London

London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. It is the most populous region, urban zone and metropolitan area in the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1.12-square-mile (2.9 km2) mediaeval boundaries and in 2011 had a resident population of 7,375, making it the smallest city in England. Since at least the 19th century, the term London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
==Peel In London==
Peel first visited London in the 1950s, and later in his life fondly recalled attending a benefit concert at the Dominion Theatre for the American blues singer Big Bill Broonzy in 1958, featuring the trad jazz bands of Ken Colyer and Chris Barber and an appearance by his idol Lonnie Donegan. But he spent much of the 1960s in the USA before deciding to return home. He lived in London from 1967 to 1972.
Peel left America in March 1967 for London, bringing his first wife Shirley Anne Milburn with him. Peel and Shirley first stayed with Peel's mother, who lived in Jameson Street, Notting Hill (he occasionally mentioned the street name on the air on his early Radio London and BBC shows) but the couple soon moved into a flat "off the King's Road at the Fulham end" according to Andy Roberts (on his Peel tribute webpage), opposite the Royal Fulham LaundryIn March 1968, Disc & Music Echo gave his address for personal correspondence as 67 Crookham Road, London, S.W.6., and Peel began looking for work. His first job was for the pirate station Radio London, where, on the advice of a secretary working at the station's offices in Curzon Street, he dropped his surname Ravenscroft and adopted the name Peel. During his periods of shore leave, Peel regularly attended the legendary underground UFO club, which had its best period in the summer of 1967 when its weekly events were held in the Blarney Club, Tottenham Court Road. Later it moved to the Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, which, even after UFO closed in autumn 1967, remained a regular venue for many of the artists featured on Top Gear. In his hippy phase he enjoyed walking in parks, especially Regent's Park and Hyde Park, "thinking beautiful thoughts", observing sparrows and visiting London Zoo, especially the Small Mammal House which contained hamsters, gerbils and other small creatures which fascinated him then. He also attended the Hyde Park free concerts, from the small-scale events in 1968, featuring the likes of Pink Floyd to the much larger concert staged by the Rolling Stones in the summer of 1969.
After Radio London was closed by the Marine Offences Act in August 1967, Peel found work for the new BBC Radio One station in London a month later and debuted on 01 October 1967 with Pete Drummond. Peel worked for Radio One until his death in October 2004. During his time at Radio One, Peel would visit record shops and do many gigs in London. Yet because of what he described as his "provincial" roots and rural upbringing, he remained wary of the city. He had no interest in clothes fashions and therefore never felt at home in what was known as "Swinging London". He encouraged the hippy culture which became based around Notting Hill Gate and was one of its leading figures, contributing a regular column to the newspaper International Times, whose offices were in Southampton Row and later in Betterton Street. (On the Night Ride of 03 July 1968 he played a track "for all those working at 22 Betterton Street, WC2".) In his column in issue 53 of International Times (28 March 1969) he writes:
If you come to London from the blessed countryside walk slowly around in W.11 if you want to feel the best this town has to offer. Ignore the cinemas, theatres (except the Electric Cinema, of course) and enjoy the therapeutic atmosphere of kindly, loving humankind. It would be nice to live there instead of in the dour cold wind of NW1.
He was well aware that not all of London's inhabitants were sharing in the upsurge of prosperity which had made "Swinging London" and its youth cultures possible. He devotes one entire International Times column (in issue 43, 18 October 1968) to the plight of the old, poor and lonely, quoting from letters he had received from older listeners and describing what he had seen in Shepherd's Bush:
::Last Friday, during run throughs for How It Is, I went for a walk around Shepherd's Bush. I looked into people's faces and saw fear and anger, fear and loathing, fear and sadness, fear and shyness - but always fear....
He carries on by angrily attacking the indifference of his audience to this situation ("this column helps to sell the paper for all the wrong reasons"), so it is no surprise that after a time he grew increasingly weary of the cliquishness of the late 1960s London underground scene. He claimed that many of the participants were not interested in changing society but only in following fashion and wearing trendy clothes. Flared velvet trousers, fashionable at the time, were for him a sign of inauthenticity - in the IT 53 column quoted above he also writes of "the Velvet Trouser belt where IT is lying, unread, on scores of carefully casual tables.". As he commented in an interview in the underground paper Friends (issue 26, March 22, 1971, p.20):
One thing I remember from Friends is a piece by an American guy who said the only thing the British are into is clothes...it really hit me, because though we are all wage-slaves the kids in Northampton may have kicked that habit far more than the trendies in London. The Kings Road and Carnaby Street and the way fashions like hot pants spread in Britain is unique...
