I'm not overly fussed about christmas presents, these days a good family get together and a decent christmas dinner with a few beers is good enough for me.Oh and some decent christmas tv would of been nice but that didn't really happen this year.Still, i did get a few goodies; the usual deodorant set(s), chocolates etc but i did get a great little Bluetooth speaker for use in the bathroom which will be great for when i have a long relaxing soak in the bath.One present that i did particularly ask for and was lucky to receive was the recent book by David Cavanagh about John Peel titled 'Good Night And Good Riddance- How Thirty Five Years Of John Peel Helped To Shape Modern Life'.It covers a load of Peel's radio shows from 1967 to 2004.It "focuses on some 300 broadcasts between 1967 and 2004, giving a thorough overview of Peel's career and placing it in its cultural and social context" Had a quick flick through and found it has a short chapter about Peel's show on the night of 19th May 1980.Obviously this chapter is about how Peel broke the news to the nation about Ian Curtis dying and what Peel said.Slightly surprising to learn that Peel played New Dawn Fades after breaking the news.I'd always thought , as i'd read in a number of places over the years, that he had played Atmosphere that night.Anyway, looking forward to reading the book although i was startled to find it's over 600 pages.
