| abstract
| - As a Peel listener and an electronic music fan, Sheikh corresponded with JP through telephone calls and emails, even to the extent of meeting Peel at the Sonar Festival in Barcelona. On his blog, Sheikh mentions having gone record shopping with Peel at a store called CD Drome near the main Sonar festival venue [1]. Sheikh also won tickets on Peel's show to see various acts perform live sets for the Peel Show at Maida Vale [2]. After Peel's death, Sheikh paid tribute on the Keeping It Peel website by mentioning how Peel was a unique one off: "I've thought long and hard about this since John died. And I've decided you can't. It's impossible. He was a unique one-off. There's no replicating." [3] Sheikh on his blog in 2006 also mentioned what Peel meant to him: [4] "Not that I'm any authority on John Peel at all. Who is? But, for some reason, I'd been asked (on more than one occasion) by print and online publications to come up with a small piece about John and the impact his death has had. I never delivered. I always thought that anything I'd have to say about John, I'd say it here. And besides, what could I write? The impact his death had on what exactly. The music industry? Radio? No. The only thing I can write about is the impact it had on me. Since my first contact with him via the radio as a teenager living somewhere in the Midlands. To calling him up and then via e-mail. To then strategically living near Maida Vale just so I could go to the Peel sessions. To then meeting up at the Sonar Festival in Barcelona. To then having him play a DJ set at a festival we organised. To attending his funeral. It had been an absolute privelege to have known him. I got nothing but smiles, warmth and enthusiasm. That's what I'll miss the most. Of course there are lots of other things to discuss about how his passing has left this massive void. The current state of UK commercial radio. Rock's decline into corporate functionalism. British TV networks capable of producing umpteen celebrity reality show variants, yet have difficulty coming up with one decent music programme. But simply put, my reasons for missing him is just one of friendship. John's longtime producer John Walters (who died before Peel in 2001) once remarked "If he ever hits puberty, we'll be in trouble." Thankfully, he never did." Sheikh also took pictures of Peel along with Sheila at the Sonar Festival on his photo blog. [5]
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