After living in flats in Regent's Park (Park Mews Crescent), Upper Harley Street and Notting Hill (St. Stephen's Gardens)According to the list of past addresses Peel gives on the 2004 edition of Home Truths repeated as part of Radio 4 Extra's tribute to him in 2014, he also lived for a time at Courtfield Gardens, South Kensington., and sometimes having their domestic life disrupted by musicians who took advantage of Peel's generosity and hospitality, he and Sheila were happy to leave the city for the peace of the Suffolk countryside in 1972. He commuted from his home to the BBC's London studios to present his programmes, but later, as his family grew, took to recording some shows in advance and eventually had a home studio installed, so that he could do his shows from Peel Acres and did not have to drive to London so often.
== John Peel's London ==
*St Paul's church in Lorrimore Square SE17, where John and Sheila were married on 31 August 1974.
*The Holme in Regent's Park, where the wedding reception was held.
*Jameson Street, Notting Hill where Peel's mother Harriet Ravenscroft lived for many years until her death.
*Buckingham Palace, where Peel received his OBE in November 1998.
*The Serpentine, where JP listened to Pink Floyd from a rowing boat in 1968.
*BBC Yalding House, former home of Radio 1.
*BBC Maida Vale studios. Home to many a Peel session.
*Former BBC Television Centre in White City, home to Top Of The Pops until 1991. Closed March 2013.
*Former Middle Earth club, a regular venue for Peel as DJ in 1967-68.
*Former Roxy Club, London's first punk venue. Peel attended his first gig there on 29 January 1977.
*Former Vortex Club, where Peel saw the Slits play live on 15 August 1977.
*100 Club on Oxford Street. Peel saw Son House play there and also attended two punk gigs in 1976.
*Former Subterranea club, where Peel's surprise 50th birthday celebrations were hosted.
*Former Speakeasy club, where Peel met Frank Zappa and saw Cream play in August 1967. He later saw Howlin' Wolf play there.
*Fabric club, where Peel performed his DJ set from 2002 onwards.
*Former Rainbow Theatre (1971-1981), where Peel saw the Prefects, but not the Clash, on 09 May 1977.
*Institute Of Contemporary Arts. In early October 1984, Peel chose all the bands for ICA Rock Week, which included a set by SPK that ended in a riot.
*Roundhouse, venue for many gigs attended by Peel in the Top Gear era.
*Electric Ballroom in Camden. Peel attended a gig by That Petrol Emotion there on 22 May 1986.
*Saville Theatre. Former music venue (1965-1970). Peel compered a Cream gig there in 1967.
*Dominion Theatre on Tottenham Court Road. Peel saw Chris Barber and - more importantly - Lonnie Donegan play there, most likely in 1958.
*ABC Cinema on Fulham Road in Chelsea, where Peel saw at least one film (Superman in 1979).
*Southbank Centre which hosted the Peel-curated Meltdown festival in 1998.
*Former Rough Trade record shop. Original home of UK indie record shop chain and label.
*Former Stern's record shop. African music shop often visited by Peel and Andy Kershaw.
*Sounds of the Universe record shop in Soho, a favourite of Peel.
*Wembley Stadium. Peel saw Liverpool win the 1978 European Cup final at the original ground.
*Loftus Road. Peel attended the match between QPR and Liverpool on 23 November 1992.
== Songs ==
(Songs linked to London, played by Peel. List created from database of this site, ordered by artist, dated by first known play. Please add more information if known.)
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*Amazulu: Brixton (session) 17 January 1983
*Anti-Nowhere League: Streets Of London 21 December 1981
*Fred Astaire: Puttin' On The Ritz 22 July 1999
*A Witness: Lucky In London 21 October 1985 (BBC World Service)
*Bandulu: Hornsey Rise 16 December 1995
*Chris Barber & His Band: Battersea Rain Dance 22 June 1969
*Bardo Pond: Lancaster Gate (session) 12 June 2001
*Andrew Beaujon: Marylebone Station 11 March 1997
*Bee Vamp: London Bridge (Is Falling Down) (session) 09 November 1981
*David Bowie: London Bye Ta-Tas (session) 26 May 1968
*Anne Briggs: Rosemary Lane 02 July 1969Rosemary Lane, now Royal Mint Street, in London, was famous in the 18th century for its boarding houses and street markets.
