In the first instalment of this new feature, Vic Galloway pays tribute to John Peel.
; In my first column for The List. I was planning to write something about the Top 50 Scottish bands of all time and how much fun it is to spark debate and get music lovers arguing. However. feeling absolutely devastated by the news of John Peel's untimely demise. I feel gripped by the need to mention him and the sad Implications of his death. By the time you read this you'll have heard a million tributes from people who knew him a lot better than I did. But as someone who listened to him fOr over 20 years. and then luckily had the opportunity to meet and work with him, I wanted to say something.
He was a man driven by humility. open-mindedness and freedom of expression. He was interested in the culturally diverse and was a total champion of the underdog. He also had a wicked sense of humour that made him search out the obscurities. the off-kilter and the downright weird. all destined to shock and entertain. Unfortunately his death may mark another step closer towards a more homogenised world where character and personal opinion are being ironed out in favour of the bland. boring and safe.
John Peel was an ordinary bloke. a family man and a football lover. but also a political thinker. vegetarian and humanitarian. Whenever I had the chance to chat to him, he always came across as a personable. shy and down-to-earth fellow who loved nothing more than a glass of red wine and people around him. He diSplayed rare qualities that we could all learn from, so let's hope we do exactly that and not stoop to the banal. lowest common denominatOr mentality that seems to permeate every aspect of our society.
Of course he would have hated all this ‘hero worship' nonsense and been highly embarrassed by my words. But I’m gutted and so are you. so it has to be said. I raise a glass to him and his family. is WC Galloway broadcasts on Radio 1 every Thu at 7.30—9pm and BBC Radio Scotland's ‘Ar‘r' from 8.05—10pm, every Monday
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ORCHESTRA MACAROON
Carnival Arts Centre, Glasgow, Wed 17 Nov: Bongo Club. Edinburgh, Thu 18 Nov
Ex-Waterboy Colin Blakey’s Orchestra Macaroon emerged last year from a small slate-covered rock between Seil island and Mull off Scotland’s west coast. From seeds put down during the years that Blakey has been a sort of world music composer-in-residence at Edinburgh’s multicultural Mela, and coalescing around a core of piano, drums and double bass, it absorbed flugal horn, Chinese yang qin (hammered dulcimer) and exotic percussion, and now also incorporates four separate species of bagpipe.
The Macaroon differs from neighbouring island musical life-forms (Martyn Bennett, Mull Historical Society) in that it grew, according to Blakey, ‘Upside down. The music was written from the bottom up. Essentially, the idea is to have as much fun as possible - for us playing and for the audience. And what Phil Bull, Steve (Wee) Brown and myself all share is a deep love of grooves. 80 we build a
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rhythm pattern, then bass riffs. The bass will suggest melody lines and we‘ll add things on top. But it‘s the groove that matters. I suppose it comes from all that I‘ve done with samba bands, with music from Latin America.‘
Yet the eight-piece band‘s newly-released first album Breakfast in Balquiddar is much more than a collection of satisfying grooves. Virtuoso instrumental work, especially from yang qin player Kim Ho lp and Irish uillean piper Patrick Martin, carries some beautiful sunny tunes — all Blakey compositions — in big arrangements and optimistic harmony. ‘Well, I've always been attracted to Hispanic music,‘ muses Blakey. ‘The warmth in it. I learned to play Spanish guitar. I even lived in Spain for a year.‘
Now he’s taking it even further. Back home with his wife Phil, Colin is now cheering up the natives as part of a colourfully costumed Portuguese marching Gaita (bagpipe) band in stony Argyll.
Well, well, say the church elders. What‘s the world coming too? It will all lead to dancing...
(Norman Chalmers)