An Analysis of John Peel's Radio Talk and Career At
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2008 The Power of a Paradoxical Persona: An Analysis of John Peel’s Radio Talk and Career at the BBC Richard P. Winham University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Communication Commons Recommended Citation Winham, Richard P., "The Power of a Paradoxical Persona: An Analysis of John Peel’s Radio Talk and Career at the BBC. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2008. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/440 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Richard P. Winham entitled "The Power of a Paradoxical Persona: An Analysis of John Peel’s Radio Talk and Career at the BBC." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Communication and Information. Paul Ashdown, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Barbara Moore, Naeemah Clark, Michael Keene Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Richard Paul Winham entitled “The Power of a Paradoxical Persona: An Analysis of John Peel’s Radio Talk and Career at the BBC.” I have examined the final electronic copy of this [dissertation or thesis] for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Communications and Information. Paul Ashdown , Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Barbara Moore Naeemah Clark Michael Keene Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) THE POWER OF A PARADOXICAL PERSONA: AN ANALYSIS OF JOHN PEEL’S RADIO TALK AND CAREER AT THE BBC A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee. Knoxville Richard P. Winham May 2008 Copyright © 2008 by Richard P. Winham All rights reserved. ii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my mother, Hazel Winham, whose belief in the value of education inspired me to take on and finish this project. iii Acknowledgments I wish to express my sincere and heartfelt gratitude to the many people who have helped me complete my communications doctorate degree in broadcast management. I particularly owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Paul Ashdown for his patience and valuable insights as an editor, as well as for his guidance and advice during the research and writing of this dissertation. I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Barbara Moore and Dr. Naeemah Clark for their helpful comments, and I am especially grateful to Dr. Michael Keene for his continuing friendship and encouragement. Without the help of Administrative Services Assistant, Diana King, my life as a graduate student would have been measurably more difficult. Finally, I would like to express my love and gratitude to my wife, Elizabeth, for her invaluable support, suggestions, and encouragement throughout this project. In addition to these individuals, I deeply appreciate the many people who not only agreed to be interviewed, but were very generous with their time and helped me develop the insights on Peel’s life and career that inform this study. Among these are Bernie Andrews, Chris Lycett, Harry Parker, Louise Kattenhorn, Annie Nightingale, Clive Selwood, Cathy Drysdale, and Johnny Beerling. iv Abstract John Peel holds a unique place in British broadcasting history. During his almost 40-year career as a DJ on the BBC’s Radio One and Radio Four, he not only introduced innovative music—including psychedelia, reggae, punk, hip hop, grunge and electronica—into the British mainstream, but championed hundreds of musicians whose work might otherwise have gone unnoticed. Using Peel as a case study, this research focuses on the role his persona played in three distinct aspects of his success: (1) his ability to attract audiences across several generations; (2) his longevity at the BBC, a bastion of conservative bureaucracy; and (3) his impact on the programming on BBC’s Radio One and on British popular music in general. Drawing on the theories of persona developed by Horton and Wohl (1956) and Goffman (1971, 1981), the study offers a rhetorical analysis of Peel’s broadcast talk to explicate the role of persona in his success. By creating a persona based on selection, omission and emphasis of contradictory traits, Peel presented himself as an Everyman able to pull listeners onto his public platform while placing himself simultaneously in their worlds. Far from the artificial and static persona conceptualized by Horton and Wohl (1956), Peel’s on-air persona was paradoxical and flexible—traits that enhanced his credibility and help explain his unprecedented tenure as a DJ on Radio One and appeal as the host and writer for a talk program on Radio Four. The study ends with a discussion of the conditions required and extent to which it is possible for a single individual such as Peel to have a significant impact on social and cultural change. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Dissertation Focus and Purpose 4 Research Questions and Implications of the Study 5 Dissertation Organization 9 II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, LITERATURE REVIEW & METHOD13 Theoretical Framework 13 Persona and Parasocial Relationships 14 Broadcast Talk 16 Authenticity 23 Literature Review 26 Broadcast Talk and Persona 27 Peel in America 33 Pirate Radio 35 BBC Radio 36 John Peel 38 Methodology 40 Research Design 41 Data Sources and Samples 45 III. A ROGUE’S PROGRESS: PEEL AND THE SWINGING SIXTIES 48 Introduction 48 The Beatles 51 The Beatles in America 53 John Peel and The Beatles 54 Swinging London 61 Radio Caroline 63 Radio London 65 The Perfumed Garden 69 “Radio London is Closing Down” 86 IV. JOHN REITH & THE BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION 96 Introduction 96 Origins 96 Reith Takes Command 98 From Company to Corporation 100 Empire Broadcasting 102 “An Instrument of the Well-To-Do” 102 iv The Third Program 105 Competition and Rock and Roll 106 V. “LOOKING OVER THE HORIZONS OF POP” 113 Saturday Club 114 Top Gear 117 Night Ride 132 Best Disc Jockey and Top Radio Program 142 VI. THE ORGAN GRINDER AND HIS MONKEY 150 Introduction 150 Days of Future Passed 153 The Pig, “Petals” and The Faces 160 Peel’s Champions 168 “Pop a Top” 171 Peel and Punk! 174 “The Music of the Black Criminal Classes” 189 VII. THE SENIOR SERVICE 199 “The Night of the Long Knives” 200 Peel in Print 216 Home Truths 222 Peel’s Pop and Speech Personae 229 VIII. CONCLUSION: THE PARADOXICAL PEEL 243 Peel’s Paradoxical Persona 244 The Paradox of Public Service Broadcasting 254 Theoretical Implications and Suggestions for Future Study 262 BIBLIOGRAPHY 265 VITA 280 v Chapter One Introduction Words like ‘legend’ and ‘institution’ are bandied about too freely in the media, often lavished on dullards who should have been dragged outside and shot years earlier, but in Peel’s case both terms can be applied with a clear conscience….[Peel] ‘is actually the most important individual in the development of British rock music’ (Sweeting, The Guardian, 1993). As a radio personality, John Peel holds a unique place in British broadcasting history. His death in October 2004 was a front-page story in the national print press in the United Kingdom, as well as on radio and television. The extent of the attention his death received in the press as well as on radio and television was unprecedented for someone in his position (Long, 2006). The significance of this event stretched far beyond the relatively narrow confines of his 40-year career as a DJ on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Indeed, one writer compared media reaction to Peel’s death to that of John Lennon, Freddie Mercury and George Harrison (Inglis 2005: 407). Even Prime Minister Tony Blair, who publicly declared himself “genuinely saddened by the news” and referred to Peel as a “genuine one-off,” acknowledged the passing of a British icon (Lawson, 2004). Peel was also lionized in the popular music press in articles exemplified by a front-page story in the weekly New Musical Express (NME), which carried a banner headline hailing him as a “Hero. Legend. Good Bloke” (November 6, 2005). In 1994, the same paper had awarded him its “Godlike Genius” prize in 1 recognition of his role as an arbiter of taste in popular music in the United Kingdom. It was a tacit recognition of the symbiotic relationship between Peel and the music press. Whereas Peel gained credibility and authenticity, particularly early in his career, from the attention he received from popular music publications, the role of the music press as arbiters of taste was also substantiated by Peel’s regular references to their opinions on his radio programs. Outside the United Kingdom the news of Peel’s passing evoked a similar response, as listeners from around the world expressed their grief in thousands of messages posted on the BBC’s website.