War is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations...a period of such armed conflict". [2]
John Peel was born on 30 August 1939, a few days before the outbreak of the Second World War but admitted to not remembering much about it, beyond being carried out to an air-raid shelter and seeing a German plane fly low over his garden. [1] His father served in North Africa: as a result, JP saw little of him for the first six years of his life.
National Service
Peel made an early application to be called up and entered the Royal Artillery: not through choice but because, as he explained in Margrave, he was only submitting to the inevitable (only those born after the outbreak of war were exempt). After initial training on Salisbury Plain, he obtained a compassionate posting to Ty Croes Camp on Anglesey (due to his parents' divorce and wanting to be close to where his brother Alan was posted). Peel later claimed that he learned little during his time in service and never saw military action:
"I certainly didn't go in there with the intention of, I had no choice actually, with the intention of trying to kill anybody, and I was grateful that nobody seemed to be interested in killing me at the time either." [3]
National Service had an impact on his later life, not least because it enabled him to live in the United States for seven years (1960-67) without being called up into the US armed forces and possibly sent to fight in Vietnam. As he had already served in the military he was exempted from the draft.
Later in life, he named as his favourite literary work Anthony Powell's A Dance To The Music Of Time, which devotes three of its twelve volumes to a vivid account of the central character's life while serving in the Army during World War Two. While there is no front-line action in Powell's work, it includes extensive descriptions of the everyday routines of army life, something Peel would have experienced during his National Service.
Pacifism
See also: Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
JP embraced hippie ideals during his final year in the USA, while he was working on KMEN. He was shocked by an encounter with a former acquaintance recently returned from Vietnam, who expressed violent pro-war sentiments (as described by Sheila Ravenscroft in Margrave Of The Marshes). The "escalation" of the Vietnam War in the mid-1960s caused a polarisation of opinion among the American public and Peel was on the side of those who opposed the war. On his return to Britain he expressed his anti-war feelings on the Perfumed Garden and during his early BBC programmes, which sometimes got him into trouble with his bosses at Radio 1. He joined in some protests (including, ironically, a violent anti-Vietnam War demo in Grosvenor Square, London on March 17, 1968) and promoted pacifism along the lines of the slogan "make love, not war," but, like many hippies, kept his distance from the more militant protest groups of the late 1960s. Later in 1968, he pre-recorded a Top Gear show in order to avoid being caught up in possible violence when a much larger demonstration against the war took place in London, on 27 October 1968.
BFBS
British Forces Broadcasting had an influence on British radio generally in the post-World War Two era, being one of the few available outlets in the 1940s and '50s for aspiring radio presenters, who, after completing their National Service, sometimes found work on the BBC, Radio Luxembourg or the pop pirate stations. Among them were Brian Matthew and Keith Skues. Later BFBS would feature DJs already familiar to their audience from domestic radio, so in common with his contemporaries such as Tommy Vance and Alan Freeman, Peel regularly made shows for the armed forces: this association ran for nearly thirty years. He once related that during the 1982 Falklands conflict, one seaman liked his shows so much that the ship habitually gave him the tape copies (as he was the only one to show interest).
Effect on Peel's shows
Armed conflicts were invariably covered in great detail by the BBC, and Peel's show reflected happenings broadcast on the news, either before or during his show. During the first Iraq war of 1991 (in which his former colleague from Radio London, Keith Skues, served, as a Royal Air Force public relations officer), he had to endure his programme being interrupted every half an hour for news bulletins: typically, he noted that this was "entirely deserved" but admitted it made planning his show rather difficult.
In 2003, Peel voiced his opinions of the second Iraq war, on his German FSK radio programme, something he would not have been allowed to do on his BBC Radio One shows:
"As you might imagine there has been an amazing amount of hypocritical nonsense about the, well the, recent war in Iraq. In my own opinion, it is a continuing war and will continue for a long time in one form or another and the newspapers of course, have been interesting to say the very least, some of them are desperate, some of them are pro-war, others are extremely anti-war." [4]
Plays
This is a tentative list of tracks played by Peel that either mention a particular armed conflict or have a general pro- or anti-war message together with the first known TX. Songs that are not directly concerned with the above are not included. In some cases, songs were broadcast as sessions before an official release: in these instances, the BBC version takes precedence.
