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Disc & Music Echo: Peel Columns

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This page brings together columns written by Peel for Disc & Music Echo between 1968 and 1973. The paper became home to a Peel column for several years from 1968, when the DJ was becoming a fashionable and influential face on the pop scene. After JP joined Disc, it ran ads in the rival weekly Melody Maker hoping to gain extra readers by highlighting his contribution to what was still a teen-oriented paper which focused mainly on the singles charts.

In fact, Peel's first column for Disc was as a guest reviewer of the singles charts in January 1968. He became a regular columnist in early 1969, with a preview article in the February 1 issue[3] (p.6) stating his column would be called NOW! (probably not his choice of title) and would appear every week. However, he didn't seem to contribute very regularly at first, perhaps because he was also writing for International Times until mid-1969. An ad for his column in the Melody Maker of 20 September 1969, stated:

"John Peel, who has been writing occasionally in Disc, rejoins the paper this week to write a fortnightly column about himself and his music. It's a unique insight every fortnight into the Thoughts of Peel"[4].

Later he wrote a weekly column for Disc (as advertised in the 8 November 1969 issue of Melody Maker) and by mid-1970 was listed as a full member of the paper's editorial staff. [1]. He switched to Sounds in July 1973, by which time Disc was losing readers to rival pop weeklies. But Peel's columns for Disc give plenty of information about what he was thinking, doing and listening to in the early 1970s and are of interest to followers of the DJ's career because only a few audio recordings of his shows of this era have survived.

Olivetti Chronicles[]

Several of Peel's columns for Disc & Music Echo were reprinted in The Olivetti Chronicles:

  • 1970-1971 (exact date unknown): Ipswich, 119-21
  • 1970-1971 (exact date unknown): Osmonds, pg. 197-200
  • 1970-1971 (exact date unknown): Sick in Trains, pg. 273-7
  • 1970-1971 (exact date unknown): Loudon Wainwright, pg. 327-30
  • 1971-07-31: Peel at the ‘Quiet’ Albert Hall, pg. 214-17
  • 1972-04-01: Captain Beefheart 2, pg. 39-41
  • 1972-05-06 [5]: Lovelace, pg. 146-50
  • 1972-12-07: Football, pg. 94-6
  • 1973-04-14: Roadshows, pg. 260-2
  • 1973-04-21: Faces, pg. 88-9
  • 1973-05-12: Liverpool, pg. 141-2

Other Columns[]

1968[]

  • Jan 20: (pg3, Chart page, "Hit Talk by John Peel"; "Englebert's is well-sung but so boring!")
    It's incredibly sad that the National Press were so destructive in their reviews of "Magical Mystery Tour." They just seemed to have been waiting for the opportunity to pounce on the Beatles for something. Of all the songs I think "Blue Jay Way" is probably the most ... (read more)
    Tags (artists, etc): Beatles, Four Tops, Georgie Fame, Traffic, Moody Blues, John Fred, Bee Gees, Engelbert Humperdinck.
  • Oct 5: Me (see separate page)
  • Nov 2: (John Peel's ABC Of Beauty, extract) ... Van der Graaf Generator: They seem to have disappeared briefly. Two of them (perhaps there are only two) came and sang songs for an hour on the floor of Peel Acres ... (read more).
    (An A-Z of British artists who'd caught Peel's attention at the time, both famous and obscure ("There will be complaints that this is a purely personal and arbitrary list. This is quite true....").)
    (Complete article, together with One Stop Records Top 20 (Captain Beefheart's LP "Strictly Personal" is at number one), available here (pg19-20).

1969[]

1970[]

