'It's a great honour' - says Undertone
Michael Bradley, a member of Derry punk legends The Undertones, says it is a "great honour" to have lyrics from their most famous song 'Teenage Kicks' inscribed on the gravestone of broadcasting legend, John Peel.
The DJ's gravestone, erected three years after his death, bears the lyric "our teenage dreams so hard to beat", a tribute to his favourite song of all time.
Bass player Michael told the 'Journal': "Well, John always said that he would do this and so it's great that it actually happened. To have one of the songs we were involved in actually etched on his gravestone is absolutely fantastic, a great honour for us.
"I read earlier this week that his wife Sheila took quite a while to get his grave sorted, and that's completely understandable. Since then, I've seen a photo of the grave, so the next thing will be for us to go and visit his grave," he went on.
The Undertones were discovered by John Peel and signed to a label shortly after the DJ famously premiered a demo of the song on his show. Playing the song twice in a row, Peel declared "it doesn't get any better than this". He was also once quoted as saying he could not hear the popular punk anthem without bursting into tears.
Michael, who is now a BBC producer, added: "Everyone was very fond of John Peel, especially after he came to Derry for filming. We went to his funeral a few years back and it was just really nice to be associated with him and his life in any way."
New music
The DJ championed new British music for nearly 40 years and was Radio 1's longest serving DJ when he died in 2004 aged 65. He is now buried in St Andrew's Church, Great Finborough, Suffolk, where he lived for over thirty years.
Sheila Ravenscroft, widow of the late DJ, has said the gravestone took three years to erect as she "couldn't face it," and added "We have put the words on the stone that he would've wanted. I wouldn't dare do anything else!"
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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