John Peel’s Shed by novelist and storyteller John Osborne is an invitation to the heart and soul of a man whose life was transformed by radio. On stage he sat in his armchair or stood surrounded by his record player, a projector and a lamp. This living room-like set up felt like an invitation to an intimate space with Osbourne to reveal true stories about his life.
He explained that he led a fairly normal life as a teenager; he was unfulfilled by his life at school and didn’t really feel part of a community at all; but something changed. In his years as a sixth former he listened to The Smiths song How Soon is Now on John Peel’s BBC 1 radio show. The lyrics read, ‘If you'd like to go, you could meet somebody who really loves you, so you go and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own, and you go home, and you cry and you want to die’. These words, he claimed, had spoken to his inner consciousness.
It was a pivotal moment in his life and radio, reading and writing began to define him and brought light to the days stuck at his mundane job. One day whilst listening to the show he won a competition to inherit 150 of John Peel’s records. Inheriting these records fulfilled him interested to get involved with community radio was borne out of it.
The knowledge he had gained from radio was shared among the audience. Some of the records he played to the audience whilst sat on stage. One particularly amusing example was Oizone, which is a collection of Boyzone covers played by a punk band. He also cited Atom and His Package as one of his favourite artists (which he played to the audience) whose amusing lyrics were truly entertaining to listen to.
What was special about this performance, in addition to the education Osbourne’s knowledge on music due to his interest in John Peel gave, was how he came across as a person. He showed compassion toward others and an altruistic vision of wanting to improve peoples lives through radio, as radio presenters and the music they played had done for him. His ability to touch the heart of the crowd was evident too. He was highly engaging and made it impossible to not be engrossed by the stories that without a passionate delivery would fail to seem that significant.
Osbourne’s performance also paid tribute to how John Peel not only changed his life, but how Peel changed the face of popular culture for the better. Moments of laughter that were received during his discussion of some of the lyrics of John Peel’s record collection were followed by a sadness in his voice due to the impact the death of John Peel had. His face changed the longer he lingered on this topic. His words seemed beautifully connected with his feelings, he seemed to have been on an emotional journey and had captured the audiences feelings who moved along with his every move.
John Osbourne is one of the most likeable story tellers and knowledgeable music fans around. He produced a thoroughly enjoyable show that reminded of the inspirational strength of underground rock and pop scene in Britain that we are so fortunate to be a leader of.
