John Peel day: Pink Floyd, PJ Harvey, Roxy Music and more of the bands he broke – in pictures
Saturday 25 October marks 10 years since the death of the DJ who was instrumental in launching the careers of some of music’s most successful acts. From PJ Harvey to Public Enemy, the Pogues to Pink Floyd, here are some of the bands he championed
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Pink Floyd at the height of the psychedelic era … they first appeared on Peel’s Radio 1 show in 1967, performing tracks from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
Photograph: PA/Empics
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Singer-songwriter and guitarist PJ Harvey, in the mid-90s … Peel is credited as the first DJ to play her music.
Photograph: Kevin Cummins/Getty Images
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The Fall performing at the Ranch, Manchester’s first punk club, in 1977 … the band were one of his all-time favourites. He said he owned more of their records than anybody else’s.
Photograph: Kevin Cummins/Getty Images
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Nirvana, Belfast, 1992 … (from left) bassist Krist Novoselic, drummer Dave Grohl and guitarist/singer Kurt Cobain. Peel played Nirvana for the first time on 2 January 1989.
Photograph: Steve Pyke/Getty Images
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Roxy Music, 1972 … (from left) Andy Mackay, Paul Thompson, Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera and Rik Kenton. Peel booked them for his Sounds of the Seventies show.
Photograph: Brian Cooke/Redferns
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The Undertones … ‘He not only played [Teenage Kicks] once but he played it again to the astonishment of a young bunch of lads from Derry,’ said the band’s Billy Doherty.
Photograph: Janette Beckman/Redferns
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‘He always wants to uncover the underdog, he’s doing the DJ’s job … finding the little cracks in the cement around the world. John Peel’s the most important DJ of all time, I think” – Jack White on John Peel.
Photograph: Oddmund Lunde/Rex Features
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Joy Division … (from left) Peter Hook, Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris. The band recorded for the Peel sessions in 1979.
Photograph: Harry Goodwin/Rex Features
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The Smiths … a week after their debut single Hand in Glove was released in 1983, they performed their first studio session for Peel.
Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
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Public Enemy … played regularly on Peel’s show and featured in the Festive 50 in 1987 and 1988.
Photograph: David Corio/Redferns
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Captain Sensible of the Damned … the band played five Peel sessions, the first in 1976 around the release of New Rose, considered to be the track that broke punk in the UK.
Photograph: Denis O'Regan
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Siouxsie Sioux (right) in 1976 … Peel gave Siouxsie and the Banshees a session before they had a contract and played debut release Hong Kong Garden at the top of his show every night for a week.
Photograph: Richard Young/Rex
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Marc Bolan … Peel was disappointed with their new direction after Bolan changed his band’s name from Tyrannosaurus Rex to T Rex. He had previously championed their songs One Inch Rock and Debora in 1968.
Photograph: Michael Putland/Getty Images
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Pulp in 1992 … Peel played their first demo tape after Jarvis Cocker (far left) ‘had the temerity to present the man himself with [it] after he’d been DJing at the local polytechnic. He [took] the tape, mumbling something about giving it a listen on the drive home, then left, no eye contact.’
Photograph: Neville Elder/Redferns
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Nick Cave on stage with the Birthday Party at the Venue, London, in 1981 … Cave first recorded for Peel in 1984.
Photograph: David Corio/Redferns
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Billy Bragg performing in US in 1984 … Bragg got his break after buying a biryani for Peel. “I heard him say on the radio that he’d kill for a curry. So I took one down for him and asked him to play my record Life’s a Riot with Spy vs Spy. And that was my first radio play.’
Photograph: Getty Images
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