You suddenly realise how old you're becoming when one of the icons of your youth dies, unexpectedly.
John Peel is dead.
If I listened to his late night radio show a dozen times in my life I'd probably be exaggerating a touch. Actually, that's a lie, before punk arrived Peel was worth listening to if you liked prog rock and even when he shifted from 25 minute rock operas to 2 minute thrash fests you could always find something of interest. Still, I know many people who loved John Peel but very few who regularly listened to his radio show. Yeah, sure, there were die hards and devotees, but if you go by the coverage today you'd think that Peel had over 50 million listeners every week. The truth is most people remember John Peel for his voice and the fact he became synonymous with advertisements and voice-overs on TV documentaries as they will with him discovering British music's heart and soul.
But Peel's death, from a heart attack, aged 65 resonates with me more because he represented another era of celebrity. An era closer to my involvement with the world I know.
When I grew up watching the little black and white box in the corner of the room, the people my parents watched were alien to me. If Bruce Forsyth suddenly appeals to a younger generation of people (thanks to Strictly Come Dancing) it is probably down to the parents and grandparents blowing his trumpet for him in the living rooms across the country. "Here kids you should watch this guy, he's a great entertainer" and suddenly there's a huge Rolf Harris backlash and the kids are searching for a new OAP to idolise. The thing is Forsyth aside, back in the 1970s Mum and Dad's TV heroes weren't yours. Your TV was aimed at your parents even if it was designed for you.
The 1980s did a lot of things, but one thing it did for us was make the word 'accessible' more accessible... Televisual advancements and technological breakthroughs meant that there was a diversity never before seen. As a group of people, those who were in their most formulative years during the 1980s, this was our time - a time when TV belonged to us as much as it did to the fuddy duddies. We helped shape the revolution and it wasn't just TV, it was radio as well and through 1980s radio John Peel became one of us. Now he's gone, not the first and obviously not the last, but a noticeable absentee all the same.
But Billy Connolly is 62 now. All of those famous faces from our youth are either on the verge of collecting their pensions or have been for a few years. Brian Cant is in his seventies for God's sake!!!
Brian Cant was one of my 60s and 70s icons, yet he's actually older then Val Doonican, who may well have been one of my parent's or even grandparents icons.
Death becomes more of a regular feature in your life when you get older. When you're young you tend to forget that everything dies, eventually.