  • Jan 3: Family, Graham Bond and Sam Apple Pie at London's Albert Hall. Leaving early because of the weather. Driving alone up the M1 on the snow. Through Bradford and on to Shipley around midnight. Sleeping on the floor and warmth and love and cups of tea. A wedding and a reception. Friendly northern voices and laughter. Driving to Bingley and ... (read more)
    (Xmas calls from Walters, to Mother, Trader Horne; Coventry trip fogged off; LFC-Burnley; Brum gig; hamsters.)
    Tags: Christmas, Asgard, Football, Groundhogs, Galliard, Mothers.
  • Jan 31: MEDICINE HEAD played at Mothers on Friday. Basically this was their first big gig and they were very nervous. Once before they'd been to the door of Mothers asking if they could play but hadn't been allowed to do... (read more)
    (MH “dazed and delighted” at Mothers; “Mixed Media” eve at Marquee with Pig; Love label of Helsinki; Cardiff, Brum Arts Lab events, Forest at Peel Acres; Keef Hartley on Sunday concert show last week, Blodwyn Pig this Sun.)
    Tags: Spontaneous Music Ensemble, This Year's Girl.
  • Mar 14: "During the week Yoko Ono phoned to ask about a report that I'd "lashed out" at John Lennon and the next day I went along to the studio where they were doing the final editing of their peace film! The problem was, I explained, that the CND had tried again and again to get in touch with the Lennons for their help with the Easter march..." (read more)
    (Dandelion Records to Denmark, Holland; Liverpool festival, featuring Imrat Khan; Forest activities; Amon Duul’s ‘Phallus Dei’ on Liberty (“certainly unpredictable (a virtue)”), ‘Fill Your Head With Rock’ budget 2xLP comp.)
    Tags: Medicine Head, Bridget St John, Beau, Andy Roberts, East Of Eden.
  • Apr 11: A COLUMN written rather early because I've to pounce over to Ireland for various reasons - mainly the Dublin Festival. Last night at the BBC's Paris studio in Lower Regent Street we recorded Atomic Rooster and Taste for the Sunday show. Each week several elderly ladies turn up for the Sunday show - probably assuming that something... (read more)
    (Also: "John Walters, a producer, and I spent some time yesterday in research in a London cinema. We went to see W.C. Fields and Mae West in "My Little Chickadee"...W.C. Fields may well be the funniest man of the century"; “nice” Disc interview with Clapton; recommends Blue Horizon releases “now that the “blues boom” has ground to a half in most parts of the country”.)
    Tags: Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Elmore James, Johnny Young, Larry Johnson, Liverpool Scene, High Tide, Blodwyn Pig, Medicine Head.
  • May 2: The Pop Proms having finished, I hope that Roy Guest and I will be able and willing to try again next year. Musically the week proved really nice with several outstanding performances. The first group on the Monday were Bronco who are very highly rated by such authorities as ...(read more)
    (Describes the Pop Proms week at the Royal Albert Hall, with mentions of many bands as well as "some of the sickening things that go on backstage"; also trails weekend Camden Rock Festival, with Family, Taste, Taj Mahal, It's A Beautiful Day.)
    Tags: Mott The Hoople, Traffic, Curved Air, Elton John, Brinsley Schwarz, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Quintessence, Juicy Lucy, Johnny Winter, Mike Cooper, Hookfoot, Fleetwood Mac, Toe Fat.
  • May 23: WRITTEN on Sunday afternoon at my father's home in North Wales. The house is well up in the hills and there are no other buildings in sight ... (read more)
    (Also, planning to listen to Sun. repeated Wed. "show with no name", featuring live performaces by Kevin Ayers, Al Stewart and Bridget St John, ahead of five-hour drive to London the next day. Mentions tube ad: "Stay Underground With John Peel's Column Every Thursday in Disc & Music Echo", featuring three photos of the man himself.)
    Tags: Tony Blackburn, Motown, BBC Radio Four, Pig, Groundhogs, Quatermass, Harvest Records, One Stop Records, Eddie Lee Beppeaux, Pete Drummond.
  • May 30: (Reviews the film Let It Be) THE PIG said about half-way through that all the film critics had said nasty things about the film. Even the LP had come as a bit of a disappointment to many people. It was, for me, just about the saddest film I've ever seen and when the four of them suddenly froze on the roof of Apple, it was difficult not to let a small tear creep from the corner of the eye so I didn't bother much ... (read more)
    (Also, Jeff Dexter to compere Castle Rock at Dudley Zoo; Stack Waddy return.)
    Tags: Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Faces, Edgar Broughton Band, Quintessence, Sam Apple Pie.
  • June 6: Written towards the end of a fairly dismal weekend. High Tide must have played at Mothers, but I Couldn't go as a result of a peculiarly-revolting eruption on the bottom of my foot which makes walking rather a struggle. We Peels don't give up easily, but this was too much for me. On Saturday evening Pig and I went round to... (read more)
    (JP also reports on the Hollywood festival, describes his new Top Gear competition of sending in photos of American tourists, praises Poco is rude about Tony Bennett and says he'll be going to Hamburg to check out some German bands).
    Tags: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Grateful Dead, Demon Fuzz, Floh De Cologne, Limbus IV, Bernd Witthuser & Walter Westrupp, Embryo, Tangerine Dream.
  • June 13: WRITTEN, once again, at my father's lair in the hills near the Horse Shoe Pass in Wales. It's difficult sitting here to relate at all to London, The sun, which has become a brilliant orange in the last 10 minutes, is just visible through the trees... (read more) (pg 7)
    (Peel visits his father, apologises for "wandering and being introspective" but still mentions Medicine Head's new single and reviews the previous Friday's "all-night gig in Buxton, Derbyshire".)
    Tags: Siren, Procol Harum, Flaming Youth, Strawbs, Matthews Southern Comfort, Colosseum, John Hiseman’s Rhythm Aces, Taste, Stack Waddy, Football.
  • June 20: The phone said "Hello, is that John Peel's residence?" "Yes", I said because it was. It went on "Will you be at the Bath Festival then?" "Er, yes, who is that?" ... and the phone went dead again. Another evening spoiled for the Mighty Pig and I - if you've tried to call lately and have been told our machine was out of order ...". (read more)
    (Mentions a gig at the Nag's Head, Wollaston by US band Raven, some old shellac 78s he's acquired in Portobello Road including one by Olly Oakley [6], new LPs by Cochise, Chicken Shack, Fairfield Parlour and Steeleye Span, John Peel's Archive Things and an old 78 he was given by Andy Roberts.).
  • June 27: They always seem to be "getting themselves together at this cottage." For the past year the resources of the mighty Peel Foundation have been poured into finding such a cottage without any luck at all. My brother has one on the Kent-Sussex border ... (read more) (pg7)
    (Also mentions a pop festival in Bedford and is sceptical of ""free radio " now that the law-and-order freaks" (i.e. the Tories) are in power....If you think that commercial radio means better radio then forget it....")
    Tags: Deep Purple, Chicken Shack, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Principal Edwards, Medicine Head, Satisfaction, Pete Drummond, Football, Mike Raven, Dave Mason, Harvest, Dandelion, Derek & The Dominos, Johnnie Walker, Bob Dylan.
  • July 25: "Peel's Thoughts";
    ...the only rock classic lyrically based on a "dirty" joke, seem to be favourites but that could change next time it's played. Get onto it... (read more)
