John Peel Wiki

Changes to the look of John Peel Wiki will take place in the near future due to a new skin being rolled out over Oct/Nov across Wikia. Please see the Wikia Staff Blog for further details. On this site, the changes will affect the navigation from the left menu, as well as introduce a fixed page width with narrower content space. Please be patient while adjustments are made for the switch to the new system.

UPDATE: As the change is now in force for some users, I have switched the navigation to the simplified one for the new system. Please check Navigation in the Help section if you can't find things. I also initially made small adjustments to the front page layout, but have now reverted to the old look until all users are on the new system.

COUNTDOWN: Just a reminder for people still using Monaco that the final switch to the new skin is due on Nov. 3. After that, it will no longer be offered as an option. Sorry. Nothing to do with me.

Steve W

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John Peel Wiki
Ted Hawkins

Ted Hawkins (October 28, 1936 – January 1, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter born in Biloxi, Mississippi. He was an enigmatic figure for most of his career. He split his time between his adopted hometown of Venice Beach, California, where he was a mostly anonymous street performer, and Europe and Australia, where he and his songs were better known and well received in clubs and small concert halls.

Hawkins was born into a poor family in Mississippi and had a difficult early life. He was sent to a reform school when he was 12 years old. As a teenager he drifted, hitch hiking, and stole his way across the country for the next dozen years, earning several stays in prison including a three-year stint for stealing a leather jacket as a teenager. Along the way, he picked up a love of music and a talent for the guitar. "I was sent to a school for bad boys called Oakley Training School in 1949", he wrote in a brief piece of autobiography. "There I developed my voice by singing with a group that the superintendent's wife had got together". After reform school, he ended up in the state penitentiary and was released at 19. "Then I heard a singer whose name was Sam Cooke. His voice did something to me."

(read more on Wikipedia)

Links to Peel[]

Peel first heard tracks from Ted Hawkins in 1985, more likely via Andy Kershaw, who discovered the work from the artist and even went to his home in America to interview him for the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1986. Although Peel was enthusiastic about the works of Ted Hawkins at the beginning, he seemed to have lost interest in the artist after the 80's and rarely played any tracks from him.

Shows Played[]

If_You_Love_Me

If You Love Me

1985
1986
  • 06 August 1986: Watch Your Step (LP - Watch Your Step) Windows On The World
  • 26 August 1986: If You Love Me (LP - Watch Your Step) Windows On The World
  • 22 September 1986: Bring It On Home To Me (LP - On The Boardwalk (The Venice Beach Tapes)) American Activities
  • 21 October 1986: Watch Your Step (single) Windows On The World
  • 28 October 1986: Stop Your Crying (LP - Watch Your Step) Windows On The World
  • 05 November 1986: North To Alaska (LP - On The Boardwalk (The Venice Beach Tapes)) American Activities
1988

External Links[]