MICK WALL John Peel (Orion)

And pretty much everything I wrote about Michael Heatley’s JP cash-in applies equally here, except it doesn’t even have the backwards Eno tape anecdote to lighten proceedings. There’s the same chronological factual retread, displaying precious little analysis or enthusiasm, from an author whose credentials (his other books tackle Ozzy Osbourne, Guns N’ Roses, Black Sabbath and Status Quo) seem tangential to the subject, at least, topped off with the inevitable 50 pages of Festive 50s. Again, the fact checking is perfunctory – “The Fall would eventually record twenty-three Peel sessions, their last in March 2003”, apparently, and the overwhelming sensation this book generates is sadness, both at Peel’s passing and the fact he was unable to complete his autobiography himself and effectively silence circling vultures such as Wall and Heatley.

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