Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney. (Read more at Wikipedia.)

Links To Peel
Peel never travelled to Australia, but his links to the culture and music of the country continued through his life as a DJ, with Australia-born BBC Radio One colleague Alan Freeman often lauded as his own favouite music radio presenter. Peel's support for Australian music ranged from Aboriginal children songs in the BBC Archives to rock, punk and other underground genres. He was an early and long-term supporter of Nick Cave.

On his return to the UK in 1967, Peel was delighted to learn that an Australian mammal, the Dibbler, had been rediscovered by biologists and interpreted this on his Radio London shows as a sign of hope that the human race would soon turn away from violence and destruction. Unfortunately for Peel's vegetarian beliefs, the dibbler turned out to be a carnivore.

In 1968, Peel met his future wife, Sheila, when he co-hosted How It Is with Australian author and "futurist" Richard Neville, widely known as the co-editor of the Australian and UK versions of the counterculture magazine Oz. Around the same time, Australian sitar player Vytas Serelis shared support slot with David Bowie on a Tyrannosaurus Rex tour introduced by Peel. The Australian band Python Lee Jackson were discovered by Peel during their residency at the London Arts Labs in 1969 and recorded a single for him, "In A Broken Dream", with guest singer Rod Stewart before returning to obscurity. The record wasn't released on Peel's Dandelion label but was a hit twice, when it was issued in 1970 and reissued two years later, mainly because of Stewart's presence.

Australians were less numerous in the London music scene of the 1960s than in the underground press, literature or the fine arts, but Eclection, who recorded an album for Elektra in 1968, included two - lead singer Kerrilee Male and singer/guitarist Trevor Lucas. Male left after the first LP but Lucas went on to record albums and Peel sessions with Fotheringay and Fairport Convention - and also to become the husband of Sandy Denny.

In the early punk era, Peel included "I'm Stranded" by Australian band the Saints in his self-selected 1977 Festive Fifty. In early September 1979, Peel played three records in a row from Australian bands on three consecutive evenings   having been given a cache of records from Down Under. These selections included a track by Boys Next Door, who mutated into the Birthday Party.

In the late Eighties John encountered Australian actress/pop singer Kylie Minogue when he took his daughter Flossie and a friend to the BBC Radio One studios to meet her in 1989. Both girls were fans of the Australian soap opera 'Neighbours', which made Minogue a household name in the UK. He held the actress in fond regard thereafter for being so nice to the pair.

An Australian band Rubher in the 90's released an EP featuring a track sampling Peel's voice called Johnny Peel [Is Dead]. Peel initially thought Johnny Peel referred to somebody else, but later found out the song referred to him.

In The Guardian newspaper in 2000, Peel admitted sleeping with Australian feminist Germaine Greer before he married Sheila:

"'I'm sure it's an incident she would rather forget, but it was all free love and that sort of thing. One of the tabloids phoned me up and asked for a blow by blow account, but I'm not doing that. I think we are still friends. We don't exchange Christmas cards or anything, but I am always really pleased when I do see her.'"

Peel's connection to Australians did not only involve personalities and musicians, but also unusual records. Such an example was a Pig's Big 78 played on his 04 May 2004 show that featured impressionist Imito's impersonations of English and Australian birds.

Sessions
The following artists from, formed, or based in Australia recorded sessions for the John Peel show. Years indicate recording dates; for further details, see linked artist pages. Please add more information if known.


 * AC/DC: (1 session, 1976)
 * Birthday Party: (4 sessions, 1980-82)
 * Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: (1 session, 1984)
 * Dead Can Dance: (2 sessions, 1983-84)
 * Even As We Speak: (3 sessions, 1992-93)
 * Go-Betweens: (2 sessions, 1982-84)
 * Laughing Clowns: (1 session, 1982)
 * Moodists: (2 sessions, 1984-1985)
 * Sodastream: (1 session, 2000)
 * SPK: (1 session, 1983)
 * Triffids: (3 sessions, 1984-86)

Festive Fifty
The following Australian artists had Festive Fifty entries:


 * The Birthday Party - Release the Batsday Party: Release The Bats #19 (1981 Festive Fifty)
 * Birthday Party: Release The Bats ATFF#28 (1982 Festive Fifty
 * Birthday Party: Deep In The Woods #43 (1983 Festive Fifty
 * Birthday Party: Sonny's Burning #46 (1983 Festive Fifty
 * Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: St Huck #11 (1984 Festive Fifty)
 * Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: By The Time I Get To Phoenix #45 (1985 Festive Fifty)
 * Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Tupelo #35 (1985 Festive Fifty)
 * Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: The Mercy Seat #10 (1988 Festive Fifty)
 * Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: The Ship Song #19 (1990 Festive Fifty)
 * Saints: I'm Stranded #35 (1977 Festive Fifty)
 * Triffids: Field of Glass #68 (1985 Festive Fifty)