"Toilet Humour with John Peel"

Festival season is fast approaching with no Glastonbury more memory’s of previous years flood back . Plucking out one of my many memory's I cast my mind back to 1993 . Crewing the then N.M.E stage it was a scorcher weather wise . The guy responsible for sorting out the water and sanitation on site had unfortunately died in Australia only weeks earlier . He had done this unglamorous job for years . So some one new was thrown into the breach . Not knowing all the unique tricks of the job . The water was late coming on with it being so hot it was under great demand.

The first water to come through the pipes had not been flushed through properly . I remember well jumping off my push bike on the way back to the stage . Rushing to a stand pipe in the hedge and taking my fill of water it was so hot . With it being so early there was hardly no bottle water on site .Many people who were working in that heat filled water bottles . Before the word went around that it had not been flushed through properly . One by one people started to fall ill including myself all the crew went down with the bug . Then it went air born with the lighting crew going down . Followed by the P. A crew, it was all hands to the toilets . It was the worst shits I have ever had feeling generally unwell with severe gut aches. Before the people where let in the water was flushed through properly . But for the people putting the show on it made hard work a lot harder .

John Peel was always there early setting up for his D.J sets on the the 2 main stages . He also went down with the shits . The toilets were getting a hammering , it was put a band on shit, put a band on shit, After nearly shitting my self twice . I locked the porta loo from the outside with screw driver hiding it outside under a piece of wood . That way I would have access to a toilet all the time . Coming out of the Toilet John was waiting about to drop at any second . I obviously was a huge fan of John having no hesitation showing him the screwdriver stash . He nodded his approval , So we shared the porta loo through out the festival taking turns , with nods across the stage .

It was a great ice breaker and it was not long before we started talking footie , more to the point Liverpool F.C . His knowledge of L.F.C was immense.

John's passion for Liverpool F.C was reflected in his childrens names,William Roberta Anfield,Alexandra Mary Anfield ,Thomas James Dalglish,and Florence Victoria Shankley.  After that John would take time out to talk to me at other events. Such as BBC Sound Citys in Liverpool, Bristol and Sheffield .

I would always get a buzz from talking to John he would always plug the bands I was working with at the time . The likes of The EFF WORD a trip hop cross over band from Bristol . I remember him getting on his high horse to me about the way players shield the ball to let it run out of play . He hated it saying . “the day Liverpool did that it would be a sad day . Well we do and when we do I instantly think of John and what he would of thought of the present Liverpool team.

John would have been in his 70s now his memory will never die. The John Peel stage at Glastonbury is a fitting legacy . He would of loved that, it gives me the biggest buzz at the festival these days and I am glad to say my kids as well.

JOHN PEEL 1939-2004 YNWA

More Glastonbury stories coming soon (the amazing tale of why Glastonbury banned French Frogmen)