    Tags: Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cochise, Hawkwind, Donovan, Steve Miller Band.
  • Aug 15: "Postcard from Peel";
    THE AVID reader (rumoured by some authorities to be a Miss F. Horne of Highgate) will doubtless wonder in what romantic spot I sit typing out these words. Could it be that Pig and I decided to go with Terry and Gerry to... (read more)
    (Writes from service station near Sheffield en route to Scotland, after Nags Head visit; cinema with Walters and wife (first film based on HP Lovecraft stories, recommended); “Cruisin'’ LPs at One Stop (1962 edition with Russ Knight); return of Monty Python; Opportunity Knocks “grows more astonishing with every week”; listening to Who’s ‘Live At Leeds’ while driving (it’s good music for speeding along to”); tonight, Shipley (Bradford).)
    Tags: Stray, Cochise.
  • Aug 22: "Postcard from Peel".
    Describes his holiday in Scotland - only his second visit north of the border, he says; THIS week the rain is near Fort William in Inverness-shire rather than near Sheffield. As rain goes, and it certainly does, it's not markedly different from English rain but the lady at the bottom of the hill told us that, if the mist and cloud ever... (read more)
    (Previous visit to Scotland was for Jethro Tull gig in Edinburgh two years earlier; “I understand why Paul McCartney chose to live up here.”)
    Tags: Donovan, Neil Young.
  • Sep 5: "Postcard from Peel";
    FURTHER unremarkable incidents in forgettable circumstances. From the rain-soaked camp-site near Fort William we fled, despairing that we'd ever see the sun again. A brief lull, during which the downpour withdrew to regroup for an even more... (read more)
    (On holiday JP still finds time to listen to music, including "the Terry Riley, Tim Souster, Soft Machine night at the Proms, and a great spiritual boost it was.....")
    Tags: Fairport Convention, Donovan, Football, John's Children.
  • Sep 12: Despite all rumours to the contrary, the Rolling Stones are not going to record for Dandelion Records.... (read more) (pg7)
    (JP praises Birmingham rock'n'roll record dealer Danny Reddington, recommends Curved Air and Brinsley Schwarz "on the Sunday-Repeated-Wednesday Show" and albums by J.B. Lenoir, Pharoah Sanders, Caravan and others, including the Stones.)
    Tags: Charlie Feathers, City Ramblers, Ginger Jug Band, Wizz Jones, John Mayall, Country Funk, T2, Mothers Of Invention.
  • Sep 19: Peel criticises "progressive" music and its followers; "Since 1967 many of the people who were first heard on "Top Gear" have become very popular, very successful and very wealthy. In too many cases their music has become sterile, unimaginative and lack-lustre. ..much of the so-called "progressive" music currently being snapped up by the public here, in Europe and in the U.S., is nothing more than formula music...The intolerance of many of you really makes me very sad...." . (read more) (pg7)
    (Humble Pie, Faces v Tremeloes; Moody Blues v Taste v Eric Clapton v Alvin Lee.)
    Tags: Marmalade, Freda Payne, Jazz.
  • Sep 26: "What It's Like To Be In A Group When No-One Wants To Know".
    Each weekday we would walk down Denhall Lane toward the marshes, between the high hedges that marked the boundaries of Hughes Farm, past the white painted gate with red gate posts on which the cows scratched themselves ... (read more)
    (After ruminations about deserted and closed railway lines, JP talks about seeing Van Der Graaf Generator and Family at recent gigs, looks forward to seeing Adrian Henri and Mike Evans in Liverpool, and describes the plight of "the luckless Stackwaddy".)
    Tags: Little Free Rock, Climax Chicago, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin.
  • Oct 3: JP describes a visit with John Walters to the Royal Court Theatre for a reception for a forthcoming avant-garde theatre festival; On the rare occasions when I can be persuaded to go to the theatre I don't want to get up on stage with the cast and members of the Royal Family and dance and sing. Neither do I want members of the cast, dressed only in loincloths if at all, to leap from the stage and ask in a loud voice whether I'm embarrassed. In other words, because of my... (read more]
    Tags: Alan Price, Sandy Denny, Brotherhood Of Breath, Jimmy Campbell.
  • Oct 10: AN OLD crone once told me that those horn under the sign of Virgo were liable to walk with a limb and that I would die of stomach trouble. At this very moment it is as much as I can do to walk at all, let alone walk with a limb. This morning the Radio... (read more)
    (JP describes seeing Wishbone Ash for the first time and also mentions the financial struggles of Stack Waddy, Forest and Family.)
    Tags: John Walters, Johnny Moran, Pig.
  • Oct 24: HI THERE fans. It's the John Peel column again on the John Peel typewriter and, before the John Peel weather and the John Peel news, a word from Sharon Thrust, president of the Northampton Chapter of the John Peel Fan Fellowship and... (read more)
    (Mentions upcoming appearance in London by Sun Ra; his visit (with John Walters) to the College of St. Mark and St. John in the King's Road to take part in an "extended study of Pop Music"; an LP by Keith Christmas; and various European groups he's keen on.)
    Tags: Keith Trippett, Amon Duul, Burnin' Red Ivanhoe, Can, Supersister, Pan.
  • Oct 31: "Ecology - election promise word?"
    One of these murky mornings we're going to wake up and find that man is the only animal remaining on the planet. Of course "ecology" is a fashionable word nowadays - Sammy Davis wanted to use it as the name of a record label - and it's a word that is even used in the ... (read more)
    (JP also acquires a hurdy-gurdy and visits Ron Geesin.)
    Tags: Sun Records, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sonny Burgess, Pink Floyd, Dr Strangely Strange, James Taylor.
  • Nov 7: "The cost of playing for free"
    THE ECONOMICS of the pop industry have always been a mystery to me. On the rare occasions that I've inadvertently tipped over the stone with the edge of my foot and caught a glimpse at the writhing beneath I've seen a world equal in horror to any of those so alarmingly detailed by H.P. Lovecraft ... (read more)
    (Mentions "Penny Concert" tour.)
    Tags: Comus, Heron, Titus Groan, Demon Fuzz.
  • Nov 21: Immediately after breakfast I went next door and sunk 50,000 tons of shipping. The best the Pig could do was 20,000 tons. The machine on which we performed this wanton destruction is in an amusement arcade next to the Wimpy Bar in Margate ... (read more)
    (JP talks about seeing Stray and Little Free Rock, reflects on the low standard of driving on motorways ("The worst offenders seem to be those drivers you just know voted Conservative") and outlines his "Miss Top Gear" contest.("entries are pouring in...at the rate of one or two a week".)
    Tags: Fleetwood Mac, Formerly Fat Harry, Wishbone Ash, Faces, John Walters.
  • Nov 21: New Singles
  • Dec 12: "Miss Top Gear Beauty Parade! Who is the fairest of them all?"
    You've almost certainly read detailed and enthusiastic reviews of the George Harrison triple LP already so it would be foolish of me to duplicate the work of others. However it is worth recording that George's records have retained that indefinable..." (read more)
    (Also includes a number of bizarre entries to Peel's competition, including "dreadful photos of sporting events" sent in by "Ian MacMillan of Barnsley" (the poet and presenter of Radio 3's The Verb?).)
    Tags: Beatles, Pink Floyd, John Walters, Pig.

