McG on the passing of John Peel

With the advent of Internet radio, people like myself in the United States recently became able to hear what Britains and musicians had known for decades.

John Peel was one of the most influential and important DJs in the history of broadcasting.

And his show was enormously fun to listen to.

Perhaps most important about Peel and his love of music was his willingness to embrace new music of all sorts including reggae, heavy metal, folk, vocals, pop, punk and more.

No genre of music was off-limits when it came to the John Peel show. One could often hear an old song from the 1930s followed by a song by a band called Selfish Cunt.

If it were interesting, groundbreaking or unusual, chances were Peel would give it a spin. The ultimate factor in deciding what music was played on the John Peel show was that it be good.

That's how he became the ultimate tastemaker of musicians old and new alike. His "Peel Sessions," in-studio performances recorded specifically for his program, were the stuff legends are made of.

These sessions often saw the light of day via bootlegs and more recently, through file-sharing and official release.

In the end, it can be said John Peel championed music because he loved it. And that love was clearly present during his broadcasts.

In recent months, Peel recounted how he had been working on his auto-biography. Regrettably, he won't be able to finish it, but certainly it will be released and will be just one of many reminders of how John Peel became and will remain a part of music history.

I feel fortunate to be able to call myself a regular listener of John Peel's radio show for the last year.

I've learned about several new bands and went back and did my homework about bands that I had only heard of, but never listened to. All thanks to John Peel.

All music fans owe a huge thanks and debt of gratitude to John Peel for being there for the past 40+ years ... and letting us listen in.

Legendary BBC radio DJ John Peel dies

Veteran BBC broadcaster John Peel has died at the age of 65, while on holiday in Peru. Peel, whose radio career spanned 40 years, was on a working holiday in the city of Cuzco with his wife Sheila when he suffered a heart attack.
(...more)

BBC News: John Peel obituary
BBC: John Peel passes away (with links to message boards, tributes)

Listen: Tribute to Bomp Records' Greg Shaw on WFMU

Kudos to Evan "Funk" Davies who recently did a terrific three-hour radio show on WFMU devoted solely to the music and life of Bomp Records proprietor, Greg Shaw.

WFMU: October 25, 2004: HE put the Bomp: RIP Greg Shaw

Siouxsie Sioux fills in for John Peel

Listen to Siouxsie as she fills on for the legendary BBC DJ.

Siouxsie Sioux on the John Peel Show, Wednesday Oct. 20
(Note: This show will be archived for one week only)

Bangbus is one ride you don't want to take

Don't make the same mistake Lori did.

At 22, she was broke, unwed and pregnant. And her relationship with the father was rocky.

To make some quick cash, she took a ride on bangbus, and has regretted her decision ever since.

Read Lori's sad story and the evil empire of bangbus
(Note: SFW, but contains content for mature audiences only)

Good dude, Three Stooges superfan passes away

I've had the same P.O. box at Rodney Square in Wilmington, Delaware for 12+ years.

One of the things I like about this particular post office are all the people who work there.

They're all very friendly and willing to put up with my incessant mailings and yellow slips indicating "parcel to large to fit in box."

Anyway, one of the good people who worked at the P.O., Dennis Badger, passed away over the weekend.

Dennis was always cool to me, and we'd often share stories about music, football and dealing with everyday life.

On Saturdays Dennis would bring in videotapes and play football games that he taped. He was also a huge Three Stooges fan and would play them as well.

It was always cool to go mail stuff on a Saturday and see Dennis in the post office and see Shemp, Larry and Moe carrying on in the background.

Dennis was a good dude to me and it was a sad day when I went to the post office and Miss Theresa told me he had died.

These Stooges clips are for you Dennis:

Wav: Curly: Woowoowoowoo
Wav: Curly: Tryin' to think, but nothin's happening

MP3: Bush the Genius

Here's a funny montage of clips featuring our commander-in-chief in a series of verbal screw ups.

MP3: Bush the genius (file permanently offline)

Thanks to Howard for playing this earlier this month.

Love it when I find stuff like this

I was reading one of my fave music sites, Something I Learned Today.

I found a link to a site I hadn't seen before, Agony Shorthand.

Zinesters who toiled in obscurity in the '90s will recognize Agony Shorthand's editor as none other than Jay Hinman, who used to put out Superdope zine.

This little find made my morning.

Lame site linking

Man, I just found a site that I really like is linking to an MP3 I posted on my server (via delawarepunkarchives.com).

I have no problem with people linking to my content, but I do have a problem when people link to the content without giving proper credit or even allowing a way for people to visit my site.

I would prefer it if people linked to the original posting that has the MP3 links, instead of just linking to the MP3 itself.

Maybe it's just me, but I think that is common courtesy.

Registered to vote ... again

I went down to the Dept. of Elections to register to vote. Today is the deadline in Delaware.

I registered to vote by mail months ago, but never got any information back saying I was registered. That's usually an indication that you may not be registered.

You can't check online to confirm your voting registration status in Delaware.

I was surprised that when you register in person, that your information is taken down by hand and a form filled out for each voter.

You don't even get any paperwork that indicates you are registered. All I got was a sticker saying, "I registered to vote today."

Why isn't this stuff computerized and in a tamper-proof database?

You can file your State and Federal taxes online and even check your filing status online. The IRS is clearly up to speed with their technology.

Why can't Delaware and the other 49 states do a better job of managing and processing all voter registration information?!