John Peel

BEAUTIFUL NOISE is an in-depth exploration of a music movement in the late twentieth century, a fascinating period when some innovative musicians mixed guitar noise into conventional pop song structures while maintaining a philosophy of letting the music speak for itself. Although many of the people interviewed are notoriously press shy they have opened up about their music and experiences from over 20 years ago, how they defied the rules and became sonic innovators that have inspired so many.

This documentary is about the first five years of BBC Radio 1 and contains interviews with the disc jockeys and other folk who were involved in the station's inception. It also contains footage from the previous pirate radio era as a means of explaining why Radio 1 came about.

Love it or hate it, the Eurovision Song Contest has not only redefined Europe, it has redefined music. Conceived in 1956 as a great televised musical event which would bring peace and harmony to Europe, it has since launched meteoric careers and made hits of songs such as Waterloo, Volare and Boom Bang a Bang. It has also bred an annual hotbed of political intrigue, racial rivalry, allegations of bribery and plain old sour grapes. In this programme Abba, Sandie Shaw, Cliff Richard and many others sing while Katie Boyle, Bucks Fizz, John Peel, Michael Ball and Johnny Logan try to explain that special Eurovision "ring-a-ding-ding".

A young musician travels to London in pursuit of his dreams, but winds up the sole witness to a bizarre murder.

A documentary on Robert Wyatt - singer, drummer and founding member of The Soft Machine, the legendary band in the international musical arena between the late Sixties and early Seventies who inspired the development of the made-in-Canterbury jazzy rock.

BBC documentary on the long-running British TV show, Top of the Pops.

A sleazy chef is forced to face the truth about the man he has become and realizes that he has the chance to begin again.

A charity music video collection from the UK-based music paper Melody Maker.

Based on the filmmaker's collection of newspaper cuttings the film presents private moments that give strange glimpses into everyday life.

Documentary about the rise and fall and rise again of the legendary John Otway.

The thrilling, debauched and frequently hilarious adventures of the legendary Melbourne post-punk band, in their own words.

In 1978 the Undertones released Teenage Kicks, one of the most perfect and enduring pop records of all time - an adolescent anthem that spoke to teenagers all over the globe. It was the first in a string of hits that created a timeless soundtrack to growing up, making the Undertones one of punk rock's most prolific and popular bands.

When Hippies Ruled The World takes a trip back to the end of the psychedelic Sixties - the dreams, trips, movies, and music - to a time that love was all that was needed. From 1967 to 1970, the hippie revolution gave us great anthems, great events, great sex and great big afghan coats. The music was by The Doors; queen of the hippies Joni Mitchell; and the world was set alight by the number 1 hit Fire by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Hippies dropped out at the biggest festival, Woodstock, and were turned on by LSD and free love. The whole experience was literally set on film by Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda in Easy Rider while the hippest of all looked East and followed in the trail of the Beatles to India.

John Peel's Record Box is a documentary film made by Elaine Shepherd, released on 14 November 2005 on Channel 4. It was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award. It is about a small private collection of the British radio DJ John Peel who died in 2004 at the age of 65. Peel's main archive contained more than 100,000 vinyl records and CDs. This smaller private collection, however, contains 143 singles - some of them doublettes - stored in a private wooden box representing some of his personal favourites. According to the documentary, there are no singles by Peel's favorite group, The Fall, because he kept them in a separate box. The film features interviews with John's wife Sheila Ravenscroft, radio DJs and artists like Mary Anne Hobbs, Sir Elton John, Ronnie Wood, Roger Daltrey, Fergal Sharkey, Jack White, Michael Palin and Miki Berenyi.

How does a working class autodidact, with no visible means of support, maintain his role as the leader of a cult British underground band into its fifth decade? Comedian and writer Stewart Lee, director Michael Cumming and James Nicholls investigate the mysterious existence of Robert Lloyd, Britain’s ultimate post-punk survivor. Robert Lloyd’s Prefects played with The Clash on the White Riot tour in 1977, and their ongoing incarnation, as Birmingham’s Captain Beefheart suffused post-punk poets The Nightingales, recorded more John Peel sessions than any other band. Ever. But what were the social, cultural and economic circumstances that enabled and sustained such outsider artists in the punk and post-punk eras, and how has the world changed to the point where such figures are unlikely to flourish in the same way today? Lloyd’s own odyssey echoes how abstract notions of social mobility, of the value of culture and music, have changed in the last five decades.

A mockumentary, rockumentary featuring the spoof radio DJ's from Harry Enfield's sketch shows. Telling of their rise to fame, their influence on music history and fall from grace in a parody of real life radio presenters.

Elaine Shepherd’s classic BBC documentary, introduced and narrated by John Peel. Completely wonderful, a 50 minute joy: reviews, articles, blog posts, etc. relating to The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart.

A heartfelt tribute to Edmund Trebus, the UK's most famous hoarder, who gained national recognition through the documentary series A Life of Grime. This tribute delves into Edmund's staunch resistance against the council, which dismissed his cherished possessions as mere rubbish. We also explore his early life in Poland, his harrowing experiences as a prisoner of war, and the journey leading up to his later years and eventual passing.

In 1980, two Cork outsiders, Cathal Coughlan and Sean O’Hagan, met at a New Year's Eve party. Bonding over music, a friendship and songwriting partnership was ignited; the band they formed, Microdisney, was one of the best bands of the 1980s that you’ve probably never heard. Mixing Sean’s stunning melodic arrangements with Cathal’s poetic, angry lyrics, they recorded three brilliant LPs, gained critical adulation and an obsessive cult following. But a hit single eluded them, as did radio play and LP sales. By 1988, frustrated by their lack of progress, the band crashed and burned, leaving a trail of acrimony and broken friendships.

A documentary which examines Marc Bolan's childhood ambitions of fame and where it led him, using previously lost TV and radio interviews, rediscovered Top of the Pops recordings, unseen concert footage and unique home movies.

Documentary about the life of the Bonzo Dog Band singer.

The great eccentric and raconteur Vivian Stanshall performs music pieces and talks to us about his early years leading up to his time in The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. Following Stanshall death, this program was repeated and repackaged as 'Diamond Geezer' with a tribute at the beginning from John Peel.

Brass Tacks was a current affairs programme shown on BBC2 between 1977 and 1988. On this episode called Punk Rock, broadcast on 3rd August 1977, it focuses on the Manchester Punk scene, bands and its iconic club, The Electric Circus.

An unconventional promo for the 1994 single of the same name by British band Pulp. Various celebrities are interviewed about their memories of losing their virginity, and frontman Jarvis Cocker reminisces about his.

In an effort to secure a better life for his girlfriend and unborn baby, a young man entangles himself in the lonesome and crime-ridden ways of his estranged and volatile older brother.

Veteran BBC Radio DJ John Peel takes his first visit to Derry and discovers for himself the band that forged his favourite pop song 'Teenage Kicks'.The film, through the use of interviews and archive footage (of Derry and The Undertones), takes us back to 1975. To a time when it would have been normal, even expected, for five Derry teenagers to get together and have a riot. The Undertones got together, formed a band and created their own form of riot, bursting into a vigorous and joyous celibration of their own existence.