1971[]

  • Jan 9: "Visions of the early sixties in Dallas, Texas".
    It all started with 10 inch French RCA L.P.'s by Big Maceo Merryweather, Washboard Sam, Jazz Gillum and Sonny Boy Williamson. Having heard WRR's "Kat's Karavan" show ten to midnight nearly every night of 1961 and 1962 and after hours of ... (read more) (pg7)
    Tags: Jimmy Reed, Robert and Johnny, John Lee Hooker, Brother Dave Gardner, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Bill Black's Combo, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Rusty and Doug, Coasters, Etta James, Jimmy McCracklin, Fabian, Freddie Cannon, Brenda Lee, Duane Eddy, Chubby Checker, Shangri-Las, Reflections(3), Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Gatemouth Brown, B.B. King.
  • Jan 16: "Liverpudlian spoke here made me Casanova Peel. Confessions of a debauched DJ" (with photo of a youthful JP).
    Lying in bed listening to the Weird Beard early in 1964. The Weird Beard was really Russ Knight and was, at that time, the strangest DJ I'd ever heard. If you have access to the finest imported LPs in the "Cruisin'" series Russ does in 1962 (I'd heard an extract or two from that on Noel Edmonds, curious programme). He was talking about ... (read more) (pg7)
    (Peel writes of his short period of fame as a Beatles expert in Texas (and of his cricket career).)
    Tags: KLIF, Dallas.
  • Feb 6: AFTER Sunday's football, which could well be reported in detail in some other part of this scurrilous rag, it as much as I can do to strike the keys of this machine with sufficient force to make an impression..' (read more) (pg7)
    (In fact on the same page, there's a match report - "Radio One Dynamos 2, Songpluggers 0 - on the same page, headed "Pele Peel paves Pluggers rout" and illustrated with three photos of JP in action. He also watches "Stars On Sunday" on TV, talks about Fanny's new LP, Stack Waddy failing a BBC audition, is still looking for "101 ladies called Sharon" and mentions a press conference by Eric Burdon and War, "one of the most bizarre events I've ever attended ...")
    Tags: Pig, Stackwaddy, Fanny.
  • Mar 6: "The narrow 'Progressives'" .
    Peel writes about being ill and enjoying listening to radio plays; The situation grows more theatrical each week. This morning my temperature is down to 100 degrees so I'm sitting here in my bed typing one-fingered. Outside there are long lines of people waiting for the 7, 28 or 31. What now appears to be... He also discusses music; "Your so-called 'progressive' audience has become undiscerning, narrow-minded and often downright repressive ..." (read more)
    Tags: Neil Young, Johnnie Walker, 101 Sharons, Ten Years After, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Deep Purple.
  • Mar 13: "The one thing you should be certain of seeing at something called a 'Police Ball' is a policeman. Consequently no-one at what used to be Middle Earth in King Street, Covent Garden on Saturday night seemed to be too startled when about 50 uniformed officers began to move slowly through the 1,500 people gathered there.... (read more) (pg11)
    (Benefit for the Oz obscenity trial. Peel reviews the bands present: Egg, Third World War, Vivian Stanshall and Friends, Kingdom Come, Magic Michael, Gnidrolog, Pink Fairies.)
    Tags: Carl Perkins, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Gene Vincent, Richard Neville.
  • Mar 20: "The schoolgirl contest that never was":
    "... from his position beneath _____ (a newspaper reporter) Mr. X said 'hello sailor' and 14 years later my name appeared, misspelled, in his column". Later Tempestua Verbatim described as an "office junior", asked me to buy her a cup of coffee ... More Thrilling Revelations Next Year ... (read more)
    (Column is now complete, and amongst items contains a review of a John Lee Hooker record and Adrian Henri's thoughts on schoolgirls.)
    Tags: Crazy Horse, Neil Young, Little Feat, Canned Heat, Grand Funk Railroad, Led Zeppelin, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Country Joe & The Fish, David Crosby.
  • Mar 27: ... ball on a windswept beach 30 miles from Wexford we returned to the festival to a concert which started with Mellow Candle who are two gentlemen and two very pretty ladies ... (read more) (extract)
  • Apr 10: WANDERING last week in Fulham I found a fine book, printed in 1891, called "Enquire Within Upon Everything". I seem to remember having been read several very useful extracts from a similar volume when visiting... (read more)
  • Apr 17: "From the launderette with love"
    SUCH are the pressures of the glamorous world of show-biz that this column is being typed in a launderette of Westbourne Grove, while Gerry and the Pig stand guard over several swirling tubs full of grubby clothing. On the opposite wall a... (read more)
    (JP praises Ry Cooder's contribution to albums he likes and refers to fellow Disc columnist Derek Taylor finding a split infinitive in his last column)
    Tags: Little Feat, Rita Coolidge, Captain Beefheart, Rolling Stones, Crazy Horse, Ron Nagle.
  • Apr 24: I am fully prepared to believe that the combustion engine is the most destructive device yet invented by man. In fact I bet it is. At the moment it is unfortunately necessary that I drive a device powered by one although I drive a device powered by one...The machine I drive is a Land Rover called Friday... (read more)
    (Also writes about not having time to play all the records he'd like to on Top Gear, and gives a long list of artists.)
    Tags: Ron Geesin, Grease Band, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Cochise, Captain Beefheart, Danny O’Keefe, The Way We Live, Shawn Phillips, David Bowie, Faces, Cochise, Wilbert Harrison, David Crosby, Jerry Lee Lewis, Help Yourself, John Lee Hooker, Mott The Hoople, Stud, Carol Hall, Otis Redding, Johnny Jenkins, Loudon Wainwright III, Van Dyke Parks, Little Feat, Poco, Lea Nicholson, Ron Nagle, Medicine Head, Grateful Dead, Third World War, David Parker, Crazy Horse, Incredible String Band, Quintessence, Ry Cooder.
  • May 1: "Hunt down this man he's a rare breed!".
    Peel describes seeing Loudon Wainwright III in Hampstead. "I love him really, I really do," said the girl who hadn't stopped talking since he starting playing. "Some of his lines are all right but there are too many verses," said the groover standing behind John Walters, the Pig and I. "Who is this guy?" asked someone.... (read more)
    (Also talks about DJ gigs at "the Poly" and the Nag's Head, starts to discuss recent records, gets distracted.)
  • May 8: "... and Bridget, in a sort of interview".