*Derek Brimstone: Streets Of London (session) 12 March 1969
*Barbara Cartland: A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square 29 January 1994
*Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers: Goodbye Nashville, Hello Camden Town (session) 19 April 1973
*Cinerama: King's Cross 03 August 1999
*Cinerama: London 27 January 2000
*Clash: Capital Radio 12 May 1977
*Clash: Guns Of Brixton 03 December 1979
*Clash: London Calling 26 November 1979
*Clash: London’s Burning 24 July 1979
*Clash: White Man in Hammersmith Palais 28 August 1978
*Cockney Rejects: East End (session) 15 August 1979 
*Cockney Rejects: The Greatest Cockney Rip-Off 25 February 1980 
*Elvis Costello: (I Don't Wanna Go To) Chelsea 20 March 1978
*Donovan: Hampstead Incident 07 August 1967 
*Donovan: Sunny Goodge Street 14 August 1967
*Barry Dransfield: Hyde Park Mansions (session) 30 October 1972
*Ian Dury: Plaistow Patricia 03 June 1999 (Radio Eins)
*Fairport Convention: Genesis Hall 29 June 1969
*Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Hungover As The Oven At Maida Vale (session) 19 January 1999
*Roy Harper: Freak Street 04 February 1968"A song about Greek Street in Soho where the young freaks used to hang out – a place of tacky sex shops and dives."
*Hefner: Greater London Radio 09 August 2000
*Hijack: Back To Brixton 20 October 1991
*Huggy Bear: Trafalgar Square 17 April 1993
*I-Roy: Brother Toby Is A Movie From London 22 May 1989
*Bert Jansch: Thames Lighterman (session) 18 December 1968
*Jam: "A" Bomb In Wardour Street 25 August 1978
*Jam: Down In The Tube Station At Midnight 20 September 1978
*Kinks: Waterloo Sunset (session) 07 July 1968
*Lindisfarne: King's Cross Blues 11 July 1978
*Shelagh McDonald: Richmond 28 November 1970
*Ralph McTell: Kew Gardens 30 May 1970
*Members: The GLC 17 September 1979
*Men They Couldn't Hang: Ghosts Of Cable Street 29 May 1987 (BFBS)
*Margo Random And The Space Virgins: South Of The River Thames 23 March 1981
*Miaow: Thames At High Water (session) 11 February 1987 
*Microdisney: Singer's Hampstead Home 27 October 1987 
*Morrissey: Piccadilly Palare 06 October 1990“Piccadilly Palare” was released as the lead and only single off of Bona Drag. The song follows a male prostitute who hangs out at Piccadilly Circus. Palare (often termed polari, and which is taken from the Italian verb “parlare”; ‘to talk’) is a type of slang which came into frequent use in 19th century London. With roots in the Romani language, it was used fishmarkets, the theatre, fairgrounds and circuses. It was adopted by gay men; many of whom worked in theatrical entertainment, as a way of disguising their way of life from hostile outsiders and undercover policemen, as homosexuality was illegal in this era.
*Victoria Monks: Give My Regards To Leicester Square 27 May 1999
*Overlord X & X Posse: Rough In Hackney 13 June 1988
*Pentangle: Soho 18 February 1968
*Pet Shop Boys: West End Girls (live) 24 June 2000
*Pink Military: Back On The London Stage 07 June 1980 (BFBS)
*Pogues: The Dark Streets Of London 05 April 1984
*Pulp: Mile End (live) 21 April 1995
*Ride: Chelsea Girl 11 January 1990
*Sham 69: Red London 07 November 1978
*Shitmat: Big Ben's Big Remix 03 August 2004
*Simple Minds: Chelsea Girl 19 April 1979
*Smiley Culture: Cockney Translation: 23 May 1984 (BFBS)
*Smiths: London (session) 17 December 1986
*Stackridge: Highbury Incident 24 February 1975
*Stiff Little Fingers: Piccadilly Circus 21 April 1981
*Stranglers: London Lady 31 January 1977
*Straps: Brixton 11 July 1982 (BFBS)
*State Of Grace: Camden 20 March 1992
*Al Stewart: Swiss Cottage Manoeuvres (session) 29 May 1968
*Al Stewart: Old Compton St. Blues (session) 18 August 1968
*String Driven Thing: Regent Street (session) 19 September 1972
*Sweet Distortion: Stepping It Lightly Down To Brixton 10 December 1983 (BFBS)
*Third Ear Band - Hyde Park Raga (session) 27 July 1969
*Tribesmen: Finsbury Park 16 July 1979
*Tyrannosaurus Rex: Chateau In Virginia Waters 19 May 1968
*Vibrators: London Girls (session) 18 July 1977
*Loudon Wainwright III: Primrose Hill 28 August 2003
*Young Tradition; Ratcliff Highway 11 September 1968
*Zion Train: Tricky Angle Wembley '78 03 September 1994
== Compilations ==
(Plays by Peel of various artists (v/a) releases related to London, listed by first date played. Please add more information if known.)
