(August 30th) and I clearly recall Peely's 40th birthday. He celebrated it by playing his 40 favourite records, although they wouldn't fit into the 2-hour nightly show he had at the time so he played a few on August 29th and the balance on his birthday. (Oh that we still had DJ's who played records from start to finish without talking over them.) Someone arranged for Kenny Dalglish to call him during the show. He played "Almost Liverpool 8" by Mike Hart: it was the first time I'd ever heard it and it's been in my Desert Island Discs list ever since.

It being my birthday, too, I was out that night but I'd set the old cassette tape recorder to record the show. (Sorry BBC and artists concerned.) I've still got the tape and dig out occasionally. It was a sensational choice of music: Pistols, Faces, Neil Young and of course The Undertones. RIP John.

The Principle Edwards were actually called Principal Edwards Magic Theatre.

Oddly enough, according to Wikipedia, the membership of PEMT was:

Les Adey
Bindy Bourquin
Terry Budd
Root Cartwright
Eva Darlow
Lance Dunlop
Lyn Edwards
Jeremy Ensor
Gillian Hadley
John McMahon Hill
Michael (Harry) Housman
David Jones
Richard Jones
Vivienne McAuliffe
Chrissie Morris
Monica Nettles
Geoff Nicholls
Nick Pallett
Joe Read
Chris Runciman
Martin Stellman
Roger Swallow
Beth Wood
Dave Yoell

for a friend in the States. On the spur of the moment, I thought I'd call the programme to see if he would do a dedication to them. I phoned, and to my complete and utter surprise, the man himself answered the phone.
When I told him what I was up to, he said something along the lines of "I'm not sure home taping is strictly legal", but that he would do it. A couple of minutes later came the dedication, complete with disclaimer. I was as pleased as punch - what a thoroughly good bloke.

...outside the National Sound Archive in the very early 90s, where he had been researching the sessionography of a certain 60s act care of old Melody Makers and suchlike, decided on spec to call the BBC and ask for Peel to see if he might be helpful in locating the material and facilitating its reissue. He was put through and had a pleasant conversation with the Broadcasting Legend who was very courteous but admitted to having no idea where the tapes might be and so forth. He probably got ten of those kind of calls a day, but it was the only one I ever made!

On the same subject... still researching said band's lost recordings, I'd tracked down Ian 'Lovejoy' McShane's agent's address (pre internet, you know!) - he having once appeared in an obscure film they'd soundtracked - and asked might he have any idea where those masters might be lurking. I'd given my mum's telephone number, where I was staying at the time. One day, I being elsewhere, my mum was surprised and delighted to take Mr Lovejoy's call and no doubt had a great old time rabbiting away about derring-do in the antiques world, but alas he couldn't help locate the antique recordings. Still, very nice of him to call, I thought!

...used to be in The Liverpool Scene, with the great Andy Roberts, the late Adrian Henri, Mike Evans, the bloke who who went on to play bass in Brand X, and several other people. I only mention this because... the very first legitimate, from-the-masters (plus a few unreleaseds) Liverpool Scene CD is out in May. It's a 2CD anthology, compiled by Andy Roberts with notes by Mike Evans. To my mind, it's one of the last corners of the musical 60s to be exhumed (only one previous CD, in the 90s, and that was dubbed from disc) - Andy tracked down the masters and used his lawyer training and letter writing aplomb to covince Sony and various others they didn't own them. Eventually - hurrah! - they agreed. I mentioned to Andy that this week's homepage at wolfgangsvault features a pic of Robert Plant from the Zep/'Scene tour of the States where he's wearing a Bobby & The Helmets t-shirt (the 'Scene's doo-wop alter ego). Andy was further amused to find that wolfgangs are, in fact, SELLING replicas of said shirt! Imagine YOU were in a little-known band 40 years ago and you suddenly find, on a different continent, that somebody 40 years on is selling replicas of an almost incomprehensible IN JOKE T-shirt from one of your tours. Crikey!

I interviewed him for our student rag in 1990. He'd spent the evening DJ-ing at my University - 2 hours of the Bogshed, Wedding Present, Siberian throat singing and other musical forms destined and/or designed to vacate the dancefloor.

He was the first famous person I had ever met up close, and I desperatedly tried to hide my awe behind a set of po-faced and earnest questions, when all I really wanted to ask him was 'what exactly is wrong with the early 70s Floyd and Bowie you used to like?', and 'do you think you could listen to my sub-Half Man Half Biscuit demo tape'.

Being JP, he completely disarmed me, was totally normal - Dad-like in fact - and I ended up helping him to pack his appalling collection of unlistenable 45s back into a very beaten up old Volvo before his long journey home. We laughed heartily as he described just how awful many of the demos thrust into his hands were - how the combination of blind belief and utter incompetence frequently made for recordings so bad, a part of him would die just to listen. My tape stayed firmly in my pocket, denying the world it's premiere of Tea With Mr Kipling and Terry Scott's Blues.

My final question was whether he still liked any of the old artists, and he answered that he wished Captain Beefheart was still recording. That was the final nail in my resistance and I bought Trout Mask Replica that week. And listened to it almost once - in complete, uncomprending horror - before slipping something more comfortable on my CD player and reflecting that sometimes it was better to follow than to lead.

In the Disney universe there is a saying amongst the staff/management of the organisation; what would Walt do?

This question about the great man - John not Walt - should be on the lips of every newbie broadcaster and veteran of music journalism. Not saying he was perfect but I know enough people who spent quality time with him to know he was a decent, and rare, fellow who spent his life gently educating our musical tastes.

It should not be a case of "we will not see his sort again" because there are other committed chaps out there. We just need to treasure them more.

for him a few times. Always surprised by how tall and how shy he was.

..Guest DJ at an Edinburgh Uni Students Union indie disco I was at in Chamber Street Union sometime in 1987. I couldn't help ambling over to the DJ booth to have a moment shouting in his ear. Can't remember what record I was requesting - doubtless something I thought would be impressively obscure - but he didn't have it!