    BEHIND us stands a man covered with pigeons. Bridget St. John, the Pig and I are sitting on a bench in London's Holland Park. The point being that I'm supposed to interview Bridget - "Hi there, Bridget, what's your favourite group?" But children are... (read more)
    Tags: Ron Geesin, Dandelion, Medicine Head, Liverpool.
  • May 15: As the sun sinks slowly in what experts assure me is the west and the veil is mercifully drawn on a weekend of peculiar frightfulness, I sit in my lonely room dreaming of tomorrow - a tomorrow in which I can stand straight and... (read more)
    (Says he was too ill to appear at the BIT benefit at the Roundhouse, is depressed by a recent Liverpool defeat "by the most boring team in Europe" (Arsenal in FA Cup Final), bought rare records in Birmingham...)
    Tags: Roy Harper, Mike Heron, Carly Simon, Earl Bostic, Dorsey Burnett, Bill Black, Dick Dale, Faces, Tir Na Nog, Caravan, Conway Twitty.
  • May 22: OVER MY shoulder comes a newspaper photograph of our Prime Minister's yachting friends. Disquieting, to say the very least. However the sun has come out again and the foul streets of London are filled with exceeding fair ladies... (read more)
    (Explains why the Faces failed to tun up for a gig at the Nag's Head, Wollaston, previews new LP by Beau and praises Tonto's Expanding Head Band.)
    Tags: Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, Terry Riley.
  • May 29: "Talking during school hours":
    It usually starts with a phone call, "Will you," the disembodied voice wants to know, "come to our school next term and talk to the sixth form about music?" At that moment "next term" sounds neons away so, "Yes," I find myself saying... (more)
  • Jun 5: "Rockatunity Knocks - with a dull thud"
    (Headline refers to John Walters' contest to discover new bands for Peel's programme; "Unfortunately the standard has been depressingly low...Too many groups have tried to sound like Black Sabbath and/or Deep Purple..." - but Henry Cow stood out). (read more)
    (Peel also discusses football and talks of going to a Faces gig at Brighton College of Education: "It might be fair to say that Rod Stewart is the Steve Heighway of rock....")
    Tags: Liverpool, Pink Floyd, Family.
  • Jun 12: FOR ONE reason or another I've been here by myself all week. I just set off to do the washing but the washateria was too crowded and anyway I didn't have enough sixpences. So I've tidied it up instead, read the Sunday papers, listened to a lot of depressing records... (read more)
    (Writes about his lonely, depressing week in London but also describes a Radio 1 In Concert by Heron and David Bowie and Friends; "With David you can never be sure what's going to happen...")
    Tags: London, Johnny Moran, Tony Blackburn, Chuck Berry, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Gentle Giant, Band.
  • Jun 19: So here we are, Gerry, The Pig and I, sitting on the balcony overlooking the square, drinking an unassuming little wine of dubious parentage and listening to, of all things, the Radha Krishna Temple on "Family Favourites." In the playground an Indian lady, beautiful and colourful, solemnly spins a roundabout.....In an hour or less I'll be wheeling towards Fareham and the Tropicano Club, I hope it turns out to be better than it sounds..." (read more)
    (Also praises recent Traffic concert at Fairfield Hall, Croydon.)
    Tags: Osibisa, Island Records, John Walters, Alan Freeman, Pink Floyd, Alan Black.
  • Jul 3: IT'S been a quiet week built principally round a pinball machine. Nearly every day "Top Gear" producer John Walters and I have wondered down to Oxford street to one of these sort of arcade places for lunch. The arcade itself looks pretty terrible - all brushed steel, vivid and clashing colours, glass and hideous lighting. The wares on... (read more)
    Tags: Steve Miller Band, Loudon Wainwright III.
  • Jul 3: Singles
  • Jul 10:There's rather more happening in Hyde Park at 7.30 on a Sunday morning than I'd imagined there would be. A very straight-looking man, about 55 has just driven alongside in a fairly expensive car and is now standing in an ... (read more)
    ("Peel...misses Funk, but makes some friends". He describes a day in Hyde Park, where Grand Funk Railroad had played the day before. (He didn't go, and says he also missed the Glastonbury festival, but went up to Manchester to record Stack Waddy at Strawberry Studios).)
    Tags: Keith Skues, Supertramp, National Head Band.
  • Aug 28: "Peeling his way round the world."
    "SECOND degree burns," said the doctor. Uvistat is an ultra-violet light absorbing cream which contains 4% w/w Mexenone and it did reduce the intolerable itching that threatened my Wednesday evening to bring madness... (read more)
    (Peel also describes his recent road trip to Yugoslavia with the Pig and Gerry.)
  • Sep. 4: "Peel at Weeley Festival" :
    The Pig just carried in my birthday cake. It's Monday and the cake is chocolate and she made it last night. My birthday treat was beating Johnnie Moran at squash this morning. (read more)
    (According to Melody Maker, the festival was marked by fighting between Hells Angels and "tough South London catering men", but Peel defends the audience, claiming that most people behaved better than the press reports suggested: "Gnidrolog sounded good but by the time Gringo played I was driving some of the wounded from the Hell's Angels/Joy Caterers conflict to hospital in Colchester....".)
    Tags: Gilbert O’Sullivan, Private Eye, Spooky Tooth, Edgar Broughton Band, Pink Fairies, Mick Farren, Faces.
  • Sep. 11: "In search of old junk..."
    THE TINY pine tree is the half-way line. If the ball bounces before going into the ditch it's a point to the kicker. If the ball bounces on the paving before going into the flower bed it's fair. If the ball bounces up the stair after... (read more)
    (Peel plays "football/tennis" and goes shopping for old 78s with Bob Harris, visits John Walters and his wife Helen On Saturday evening to watch the film Journey To The Centre Of The Earth on TV and praises Michael Hurley's "unreleased-in-Britain-LP" Armchair Boogie.)
    Tags: Ipswich, Pat Boone, Youngbloods, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, BBC Radio One, BBC Radio Three, Moody Blues, Deep Purple.
  • Sep. 18: "The dire disasters of John and a jeep named Friday"
    AS Bob Harris told you repeatedly, the first Mick Softley LP on CBS was a lovely record - individual, very personal and often disquietingly beautiful. If you were one of the handful of people who acquired a copy and were as moved by it as was our Bob, then..." (read more)
