Peel At The Brits

Peel At The Brits was broadcast on BBC Radio One on 21st February 1990 and involved John Peel reporting from behind the scenes at the music industry's annual awards ceremony.

Links To Peel
On The Radio Times published in February 1990, Tom Loxley wrote about Peel's experience of awards, including the Brits:

"John Peel goes to the BPI Awards — hoping for a better night out than last year ...

''R1 JOHN PEEL, a spectator at this year's Brit awards, laughs with relief: 'Praise God I'm not involved with the record industry. That's one reason I've managed to stay a fan for so long.'''

''The British Phonographic Industry is promising that its annual beano, when it hands out pop Oscars to its own artists, will be an improvement on last year's embarrassing effort. Not that John heard the cringe-making show: 'I wasn't sufficiently interested to listen. Ask me who won last year and I haven't the faintest idea. '''

''The 1990 nomination lists, which include such paragons of pop as Cliff Richard, Annie Lennox and Lisa Stansfield, leave the 'Peeler' cold. 'The idea of a poll in which nobody knows who votes and anybody who can win is nominated in advance anyway is very odd.' Gloomy John may feel out of place at the Dominion Theatre, but will he give the Brits a fair hearing? 'I don't want to prejudge it. I find the best way to report these things is not to insert too much opinion.'''

''His dislike seems strange coming from a DJ who has not only won a few awards in his time but also holds his own listeners' poll each Christmas. 'If you win an award you view it entirely differently. I've had the odd Sony Radio Award which I like to point at and say, "Look, I've won a Sony Award", but I don't imagine it will sweep me into the corridors of power. As for the Festive 50, I must admit I find it immeasurably boring. Last year there was only one black record in the entire 50 which, when half the show is either reggae, hip hop or African music, seems startling. There is an element of the BPI phenomenon, where the same old names keep cropping up.'''

''It's the predictability of pop polls which makes him so mad. The Eurovision Song Contest's most unlikely fan, he is mightily attracted to not knowing what will happen next: 'Eurovision has a life of its own and a certain genuine, innocent charm. It's in the nature of the event that it can't possibly be fixed.'"''