The list includes both contemporary material referring to twentieth-century wars and songs dealing with historic conflicts, most of them from the folk tradition and written from the point of view of ordinary soldiers or sailors, or the relatives or sweethearts they left behind.
Please correct any glaring omissions.
- Mark Arm: 'Masters Of War' (Sub Pop) 06 July 1991
- Ballboy: 'Born In The USA' 22 October 2003
- Band: 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' 05 February 1979
- Belle & Sebastian: 'I Fought In A War' 13 June 2000
- Jan Berry: 'The Universal Coward' 15 November 1988
- Black Sabbath: 'Walpurgis (War Pigs)' (Sunday Concert version) 26 April 1970
- Blossom Toes: 'Peaceloving Man' (session) 27 October 1968
- Blue Jays: 'White Cliffs Of Dover' (JP: "With patriotism rampant again these days, I thought you should hear that.") 08 May 1980
- Bolt Thrower: 'Eternal War' (session) 04 September 1990
- Billy Bragg: 'Between The Wars' (session) 20 September 1984
- Billy Bragg: 'Island Of No Return' (live at QEH) 09 December 1999
- Bluebells: 'South Atlantic Way' 14 March 1985 (Radio Bremen)
- Brinsley Schwarz: 'What's So Funny About Peace Love And Understanding' (session) 25 July 1974
- Eric Burdon & The Animals: 'Sky Pilot' 21 January 1968
- C-Company featuring Terry Nelson: 'The Battle Hymn Of Lt. Calley' Rebel Yell
- Captain Beefheart: 'Veteran's Day Poppy' 18 December 1993
- Clash: 'English Civil War' 21 February 1979
- Cocoa Tea: No Blood For Oil 23 March 1991
- Cocoa Tea: No War 31 January 2002
- Leonard Cohen: 'The Partisan' 16 December 1980
- Elvis Costello: 'Oliver's Army' 02 January 1979
- Country Joe & The Fish: 'The Fish Cheer & I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag' Rebel Yell
- Dan: 'Army Of Fools' (session) 11 July 1988
- Dickies: 'Eve Of Destruction' 02 August 1978
- Doors: 'The Unknown Soldier' 19 May 1968
- Bob Dylan: 'A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall' Rebel Yell
- Bob Dylan: 'Masters Of War' Rebel Yell
- Electro Hippies: 'Mega-Armageddon Death' (session) 20 July 1987
- Eton Crop: 'Gay Boys On The Battlefield' (session) 15 November 1983
- Farm: 'No Man's Land' (session) 27 April 1983 [2]
- Fotheringay: 'Banks Of The Nile' (session) 25 April 1970
- Fotheringay: 'Peace In The End" 13 June 1970
- Jackson C. Frank: 'Jimmy Clay' (session) 09 October 1968
- Frankie Goes To Hollywood: 'Two Tribes' (session) 02 December 1982
- Gang Of Four: 'I Love A Man In Uniform' 28 April 1982
- Dick Gaughan: 'Farewell To Sicily' (session) 21 November 1974 (Full title "The 51st Highland Division’s Farewell to Sicily"[5])
- Groundhogs: 'Soldier' 09 May 1970
- Groundhogs: 'Thank Christ For The Bomb' (live at Paris Theatre) 04 March 1972
- Paul Hardcastle: '19 (Extended Japanese Mix)' 26 August 1985
- Tim Hardin: 'Simple Song of Freedom' 27 July 1969
- Jimi Hendrix: 'Machine Gun' 05 July 1973
- Jack The Lad: 'Gentleman Soldier' (session) 20 March 1975
- Jam: 'Little Boy Soldiers' 06 November 1979
- Johnny And Jon: 'Christmas In Vietnam' (JP: 'Well, the message in all of that seems to be, "Kill a Commie for Christmas."') 27 December 1999 (BFBS)
- Amory Kane; 'Physically Disqualified Blues' (session) 13 November 1968
- Killing Joke: 'Wardance' (session) 29 October 1979
- John Lennon: 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)' Only At Christmas
- John Lennon: 'Imagine' 10 April 1975
