November 13, 2004

By Adam Sherwin, Media Reporter
The Times

It is a typically eclectic mixture of 1970s German rock, hardcore "grime"
and Liverpool indie. The final programme recorded by John Peel will be
broadcast by the BBC World Service next week.

Peel's weekly show allowed millions of listeners to share his musical
passions and fans in China and India were among the thousands sending
tributes to the Service. He recorded a series of programmes before his trip
to Peru where he suffered a fatal heart attack. The last will be transmitted
this Friday.

"Unwrapping the final John Peel programmes was a bittersweet experience,"
said Bobby Seiler, his producer. He added: "What this programme does do is
represent the breadth of music that John always promoted. Among the records
on this show, there are examples of music from Sweden, Germany, the United
States, Czech Republic and his own beloved Liverpool."

There is a track by Neu, a 1970s German band whose driving "motorik" sound
influenced electronic pop music. A classical cellist-turned hip-hop producer
from Brooklyn calling himself Mad provides a track called I am 6 on the Ad
Noiseam label.

Ella Guru, a new Liverpool band, are given a spin along with a Czech techno
act called Matoa. The final record is Dr Venom an artist from the
underground "grime" hip-hop scene with a track called Mumra.
Mr Seiler said: "You're always looking out for that monumental moment where
John hints at some unforeseen event or some double meaning in the records he
chose. As it happens, there is none of this, as unsurprisingly John never
expected this to be his last programme.

"He was truly one of the planet's favourite voices. His weekly e-mails
ranged from Malaysia to Manchester, Israel to Ipswich, and his patronage of
new artists extended well beyond the English Channel."

The prerecorded programmes also included The Fall, Peel's all-time
favourite, and one track from an album of Lebanese/Egyptian Arabic hip-hop.

The final programme will be introduced by World Service presenter Mark Coles
and broadcast on Friday at 10:30am, then repeated at 1:30pm, 7:30pm and
Saturday at 01:45am.

HMV's 200 stores across Britain and Ireland observed a minute's silence at
noon yesterday in honour of the DJ. Music fans said Peel would have
preferred one minute of noise. Each store then played Peel's favourite song,
The Undertones' Teenage Kicks as a tribute.

(more at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...356043,00.html )