Overview

The selected wit and wisdom of a national treasure John Peel is best known for his four decades of radio broadcasting. His Radio 1 shows shaped the taste of successive generations of music lovers. His Radio 4 show, Home Truths, became required listening for millions. But all the while, Peel was also tapping away on his beloved Olivetti typewriter, creating copy for an array of patient editors. He wrote articles, columns and reviews for newspapers and magazines as diverse as The Listener, Oz, Gandalf's Garden, Sounds, the Observer, the Independent and Radio Times. Now for the first time, the best of these writings have been brought together - selected by his wife, Sheila, and his four children. Music, of course, is a central and recurring theme, and he writes on music in all its forms, from Tubular Bells to Berlin punk to Madonna. Here you can read John Peel on everything from the perils of shaving to the embarrassments of virginity, and from the strange joy of Eurovision to the horror of being sick in trains. At every stage, the writing is laced with John's brilliantly acute observations on the minutiae of everyday life. This endlessly entertaining book is essential reading for Peel fans and a reminder of just why he remains a truly great Briton.

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9780552157049

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Reviews

Fit to burst with colorful commentary . . . he crams in references to music that will have you in hysterics over his sumptuously structured prose. --London Lite

As warm and funny as the man himself. Choice Magazine Fit to burst with colourful commentary... he crams in references to music that will have you in hysterics over his sumptuously structured prose. Martha De Lacey, London Lite What makes the Olivetti Chronicles stand out is that it contains his voice rather than anyone else's... It helps (and is entertaining) to imagine Peel speaking these pieces, and then they become very fine indeed. Metro This entertaining book is essential reading for Peel fans. Zavvi music book reviews

Author Information

John Peel was born the day before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. His 38-year career as a radio DJ is the stuff of legend and the bands he went on to discover too numerous to mention, though David Bowie, Roxy Music, T Rex, Genesis, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Radiohead and the White Stripes would do as a start. He lived in Suffolk with his wife Sheila and their children William, Thomas, Alexandra and Florence, plus various dogs and cats, until his death in October 2004.

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