- Lightnin' Hopkins: 'Vietnam Blues Pts 1 & 2' 22 July 1987
- Barry McGuire: 'Eve Of Destruction' Rebel Yell
- Monitors: 'Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)' 04 November 2003
- Motorhead: 'Bomber' 11 December 1979
- Nic Jones: 'The Island Of Helena' (session) 11 July 1972
- New Model Army: 'Falklands Spirit' (session) 04 January 1984
- Men They Couldn't Hang: 'The Green Fields Of France' (session) 12 July 1984
- New Order: 'Love Vigilantes' 08 May 1985
- New Order: 'Vietnam' 30 April 2003
- Phil Ochs: 'Draft Dodger Rag' Rebel Yell
- Phil Ochs: 'Talking Cuban Crisis' Rebel Yell
- OMD: 'Enola Gay' (session) 21 April 1980
- Panama Jug Band: 'Going To Germany' (session) 20 August 1969[3]
- Pere Ubu: '30 Seconds Over Tokyo' 15 July 1989 (BFBS)
- Plastic Ono Band: 'Give Peace A Chance' 29 June 1969
- Prince Far I: 'No More War' (session) 04 July 1978
- Raincoats: 'Off Duty Trip' (JP: "Well, when I was in the army, you spent most of your life boozing, skiving and painting things, and I don't imagine things have changed a great deal since then…") 12 December 1979
- Red Crayola: 'Hurricane Fighter Plane' 23 October 1978
- Revo: 'My Protest' 22 May 2003
- Max Romeo: 'War Ina Babylon' 20 September 1981 (BFBS)
- Tim Rose: 'Come Away Melinda' (session) 01 October 1967
- Tim Rose: 'Morning Dew' (session) 01 October 1967
- Rudees: 'Give Peace A Chance' 04 August 1996
- Sgt. Barry Sadler: 'The Ballad Of The Green Berets' Rebel Yell
- Siouxsie & The Banshees: 'Poppy Day' (session) 16 April 1979
- Patrick Sky: 'Jimmy Clay' (session') 02 April 1969
- Southern Sons Quartet: 'Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition' 19 July 2001
- Steeleye Span: 'Female Drummer' (session) 27 June 1970
- Steeleye Span: 'General Taylor' (concert) 26 September 1971[6]
- Steeleye Span: 'Lovely On The Water' 24 May 1973
- Stiff Little Fingers: 'Wasted Life' (session) 13 April 1978
- June Tabor: 'And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda' (session) 10 March 1975
- June Tabor: 'Dancing At Whitsun' (session) 10 March 1975
- June Tabor: 'The Fiddle And The Drum' (session) 22 February 1977
- June Tabor: 'No Man's Land' (session) 19 July 1977
- June Tabor: 'Plains Of Waterloo' 01 September 1976
- Tackhead: 'What's My Mission Now?' 16 May 1988
- Television Personalities: 'A Sense Of Belonging' 05 December 1983
- Television Personalities: 'How I Learned To Love The Bomb' 13 September 1992 (BFBS)
- Television Personalities: 'King & Country' 21 July 1980
- Joe Tex: 'I Believe I'm Gonna Make It' 06 December 1988
- This Heat: 'The Fall Of Saigon' (session) 22 April 1977
- Turtles: 'Eve Of Destruction' 12 October 1999
- Wah! Heat: 'Seven Minutes to Midnight' (session) 10 June 1980
- Robert Wyatt: 'Shipbuilding' 23 September 1982
- XTC: 'General And Majors' 20 August 1980
- Young Tradition: 'Banks Of The Nile' (session) 12 February 1969
- Frank Zappa: 'I Don't Wanna Get Drafted!' 09 June 1980
- Footnotes
- ↑ Margrave Of The Marshes, Bantam Press 2005, pp.8-9.
- ↑ This would eventually be the band's biggest hit, retitled All Together Now and first TX 11 November 1990.
- ↑ World War 1 song, written by Gus Cannon of Cannon's Jug Stompers and recorded by them in 1929. Band was otherwise known as the Panama Limited Jug Band. Their first LP, released on Harvest Records in September 1969, lists one Jonathan Peel as producer[1]