John Peel in America

John Peel first worked in radio in the United States and it is an intriguing supposition that some of what he learned there contributed to his unique success on the British airwaves 19672004. This article reports the available information about Peel's radio experiences in the United States, provides additional context, evaluates some of the contradictory claims and reports on new interviews with US radio veterans who worked with him. Peel's experience in American radio and some of the prior commentary on that is discussed in terms of three contextual issues: Peel's Englishness at the time of the British Invasion in American pop music; race in American music and radio; and the unique status in the American radio industry of the stations where Peel worked.