Two famous men were buried today - the similarities end there.
A fixture of such enduring and consistent good will and humility that he was relatively taken for granted in his lifetime, John Peel will come to be appreciated as one of the most important figures in popular music in the last third of the 20th century: a perpetually engaged fan, making the world safe for new and challenging music via his BBC radio show for over 35 years.
All who has ever programmed a radio show based upon their own taste and instincts, anyone who has ever shared music with a friend would love to have the kind of influence, reception and longevity of the great Peel, who died at 65 of a heart attack while on vacation in Peru.
The list of bands he introduced to the U.K., and world, over the BBC airwaves is staggering: Pink Floyd, The Velvet Underground, David Bowie, Captain Beefheart, T-Rex, Roxy Music, Rod Stewart, The Sex Pistols, The Undertones, The Ramones, The Buzzcocks, The Clash, Joy Division and their later incarnation New Order, The Fall, U2, Pulp, The Smiths, Nirvana, Blur, The White Stripes, and on and on.
He championed all forms of "alternative" music and led the charge for punk, reggae, hip-hop, techno, drum 'n' bass, and more extreme music like, say, grindcore.
Thousands of appreciative fans and musicians he supported from around the world gathered to say goodbye and celebrate a life well-lived at his funeral today. Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey, Billy Bragg, and The White Stripes were among the mourners, while Elton John left a wreath of yellow roses.
(BBC)
The throng applauded Peel's coffin as it departed St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, to his favorite song, "Teenage Kicks" by the Undertones. The service bulletin contained a quote from the reggae band Misty in Roots: "When we trod this land, we walk for one reason... to try to help another man think for himself.
"The music of our hearts is roots music, which recalls history, because without the knowledge of your history, you cannot determine your destiny: the music about the present, because if you are not conscious about the present, you're like a cabbage in this society."
The service ended with audio clips of Peel talking about his life: "I'm fabulously lucky, I've got everything I wanted as a kid, a house in the country, an astounding wife, and a job on the radio. I don't know what could be done to improve it.
"If I drop dead tomorrow, I'll have nothing to complain about - except that there'll be another Fall album out next year."
![Biography - Yasser Arafat [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JYKFVQZ6L._SL120_.jpg)
Article comments
1 - Brave Kelso
I'm having trouble with the comparison between Peel and Arafat. I think your assessment of each was stated clearly, and fairly. I liked your assessment of Peel and I think you have pointed out his importance in recognizing new talent, which led to songs that influenced the tastes, values, politics, and morals of a few generations.
I find myself agreeing that Arafat was slippery and self-serving, which is perhaps par for the course among political figures. I find it hard to judge whether his decisions were reasonable. The well-being of Palestinians has been greatly affected by the decisions of the old colonial powers, in the aftermath of the great Wars of the 20th Century, in dealing with Palestine. Turkey ceased to be great power in 1918 and Britain and the successful parties gave away Palestine. After WW II the US and Britain influenced the new UN to support Israel, at the cost of displacing Palestinians. I find it hard to deny the force of Israel's claims to statehood and security in International law - I really can't. It's not sympathy or emotion, and it's not simply a surrender to de facto power. The Israelis have built a civil society. At the same time I find it hard to ignore the Palestinians. I have trouble in assessing Arafat because I have not walked in those shoes. I think he never really grasped the olive branch and that he did hang on to the gun to hold power, and that he never used his power for peace.
I think that the Israelis could have assassinated him many times, and I think they were right to let him live. I think his violent death could have perpetuated the violence at a much greater scale. Hopefully the new Palestinian leadership can discredit his legacy of perpetual warmongering by exposing his personal greed, and work for a practical peace.
2 - SFC Ski
Great article, Eric.
3 - Eric Olsen
Thanks Ski!
Brave Kelso, very good points well-stated. The comparison is primarily that they happened to have funerals on the same day - the rest, which I perhaps didn't make clear anough, is that one rather quietly achieved great things by helping others over almost 40 years, while the other pursued self-aggrandizement first and foremost and as a reslut failed.
4 - Mac Diva
I think it is ridiculous to compare such disparate people. Who will be next? Abraham Lincoln and Francis Scott Key? Indira Gandhi and Marilyn Monroe? Nelson Mandela and Sammy Davis, Jr.? People in the entertainment industry often play an important part in our lives. They add to the quality of lived experience. But, the role of politicians who influence history is of much higher magnitude of importance. The impact of the three examples, sometimes life and death, on millions of people during their lives and after is evidence. To imply the two roles are coequal is to prove oneself a very shallow person.
5 - Victor Plenty
In a shallow society, all public figures blur into a generic cult of celebrity. One need not share that shallowness to comment on its effects.
Likewise, one need not sink to ad hominem arguments to disagree with such blurring of the distinctions between politicians and promoters of music.
6 - boomcrashbaby
I didn't see any meshing of the two. I saw an article that said two people were buried today, one did this in his life and one did that. Beyond that, I saw no correlation.
Unless of course we want to say that the man that gave us Rod Stewart......nah, I won't say it.
7 - Eric Olsen
there is no particular meshing beyond the coincidence that they were buried on the same day and the contrast in how they conducted their lives and how they will be remembered - the contrast in funeral styles is rather glaring as well