British discjockey John Peel died, age 65, of a heart attack, October 26, 2004,while vacationing in Peru. Way before MTV Unplugged promoted contemporary artists’ live renditions, the masterful Anglophile introduced enduring Peel Sessions. The ‘Original Pirate DJ,’ Peel broadcast from ships anchored outside English waters before BBC Radio hired him in 1967; exposing groundbreaking acts T. Rex, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, Fairport Convention, and Faces.
Later, Peel went against conservative programmers, uncovering punk, reggae, hardcore, and hip-hop …
FOREWORD: In the late ‘90s, I got to meet Freedy Johnston several times at small clubs in Manhattan. He was almost a fixture, attending shows when he wasn’t doing gigs at Brownies on Avenue A or Mercury Lounge at nearby Houston Street. But after this interview promoting ‘99s Blue Days, Black Nights, he has kept a rather low profile. ‘01 Right Between The Promises went unnoticed and ’07s covers album, My Favorite Waste Of Time, barely made a sound, except
