Somewhere in the north of England
Trying hard to be a teenager
Arthur Scargill had been crushed
And Margaret Thatcher proved that there
Were more important things
Than being lonely
CND badges were pinned
On our school blazers but somehow
We felt The Bomb was on our side
Because it left nowhere for anyone to hide
And we looked forward to the day
When we could take our O-Levels
And all sign on the dole
And every morning the whole world
Stopped dead for Simon Bates’ ‘Our Tune’
But in our bedrooms late at night
We tuned the dials of our transistor
Radios until
Through all the fuzz and static of
The mediumwave signal we
Could hear the clatter of guitars
A singer with an accent just like ours
A band that would be playing in
The next town on, in weeks to come
And then a voice came through
As dry as matches
Starting a slow fire
Yes, I remember John Peel
And things seemed better then
I swapped some comics for a tape recorder
Sat it right next to the speaker
Captured all the sessions and
Then took them proudly into school
Where everyone said that they were just noise
But some of us sat in the corner
Talking about our band and how
One day we’d make a demo of our
Ten watt bedroom punk explosion
Send it to the BBC
Where John might hear it and we knew
That if he liked it he might play it
On the air and offer us
A session there and then
And we would get the train to London
With our guitars and our drums
Yes, I remember John Peel
And all the things he did for you and me
And then one day when FM came
We couldn’t get it for the hills
So I left home to study at
A polytechnic in the city
Never paid my Poll Tax, John
And I still played guitar and sang
And even though you never played my demos
Even when I burnt them on CDs
It doesn’t matter
I’m still proud that I once shook your hand
And now some people have
A million songs downloaded
In a space you cannot see
And radio is digital
And wireless is just some connection
That you find in cafe bars but
Somewhere there is still Peel Acres
Somewhere there’s a shed that houses
Creaking shelves of vinyl records
Somewhere there’s a voice like matchsticks still
Still striking sparks
Do you remember John Peel?
Well I do
Tags: 1980s, indie, John Peel, music, punk, radio, Radio One