    (Also mentions losing at squash to Johnny Moran     and describes in detail a long drive back from a gig in Scarborough and his Land Rover breaking down. Says he enjoyed the films The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Policeman ("I can envisage it being shown at festivals and at the Roundhouse").)
    Tags: Richard Thompson, Robert Wyatt, John Walters, Paul Rodgers, Pig, Stackwaddy.
  • Oct. 2: "Peel...hearing the music of luvly Liverpool";
    Mrs. Hayes played mandolin and sang. Mainly she sang "Abdul Abulbul Amir" and "the Spaniard That Blighted My Life." She cried when she heard that she had to move from her home off Great Homer Street to a new block for old people... " (read more)
    (JP says "All my adult life I've wished that I'd been born and raised in Liverpool instead of across the water in Wirral" and quotes the remark that "the planners have done more damage to Liverpool than the Germans could do..." Discusses 'Echoes Of Merseyside' compilation LP at length.)
    Tags: Roger McGough, Adrian Henri, Harold Wilson, John Gorman, Queen Elizabeth, John Lennon, Kenny Everett, Cilla Black, Jimmy Tarbuck, Spinners, Tommy Smith, Arsenal F.C., Everton, Bill Shankly, Billy Liddell, Roger Hunt, Liverpool FC.
  • Oct. 9: "Peel...alias eligible, dishy, gorgeous, kissable John".
    It's important that you know that one of the national newspapers described me during the past week as "dishy" and "eligible" too come to that. If you thought I was difficult and unbearable before just watch me now... (read more)
    (Describes his home life, says he's listening to Kingdom Come's LP, mentions seeing Creedence Clearwater Revival in concert and Pink Floyd recording a BBC concert, reminds readers that Top Gear is on Wednesday evenings from now on.)
    Tags: Johnnie Walker, Terry Wogan, Arthur Brown.
  • Oct. 16: "If Shankly had seen me" - headline, with photo of Peel in football action.
    "DON'T write about this in your column," said the man on the terrace after Chelsea had held Liverpool to a goalless draw at Anfield. I must admit to feeling that neither team would have scored if they'd kept on playing until the following... (read more)
    (Also responds to letter from reader angry about his review of an Elvis Presley single.)
    Tags: Pig, Tams, Mike Cooper, Gerry Rafferty, Humblebums, Stealers Wheel, Rab Noakes.
  • Oct. 23 (extract): "Peel..on his rich life as a Radio DJ star".
    (Ironic headline; mentions sleeping in his van at the Keele motorway services after attending a concert to benefit the Music Liberation Front at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.) (read more)
    (He also misses Loudon Wainwright III at the Royal Albert Hall - I'd like to have seen the Everly Brothers myself although I hate to hear former heroes going through all their "Greatest Hits" rendered at an accelerated tempo and strung together in a minute and a half medley which is apparently what they did - but meets Wainwright a couple of nights later when the singer records an In Concert show for Radio 1.)
    Tags: Paul & Barry Ryan, Terry Wogan, Jonathan King, Andy Williams, Muff Winwood.
  • Nov. 6 (extract): If it's good music you're after--well all I can do is suggest that you try Radio Luxembourg early on Friday evenings when I'll be playing a wholesome disc or two on a programme called "Stenhousemuir 2 : Cowdenbeath 2". There is no reason at all why the programme should be thus named but I didn't want it to be called something "meaningful" and pompous so "Stenhousemuir 2 : Cowdenbeath 2" it is. Ultimately it is to be hoped that the affair will contain contributions from friends old and new, inside leg measurements of the stars and other diversions but, for the time being, we'll have to stick with good music.
  • Nov. 13 (extract): "My spies tell me ..."
    On Saturday night, with nostrils still flared over Liverpool's destruction of Arsenal, we set out for Gower Street and for University College to see and hear Gnome Sweet Gnome and Hawkwind. The interest in Gnome Sweet Gnome came via a letter which... (read more)
    Tags: Alice Cooper, Crazy Horse.
  • Nov. 27: Have you any idea how far away Bridlington is? If you were to tell me that Bridlington is the farthest away place from anywhere I'd believe you without question. In a recently repaired Friday (a van) I drove alone bitterly cold up the A1 for what seemed like several days before turning right through Selby and through the ... (read more)
    (Recommends Charlie Gillett's book The Sound Of The City, meets Genesis P. Orridge, sleeps on a sofa in an overcrowded room..)
    Tags: Sunshine, COUM Transmissions.
  • Dec. 4: "Peel ... on nerves and anything but music."
    If you have famous / notorious friends then you too could be taken to parties of which you could sit and observe other famous / notorious people as they grace gracefully among the cocktails and handcrafted sandwiches. This very Tuesday Richard Neville and I were among the guests on Steve Bradshaw's fine "Breakthrough" programme on Radio London .    .. (read more)
  • Dec. 11: "Woe is me, I'm unfashionable".
    Bowed as I am beneath monstrous pressures of work, it is all too seldom that the Mighty Pig and I to get the opportunity to witness Liverpool practising their mysterious arts and whenever we do get the chance we find ourselves groaning through lacklustre games ending in goalless draws ..    . (read more)
    (In this case, Ipswich v. Liverpool. Also talks about the Thursday concert programmes, the latest featuring Rab Noakes, Stealers Wheel and Lindisfarne; sees the film Shaft but criticises "the increasingly fashionable Isaac Hayes" and praises the new Ten Years After LP, even though it hasn't had chart success.)
  • Dec. 18: "The trouble with having an image".
    (Mentions small crowd at Sunday Concert for Marmalade, who "played a lovely set yet only received a polite response from the audience" because they weren't thought of as "progressive". He thinks the BBC's programme policy is encouraging a "polarisation" of the audience and "unwittingly strangling creativity in popular music" He's still enjoying plays on Radio 4, though.. (read more)
    Tags: Tony Blackburn, Bob Harris, Pete Drummond, Alan Black, Chi-Lites, Doris Duke, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Moody Blues, Black Sabbath, Kid Jensen, Radio Luxembourg, Sly & The Family Stone, Cher, Cat Stevens, Temptations, Rod Stewart.
  • unknown date: "Last Tuesday I had one of the most encouraging radio experiences I've had since the original Radio London was closed down. The new Radio London has given over several hours of each Tuesday evening to Steve Bradshaw and have called the result "Breakthrough" ... (read more)
    Tags: BBC Radio One, Jimmy Young.

