The philosopher DJ

doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7478.1341

BMJ 2004;329:1341 (4 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7478.1341

Filler

A memorable teacher

The philosopher DJ

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

I failed all my A level exams the first time round, mainly becauseI had better things to do. I played guitar in a punk band, andI was busy playing gigs and making records.

Our first gig was at the local youth club. Our second was atBand on The Wall in Manchester, where the owner of a local recordlabel offered to release a single for us. Punk had just smashedits way on to the music scene, and—as with all new andinteresting music before and since—the disc jockey JohnPeel avidly championed it. He played our first single and gaveus a session. Subsequently, he played our album and furtherthree singles and was always supportive and encouraging.

For me, and countless others with a passion for music, his eveningradio programmes were an intensely important part of our lives.He was famous for breaking countless . . . [Full text of this article]

Stephen Hartley, specialist registrar in emergency medicine

Royal Preston Hospital (Hartley.stephen@btopenworld.com)