what he still liked towards the end of his Radio 1 days was the same as the beginning and by that time tastes and styles had moved on. But then you could say that about most of the Radio 1 old guard many of whom lasted a further decade beyond their sell by dates.