1972[]

  • Jan 15: "My top ten records are...".
    Have you, I wonder, ever sat down to list your idea of the 10 best singles ever recorded? Probably not - it's not an exercise that comes with the much sought after Peel Seal of Approval. Nevertheless this week a lady called from The Radio Times and asked me for my top 10. So, with a song on my... (read more)
    (See also Peel's 77 All Time Favourite Records List.)
  • Jan 29: "Saved by the Peel Boot Boys".
    There's a good play on the television and the fire is burning low in the grate. In the morning I'll be up before 6.00 to catch the first train into Liverpool Street and I'll have an hour and a half of sitting on my record box in the corridor while the commuters stare glumly out of the windows. It's well worth it though for the air and the... (read more) (pg9)
    (Talks about his gig, seeing the films, The Boy Friend with The Pig, John Walters & his lady, as well as W.R. The Mysteries Of the Organism. He mentions also planning to go tomorrow evening to see "The Clockwork Orange" (wrong title moment; this famous film is called A Clockwork Orange, after its source. the novel by Anthony Burgess) if he doesn't fall asleep and described a visit to a football match to see Everton play Crystal Palace in the FA Cup.)
    Tags: Medicine Head.
  • Feb 5: "Goings on at Peel Acres".
    This was the week when Hazel Gilroy asked for my autograph. Contrary to what you may believe I am seldom asked for my autograph and am grateful that this is the case I always feel slightly fraudulent writing "John Peel" rather than "John Ravenscroft" and I've never been able to develop a "flash" looking Peel that really looks like an autograph should ... (read more)
    (Talks about wanting to play more black music on his shows, says Pete Drummond is doing so too, and has problems at home due to heavy rainfall.)
    Tags: John Walters, Motown, Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Doris Duke, Three Degrees, ZZ Hill, Lee Dorsey, Chi-Lites, Commander Cody, Mike Nesmith & The Second National Band.
  • Feb 12: "Peel on the polls".
    He analyses the results of the paper's polls, in which he was voted Top DJ, and is surprisingly complimentary about one of his colleagues. There are so many polls now, aren't there? Perhaps too many and it's difficult to know how much of a barometer these poll results are anyway. Studying the "Disc" poll results during a long train ride to Glasgow I came to two conclusions. The first and more important is that they reflect the sort of general musical taste that you will hear catered for on isolated programmes such as Noel Edmonds'... (read more)
    Tags: Tony Blackburn, Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, Cilla Black, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Shirley Bassey, Carole King, Melanie, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, James Taylor, Neil Diamond, Cat Stevens, Rod Stewart, Robert Plant, John Lennon, Marc Bolan, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Neil Young, Four Tops, Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, Who, Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Faces, T.Rex, ELP, Moody Blues, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Lindisfarne, Mungo Jerry, Slade, Hank Marvin, Dusty Springfield, Lulu, Clodagh Rodgers, Bridget St John, Olivia Newton-John, Wishbone Ash, George Harrison, Top Of The Pops, Kid Jensen, Captain Beefheart, Andy Williams.
  • Feb 19: "Ready for the nude boom" - headline next to photo of Peel in bath.
    Whenever the lights go out and you start to feel the cold again don't curse the miners. Rather curse a form of government which is based on the same sort of principal that could have a football team stand motionless throughout a game in the hope that their opponents would score an own goal .. (read more)
    (Mentions the John Peel Boot Boys, his visit to Liverpool for the LFC-Leeds cup-tie....), .
    Tags: Monty Python, Pig, John Walters, Lindisfarne, Shakin’ Stevens.
  • Feb 26: (republished on sleevenotes of 'The Faust Tapes' LP):
    "The first time I heard tell of Faust was when I saw their extraordinary first LP in its equally extraordinary sleeve and felt that, regardless of the music within, I had to acquire one. When the music turned out to be highly original and very exciting that was a welcome bonus ..." (read more)
    Tags: Germany, Leonard Cohen, Nico.
  • Mar 4: "Peel..in search of fun and riot in Hull".
    I doubt that even that city's keenest admirer would claim that Hull is an exhilarating place. At 6.00 on a cold, windy evening during a power-cut it is substantially less than invigorating. Under such adverse conditions came Pig and I to Hull for the first time in our lives ... (read more)
    (A Thursday evening "progressive night" at Malcolm's Disco, with Medicine Head. Also mentions appearing on Rosko's Round Table on the previous Friday, evening, with "the admirable Alan Freeman".)
    Tags: Tony Blackburn, COUM Transmissions, Bob Harris, Liverpool, Bridget St John.
  • Mar 25: "..on religion and life in the country".
    Welsh Beryl is watching Cliff with considerable interest. Reason insists that her motive is not entirely unconnected with the fact that Pig and Gerry are getting a meal ready and might ask for assistance. Cliff's just sung "Jesus" again and that seems as good a time as any to tell you about... (read more)
    Tags: Larry Norman, Petula Clark, Daddy Cool, Eddie Cochran.
  • Mar 25: Singles
  • Apr 1: "Peel Meets The Captain".
    So here I sit typing while the Pig drives a Land-Rover full of John Walters and Helen round to a neighbouring hosteltry. The weather's broken and it's become cold and windy but I can still see and hear the lambs in the field across the lane and this morning's rain brought the level of water in the stream up an inch or two. Last night we sat and watched the Eurovision song thing and... (read more)
    (Peel discusses TV, (the Eurovision Song Contest, Match Of The Day), meets Captain Beefheart at the Speakeasy, is disappointed by Leonard Cohen's Albert Hall concert.)
    (column reprinted, possibly in edited form, in the Olivetti Chronicles.)
  • Apr 1: Singles
  • Apr 8: "Peel And The Captain (part two)".
    It was my intention to tell you all about Captain Beefheart's concert at the Albert Hall. Dutifully I adopted my junior reporter's stance and went well equipped with pen and reams of paper.....In the event I took several notes and then a roadie or someone borrowed my pen and I gave up....(read more)
    Tags: Middle Earth, Zigzag, Pig.
  • Apr 8: Singles
  • Apr 29: "I'm still a Virgo":
    THERE are disadvantages to having a very orderly nature. Friends tell me it's all because I'ma Virgo and, while there's nothing calculated to make me snatch my hat from the stand and head for the wide open spaces more swiftly than some citizen who says "Hi man, what's your sign?," I must confess there seems to be something in what they say. "You like making lists, don't you John?" they say...... (read more)
    (He describes how records "become part of the Peel Archive".)
    Tags: Record Collection, John Walters, Pig, Captain Beefheart, Bob Harris, Hot Tuna, Argent, Procol Harum, Cochise, Bob Mosley, BBC Radio Three.
  • Apr 29: Singles
  • May 6: "At the 'Talk Of The Town' ":
    In the sudden hush the floor rises slowly and on it are all these tall women, in high, wide, blonde wigs. Below these, and what I can only describe as ensembles of sequinned jockstraps and bras blurred behind swirls of chiffon, are grins. .... (read more) (p13)
    (He describes a visit to the nightclub to see Lovelace Watkins.)
    Tags: Lovelace Watkins, John Walters, Pig.
  • Jun 10: "Lincoln: the ups and downs":
    A PERSON called Ann just told me that she hoped that I'd write an exciting column this week. I will, I will. I'll tell you about the 15 Belgian groupies who invaded the select privacy of my bedroom on horseback only last week and then I'll tell you how, during my... (read more) (pg 4)
    (Favourite author is “Beachcomber” (JB Morton); Great Western Festival in Bardney “one of the most moving and the most enjoyable [weekends] of my drab and miserable life”.)
    Tags: Richard Neville, Books, Stone The Crows, Cheviot Ranters, Sha Na Na, Beach Boys, Faces, Lindisfarne, Football.
  • Jun 10: Singles
  • Aug 12: “Being sick on trains”
    THIS HAS been a fun packed week. Last week, you will doubtless recall, your Byronic hero (me, you fool) was immersed in soapy water with a young woman. This resulted in the long run in my being unable to introduce the contestants on... (read more)
    Tags: Ipswich, London, Pig, Robert Wyatt, John Walters, Bob Weir.
  • Aug 12: Singles
  • Aug 19: "Watching the girls go by...".
    Peel writes his column at the Reading Festival: It's about 5.30 on Sunday evening. On stage Status Quo are performing a well received boogie or two. On the roof of the van are a security man. Eclection's manager and a member of Good Habit. Good Habit got the festive under way about the time on Friday evening that I was sitting on the steps of All Souls watching the secretaries going home for the weekend ... There seem to be a great number of police persons about and it is sad that so many people have been busted....". (read more)
    (Concludes "I like festivals more than any other gigs I go to....")
    Tags: Faces, Johnny Otis, Liverpool FC, Vinegar Joe, String Driven Thing, Matching Mole, Stackridge, Led Zeppelin.

