John Peel | Teenage Dreams So Hard To Beat

Hello Friends,

Yesterday was the 6 year anniversary of John Peel's passing. John was simply the greatest radio DJ to ever walk this earth and rock the airwaves. John Peel was an English DJ that spun records from 1967 - 2004 on the BBC.

I was introduced to his shows via a mate of mine named Bobbi. While at work he would listen to it on live streams from radio1. The music was all over the map and the excitement from this DJ was infectious.

John's legacy will always be things like 'Peel Sessions' , breaking artists and playing what ever the hell he wanted to on his radio shows. His contribution to the music business was so big and important that there's already so many other DJs taking over from where he left off.

I think the biggest tribute to John is that Glastonbury Music Festival re-named 'The New Music Stage' to now be 'The John Peel Stage' only one year after his death in 2005.

The Undertones tune 'Teenage Kicks' was a song that John was quoted as saying "There's nothing you could add to it or subtract from it that would improve it". It was, in John's eyes, the single best pop song ever recorded. What a compliment coming from someone with access to that much music.

Here are 5 Songs that John Peel introduced me to in the short time I had the pleasure of listening to him.

• Athea and Donna - 'Uptown Top Ranking' *this blew my mind first time I heard it on his show
• The Bees - 'Listening Man'*he introduced me to this band although this song didn't come out until 2007...I think that he would have adored this. Still one of my fav videos of all time:)
• Joy Division - 'Transmission'
• PJ Harvey - 'Good Fortune'
• The White Stripes - 'Hotel Yorba'

I did a google image search of John and this one came up. I had to include it to show the bottom lyric on his tombstone. What a man indeed...he believed what he preached. Thank you for the great music John.

Thanks for reading/listening,

Gregg Stewart

5 Great Songs

Hello Friends,

Sometimes you just need a good tune to change your mood and set you off in the right direction. I listen to the radio in the AM - be it NME Radio, CBC Radio 2 or BBC - they all seem to get it right. They are forever able to suprise me with some Gold or long lost tracks that just fit the morning perfectly. Hats off to (some) radio stations.

Here are 5 songs that I've had the pleasure hearing first thing in the morning over the last few weeks.


Toploader - Dancing in the Moonlight
U2 - Wild Honey
Coldplay - Shiver
Arrested Development - Everyday People
Wings - Band on the Run *it's like 3 songs in 1 off the top:)

Now set the alarm and preload one of these - it's a guaranteed good start to the day.

Thanks for reading/listening,

Gregg

Nirvana Nevermind

Hello Friends,

I have to admit that I was never a Nirvana fan growing up. I'm not sure why to be honest but it just didn't do it for me at the time. It's strange I guess because their second album 'Nevermind' came out and took over the World in 1991 just as I went into grade 9.

That Fall's student body elections (do they still do that?) saw 8 out of the 10 candidates for President walk in to do their speeches while 'Smells Like Teen Spirit" played on the loud speakers. One of the guys actually played it on guitar. That same guy is now an actor today - but I digress...

The reason I wanted to talk about Nirvana today was simply because 'Come As You Are' was served up to me on shuffle yesterday. It blew my fucking mind. The production and clarity in this song is unreal. I've listened to this track at least 10 times since then. I'm actually listening to the album as I type this.

I did some digging to find out why I wasn't loving Nirvana at that time. It turns out that I was listening, eating, sleeping and breathing what was known as the 'Manchester scene' at that same time. The scene consisted of the The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Charlatans and The Inspiral Carpets (Noel Gallagher was their roadie at that time) to name a few. It was my first real knowledge and love of something that felt like my own. I have my brother to thank for that as he always had the cassette to the debut Stone Roses album in the tape deck of my Dad's van.

Nevermind is now almost 20 years old and is such an iconic album - to say the least. The imagery of the cover and the movement and scene that they brought is unheard of today. Drake is actually wearing a 'Nevermind' shirt to pay tribute to it in the last issue of Q Magazine. For the first time in the 20 years (almost 20) since this album came out I finally get it and appreciate it.

I leave you with one song today 'Come As You Are' - wow what a tune and iconic music video for a generation. I'm sorry it took me so long.

Thanks for listening/reading.

Gregg Stewart

Pickering's Got Talent

Hello Friends,

I grew up in the burbs in a town called Pickering just outside Toronto. It's now a city, based on population, but still has the feel of a town in that the people all know one another and there's a sense of community. It's been ages since I lived there - but I still get that sense when I visit.

I had a conversation about this very town the other day. Growing up I had always heard a few rumours of some famous people coming from Pickering at one time or another - but back then it all seemed like they were just rumours. Rumours like former New York Islander's Captain Mike Bossy, rocker Neil Young and white rapper Snow were the big standouts. Lukily today we have Wikipedia to find this stuff out allowing us to confirm and be proud of where we come from.

It seems that the town with a Nuclear Powerplant has indeed given the World some amazing musicians over the years. Here's a list of the one's I've dug up...

• Boi-1da - Grammy nominated and producer of Drake's 'Thank Me Later'
• Neil Young - Rock Legend of some of the biggest songs ever recorded like 'Heart of Gold'
• Eon Sinclair - Bass player for the Ska/Punk/Rock outfit 'Bedouin Soundclash' *brilliant track
• Sarah Slean - singer songwriter 'I can't find this official video but what a wonderful song' *I was in grade 11 art class with her:)
• Snow - I can't find proof of this one - but rumour has it he went to Dunbarton HS *I went there too:) remember this monster track? so big that Jim Carrey did his own take on 'In Living Colour'

I'm sure there's many more with some ties to Pickering and that there will be future stars as well. Maybe there's something in the water...something to do with that powerplant perhaps??

Sadly in doing this research I've come to learn that the great Mike Bossy isn't from Pickering after all but the tough guy hockey player Sean Avery is.

Thanks for reading/listening.

Gregg