|
 Review
by Tom Williams
Being that I somehow managed to never once listen to John Peel’s show,
despite being all too aware of the impact he had had on British music, I
approached this book more with a sense of curiosity than adulation.
Rather than picking up ‘Margrave of the Marshes’ to be reminded about
the friend many Peelites considered John to be, I went at this simply to
find out more about the man who championed so many great bands that I
would eventually go on to love.
And at first, I was quite disappointed, though not because ‘Margrave…’
is a bad read; witty, self-deprecating and clever prose puts paid to any
such accusations.
No, the reason I was saddened at the start of this book was because for
the first time I was discovering that Peel, the man who was right behind
such raw, counter-culture heroes such as Napalm Death, The Damned and
Nirvana was actually a rather middle class public school boy.
Somewhat of a burst fantasy on my part, though not nearly enough to make
this book not worth reading, far from it.
Throughout the first half of the book, Peel talks of his early
childhood, his days at boarding school and his national service, which
are all nice, funny, well-written tales coated with an Enid Blyton-like
English utopia. The problem is, that they’re just not that interesting
to non-peel fans such as myself who, if we’re being totally honest, just
want to read about the music makers, and, indeed, the music they made.
Things pick up though when John takes us to American, where he lands his
first DJing gig by pretending to know The Beatles. From then on in,
things get a lot more exciting.
The only problem is that John died not long after writing this bit of
the book. However his wife, Sheila (a.k.a ‘Pig’) picks up the story
where he left off.
You get the feeling that this must have been a difficult task for her to
undertake, though there is little doubt that she does an excellent job.
In criss-crossing back and forth through time and looking at Peel’s
unrelenting passion for music and Liverpool FC, and also his
insecurities, weaknesses, we get the picture of man who lived for what
he lived, yet was constantly terrified it would be taken away from him.
If you’re a fan of British music, regardless of the genre, then this
book is for you.
Recommended Links:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/ - Radio 1 tribute site to John
Peel
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