1973[]

  • Jan 6: "Xmas at Peel Acres"
    (Peel writes about forthcoming gigs, Ralph McTell and a Christmas party at his local): Well I must say it is most fearfully bracing to be back with you after the hols. Already the congratulations are pouring in from all points of the globe following my debut on 'Radio 1 Club'.... (read more)
    Tags: Christmas, Radio One Club, Ralph McTell, Birmingham, Glasgow, Pig, Allman Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Captain Beefheart.
  • Apr 7: "And nights with Annette Funicella (sic)"
    (Peel writes about records by Annette Funicello and others): Do you understand me when I tell you that someone, somewhere has a complete collection of Annette Funicello records? ..... (read more)
    Tags: Annette Funicello, Fabian, Dallas, Canned Heat, Legion Of Super-Heroes, Arthur K. Adams, Firemen, Dann Yankee & The Carpetbaggers, Pets.
  • Apr 14: "John Peel and his Travelling Players" (Also in The Olivetti Chronicles)
    (Peel writes about his first two gigs of the year): If any of the 243,776,431 readers is named Richard and plans to marry a smart woman with thin blonde hair and the merest rudiments of a chin then I have a warning for him..... (read more)
    Tags: Jo'burg Hawk.
  • Apr 21: "A curse on reporter Erskine" (Also in The Olivetti Chronicles)
    (Peel writes about a review of the Faces 'Ooh La La' and forthcoming trips to Sunderland and Scotland): Since last week people have been stopping me in the street and asking "who then, friend, is this Peter Erskine person?" (read more)
    Tags: Faces, Sunderland, Football, Scotland.
  • Apr 28: "Meeting with gross ingratitude"
    (Peel writes about gigs in Sunderland (with The Faces) and in St. Andrews): Teresa Stubbs (14) of Maidenhead, almost got it right last week, when she called me 'an old f*ggot'. I'm not a f*ggot, otherwise I'd be writing about school boys all the time ... (read more) (Also read more)
    Tags: Roger McGough, Eric Idle, Gonzales, Football, Free, Beckett, John Lennon, Bob Harris, Snark, Mama Flyer, Dog Eat Dog, Principal Edwards Magic Theatre, Kingdom Come, Caravan.
  • May 5: "Doing his duty for his country"
    (Peel writes about having to review 20 country and western LPs): The editor, a pinched and crabbed person if ever there was one, has given me not one, not two, not even 10, but 20 country and western LPs to review. I think he intended it as a diversion to take my mind off schoolgirls and Liverpool's triumphant march to the League title. Now I like a good country song as much as the next... (read more) (Also read more)
    Tags: Country, Football, Liverpool, Olly Oakley, Savoy Orpheans.
  • May 12: "Peel's World - Nomadic Disc Jockey John Peel Brings You Music As He Finds It" (Also in The Olivetti Chronicles)
    (Peel writes about a gig in Hull, his appreciation of Judge Dread and reviews four C&W LPs): Good morrow fellahin, your lovely Uncle John isn't feeling that neat today. In fact I seem to have some sort of irregular temperature, but will soldier on regardless, displaying the sort of courage that enabled Simon d'Escargot-Peyle to be the first man to set foot on Saxon soil when the Conqueror landed. ... (read more)
    Tags: David Cassidy, Carly Simon, Bradford, Pig, Ray Kane, Jimmy Stevens, Liverpool.

References[]

  1. ↑ E.g. in the issue of 27 June 1970, p.11[1].
  2. ↑ The festival was banned by the French government, who feared large gatherings of young people in Paris after the student uprisings of May 1968, and had to relocate to a small town in Belgium, near the French border[2].

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