Ken Garner

Ken Garner is a journalist, academic, and recognized authority on John Peel, particularly the sessions that were a notable feature of the DJ’s BBC Radio One shows from 1967 to 2004.

He is perhaps best known as the author of In Session Tonight: The Complete Radio 1 Recordings (BBC, 1993) – frequently referenced on air by Peel, who described it as “a work of almost lunatic scholarship” – and The Peel Sessions: A Story Of Teenage Dreams and One Man’s Love Of Good Music (BBC, 2007). The latter volume, commissioned after Peel’s death, updates IST and narrows the focus to the late DJ and sessions for his shows. With listings of sessions by both artist and broadcast date, it is the standard reference work for this site.

Garner first met Peel at an Indian restaurant in Glasgow on St. Valentines Day 1986 to interview the DJ for a student newspaper and subsequently came to know him well, although the pair met less often after Garner started lecturing on journalism at Glasgow Caledonian University in 1993. They last time they hooked up was when Peel went to Glasgow for an aborted DJ set as part of the Triptych Festival at the end of April 2004.

Professional Life & Current Activities
For four years from 1993, Garner was radio critic for Scotland On Sunday. He subsequently did the same job at the Sunday Express until 2002 and edited The Radio Journal: International Studies on Broadcast And Audio Media for four years to 2006. At present he is Senior Lecturer at Caledonian Business School.

Ken is a member of the Peel Mailing List.

Selected Bibliography

 * Lost Sessions And Sticky Tapes, The Listener, 1987-01-08, p. 24
 * In Session Tonight: The Complete Radio 1 Recordings (BBC, 1993, ISBN 978-0563364528)
 * The Peel Sessions: A Story Of Teenage Dreams and One Man’s Love Of Good Music (BBC, 2007, ISBN 978-1846072826) (available at amazon.co.uk)
 * Reading Peel The Radio Journal: International Studies on Broadcast And Audio Media, Vol 4.1., 2 & 3, October 2007, pg. 83-7
 * Kats Karavan: The History of John Peel On The Radio (4xCD box set), October 2008 - Booklet introduction (digital version available to read online here)

Links

 * Glasgow Caledonian University