	
	
(LP - The Roxy London WC2 Jan-Apr 77) EMI
*28 June 1977: Four tracks played from LP, according to The Peel Sessions by Ken Garner
*29 June 1977: Johnny Moped: Hard Loving Man
*29 June 1977: Eater: Don't Need It
*29 June 1977: Eater: Fifteen
*29 June 1977: Buzzcocks: Breakdown
*29 June 1977: Buzzcocks: Love Battery
*12 May 1980: Wire: Lowdown 
*12 May 1980: Wire: 1 2 X U
(LP - Live At The Vortex - Volume One) NEMS NEL 6013 
*14 December 1977: Art Attacks: Frankenstein's Heartbeat 
*14 December 1977: Suspects: Nothing To Declare 
*14 December 1977: Maniacs: You Don't Break My Heart 
*14 December 1977: Maniacs: I Ain't Gonna Be History 
(LP - Hope & Anchor Front Row Festival) Warner Bros. K 66077
*28 February 1978: Steve Gibbons Band: Speed Kills 
*28 February 1978: XTC: I'm Bugged
*28 February 1978: Suburban Studs: I Hate School
*01 March 1978: Pleasers: Billy 
*01 March 1978: XTC: Science Friction
*01 March 1978: Dire Straits: Eastbound Train
*06 March 1978: Pirates: Gibson Martin Fender 
*06 March 1978: Steel Pulse: Sound Check
*06 March 1978: Roogalator: Zero Hero
(LP - Farewell To The Roxy) Lightning
*12 April 1978: Jets: TV Drink
(LP - The London R & B Sessions (Live At The Hope And Anchor) Albion
*25 February 1980: Untouchables: I Can't Be Satisfied
*26 February 1980: Bogey Boys: You Can't Catch Me 
(LP – The Moonlight Tapes - Moonlight Club Bands Live) Danceville
*03 June 1980: Passions: Why Me
*16 June 1980: Members: Rat Up A Drainpipe
*16 June 1980: Damned: Teenage Dream
*17 June 1980: Passions: Why Me
*21 June 1980 (BFBS): Damned: Lookin' For Another 
*09 July 1980: Damned: Lookin’ For Another 
*12 July 1980 (BFBS): Kameras: Return Of The Ice Age
(LP - W.N.W.6 Moonlight Radio)
*07 October 1981: Flying Club: Next Two Minutes 
*19 October 1981: Chefs: Locked Out 
*20 October 1981: Room: Chat Shows
*22 October 1981: Out On Blue Six: Examples 
*22 October 1981 (BFBS): Artery: Into The Garden 
*22 October 1981 (BFBS): Chefs: Locked Out 
*05 November 1981: Out On Blue Six: Examples
(LP - Batcave: Young Limbs And Numb Hymns) London
*19 May 1983: Patti Palladin: The Nuns New Clothes
*19 May 1983: Alien Sex Fiend: R.I.P.
*01 June 1983 (BFBS): Sexbeat: Sexbeat 
*11 August 1983: Test Department: Shockwork
(LP - Stomping At The Klub Foot) ABC ABCLP 3
*24 December 1984 (BBC World Service): Guana Batz: Train Kept A'Rollin'
*24 December 1984 (BBC World Service): Guana Batz: Please Gimme Something
*24 December 1984 (BBC World Service): Guana Batz: Devil's Guitar
*09 January 1985: Guana Batz: Train Kept A Rollin’
*09 January 1985: Guana Batz: Please Gimme Something 
*09 January 1985: Guana Batz: Devil’s Guitar 
(LP - Stomping At The Klub Foot - Volume 2) ABC ABC LP 6
*16 December 1985: Styng Rites: Real Cool Chick
*16 December 1985: Styng Rites: Reptile (Man)
*28 December 1985 (BFBS): Styng Rites: Real Cool Chick 
*28 December 1985 (BFBS): Styng Rites: Reptile (Man)
(CD - The Camden Crawl) Love Train
*03 November 1995: Kenickie: Gary II
*04 November 1995: Bob Tilton: Lilac 
*10 November 1995: Nub: It Became Necessary
*11 November 1995 (BFBS): Kenickie: Gary II
(CD - The Camden Crawl II) Love Train
*14 September 1996: Broadcast Accidentals
*15 September 1996: Mogwai: A Place For Parks
*21 September 1996: Eska: Let’s Fence
*21 September 1996 (BFBS): Broadcast: Accidentals 
*21 September 1996 (BFBS): Prolapse: TCR (Remix) 
*28 September 1996: Prolapse: TCR (Remix) 
*10 October 1996 (BFBS): Prolapse: TCR (Remix) 
*November 1996 (FSK): Mogwai: A Place For Parks
(CD - The Sympathetic Sounds Of Toe Rag Studios London)
*11 February 2003: Gustav Temple & The Blades: Puddings And Pies 
*19 February 2003 (Radio Mafia): Gustav Temple & The Blades: Puddings And Pies
== See Also ==
*London Punkharmonic Orchestra
*International Times: Perfumed Garden Column
*Disc & Music Echo: Peel Columns
== References ==
== External Links ==
* Wikipedia
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Category:Maps
Category:Songs
Category:Compilations