- published: 21 Dec 2012
- views: 55094
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004. He was known for his eclectic taste in music and his honest and warm broadcasting style.
He was one of the first broadcasters to play psychedelic rock and progressive rock records on British radio, and he is widely acknowledged for promoting artists working in various genres, including pop, reggae, indie rock, alternative rock, punk, hardcore punk, breakcore, grindcore, death metal, British hip hop, and dance music.
Peel's Radio 1 shows were notable for the regular 'Peel sessions', which usually consisted of four songs recorded by an artist live in the BBC's studios, and which often provided the first major national coverage to bands that later would achieve great fame. (These 'sessions' are similar to 'Live Lounge' sessions recorded today for the station.) Another popular feature of his shows was the annual Festive Fifty countdown of his listeners' favourite records of the year.
Actors: Julia Jones (miscellaneous crew), James Corden (actor), Nick Moran (writer), Nick Moran (director), Chris Wilson (actor), Jimmy Carr (actor), Michael Sarne (actor), Nick Thomas-Webster (actor), Kevin Spacey (actor), Rita Tushingham (actress), Ilan Eshkeri (composer), Pam Ferris (actress), Stephanie Collie (costume designer), Jess Conrad (actor), Monika Agorelius (miscellaneous crew),
Plot: In the early 1960s self-taught electronics whizz Joe Meek amazingly produces a string of home made hit singles from his studio in his flat above a leather shop in London. His biggest success is the instrumental 'Telstar' but accusations of plagiarism delay royalties. Joe's mercurial temper causes his artists to forsake him for other labels,in particular his young lover Heinz Burt. Now in debt and after unwisely parting from his chief financier Major Banks,Joe finds himself unable to control his life. Increasingly paranoid,believing he is being bugged by rival record companies and that everybody is out to get him,the last straw comes when landlady Violet tells him she is selling the building in which he lives. Joe had once confiscated a shotgun from Heinz. Now it is dangerously close at hand and about to end the Joe Meek story.
Keywords: 1960s, accidental-shooting, archive-footage, based-on-actual-events, based-on-play, bathroom-sex, billboard, biopic, boyfriend-boyfriend-relationship, character-name-in-title