In 1967 everyone in the UK was listening to the offshore pirate radio stations. The BBC at that time were severely limited as to how much “needle time” they had in a day and so most music had to be performed by musicians union members. It could not possibly keep up with the deluge of new music being generated at that time.
Into the void steps offshore stations or “Pirates” as they were called, beaming in endless recordings from ships anchored just off the coast of England. Radio London beamed in on the populous south east of England. During the day until midnight it was a mix of top forty hits with ads and jingles.
This all stopped at midnight when the daytime disc jockeys signed off and went to bed. No one cared what happened next during the wee hours. Enter John Peel (not his real name) recently returned from California with a pile of records to play that no one had ever heard of… yet.
These compilations in three parts is an attempt to recreate a typical show- which ranged from psychedelia to poetry to Indian ragas. For the magic to happen certain elements were necessary such as candles incense and a certain dark brown substance inhaled.
The Perfumed Garden quickly became a celebration of the “underground” scene in the UK playing a wide selection of folk, blues and psychedelic rock. He was one of the first broadcasters to play progressive rock records on British radio. He later went on at the BBC to champion all kinds of new music, especially punk in the late seventies. He was the longest serving of the original BBC Radio One DJs broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004.
His first show for Radio London was in March 1967 and his last show was on 14th August 1967. Not very long a time except in our heads. That last show carried on beyond its usual 2 am finish, going through the night until 5:30am. There are tapes out there on the internet of this last show in entirety but the sound quality is very low. Remember these shows were on medium wave (AM) and there was static.
Listeners gradually formed a connection with Peel sending him poems, records, and letters so that his show began to take on a two-way style of communication. By the time he was in his last week with Radio London, Peel was receiving more content from fans than any other DJ for the station.
Probably not that radical now- but at the time it was the soundtrack to the counter culture of the era. It didn’t last long. Legislation in 1967 outlawed companies advertising so the pirates had to go off the air.
The Perfumed Garden introduced hippies to the Summer of Love. Peel also helped to lead the way for the biggest bands of the UK, changing the music industry as we know it by championing artists like Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and Pink Floyd. By the time the 70s arrived Peel and his co-producers were recording and sharing sessions by The Wailers, Queen, and Roxy Music, while still somehow placating the Musician’s Union who demanded live content.
Peel continued to keep his ear to the underground of the music industry, playing records from unknown acts at the time, like the Sex Pistols, and the Smiths. In 1976, John Peel was also one of the men who helped to introduce the UK to punk, when he obtained an import copy of the eponymous debut album from The Ramones. Throughout 1977 and for years after many of the John Peel Sessions recorded on BBC Radio 1 were all about the UK punk and post-punk genre, with bands like the Banshees, Joy Division, and The Cure.
Perhaps the most well-known aspect of John’s life on the airwaves were the “John Peel Sessions” which began in 1992. These sessions offered an opportunity for bands to come in and record exclusive tracks within the BBC studios. Almost every influential band you can think of from the UK and US over the last dozen years has their own Peel Session, from Blur, to Nirvana, and countless others.
Following an incredible impact on the radio industry Peel died from a heart attack on October the 25th in 2004. The event happened when John was in the middle of a holiday in Peru.
NOTE:There was a movie made called Pirate Radio in the UK and The Ship That Rocked in the US. In the movie Peel’s character was called Bob and at the end when the ship went down Bob went down with it to retrieve a lone album. The album was The Five Thousand Spirits or The Layers of The Onion by The Incredible String Band. A little joke as this band were played a lot on his shows and they epitomized the English take on hippiedom at that time which had a different flavour than the California version. You can hear all of the tracks Vol 1 here and Vol 2 here.
