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The Olivetti Chronicles
by: John Peel

List Price: £20.00

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Used Price: £6.52
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Binding: Hardcover
EAN: 9780593060612
ISBN: 059306061X
Label: Bantam Press
Manufacturer: Bantam Press
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: October 23, 2008
Publisher: Bantam Press
Studio: Bantam Press
Sales Rank: 2804

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Thanks to the family
One of the joys of listening to both John Peel's Music (as I did in the 70s and 80s on BFBS) and Home Truths was that you were never sure what was coming next. In listing the articles alphabetically, rather than chronologically, John's family have captured that experience in print. The vagaries of titling lead one from Disc to Sounds to The Guardian, The Independent and The Radio Times, hopping in time from the early 70s to pieces written shortly before John's death. These then, are non-chronological chronicles. Very Peelian.

John's writing style matured with him; some of the early pieces are very much of their time, with bizarre phrases thrown in at random. John never missed the chance to talk football, specifically Liverpool, ... Read More:

Rating:

- A mIxed Bag
Peel was always something of an enigma - very much the maverick, trend setting DJ but also strangely part of the establishment and that comes out in this book, which collects together many of his articles and columns for a variety of sources from Disc and Sounds magazines to the Radio Times.

The fact that the articles are not in chronological order tends to lead to confusion as you suddenly realise that he has jumped 20 years. Peel's strengths were in writing about music and it's interesting in the cold light of day to look back on his musings on the likes of the Fall and Captain Beefheart.

Unfortunately his general writing can be very obtuse and quite aggressive and I found this at times quite confusing and even obtuse. ... Read More:

Rating:

- Great Stuff
A great nostalgic read. Perfect for the 40 somethings who can recall many of the events featured in the articles which were written in the 70s. It will jog your memory to forgotten bands, such as Snafu. I can remember them playing the Ipswich Gaumont around 1975. Living in Suffolk, I still find it hard to believe that John is not around, I used to see him accommpanying Sheila to matches at Portman Road on occasions. Such a great man.

Rating:

- The best book since the last one
I loved the last John Peel book, Margrave of the Marshes, and was horribly sad to think there could never be another one. Well, happily, I was wrong. Here is another one. A whole volume of Mr Peel's finest writings from over the years on all sorts of brilliant, bizarre and very Peelie subjects. A complete and utter joy from start to finish. You need this in your life!

Rating:

- Ipswich - a black hole.
I read the article entitled Ipswich, from this collection the other day, on the basis that i was born and brought up there. It details a Peel DJ gig in the town....in which nobody turns up. He is back home and having his dinner by 9.30 having turned the wheels of steel to no-one at all. This just about sums up my disdain for my home town in terms of cultural pursuits and its inability to embrace anything at all beyond Jim Davidson and Frankie & Benny style chain diners. Its a black hole for entertainment and enjoyment. So its funny that Peel should have lived so close to it. Whats the rest of the book like? What do you think? Its Peel. He's the don. Stick it on your chuffing christmas list.

Books : The Olivetti Chronicles