Peter Young (1951–2018)

“It was so refreshing to play to such a friendly and enthusiastic crowd and the amount of young people present cer­tainly filled me full of hope for the future. This music has got a lot of life left in it yet, thank God.”

In memory

Peter Young, aka PY, passed away on 1st November, 2018. He will be re­mem­bered by his legions of fans for his more than 35 years of broad­casting.

It is no exag­gera­tion to say that PY was respon­sible for intro­ducing gener­a­tion after gener­a­tion of British youth to American soul music via his hugely in­flu­en­tial radio show, The Soul Cellar, which he began in 1979.

The Soul Cellar

PY saw his Soul Cellar show as a celeb­ration of the R&B music of Black America, mainly from the late-1950s through to the early-1980s, but con­cen­trat­ing primarily on the golden era of the 1960s and 1970s.

Motown, Stax, Atlantic, Chess, and Philadelphia made up the backbone of the show, along with some of the smaller record labels from the Southern States.

Jazz FM

It was always Peter Young’s ambition to be in­volved in music and he cited radio presenter Alan ‘Fluff’ Freeman as an in­spira­tion for making every­thing he played sound exciting.

PY re­membered buying his first soul record from Edgware Electrics in 1963 at the age of twelve: “Fingertips” on the UK Oriole label by another 12-year old—Little Stevie Wonder.

PY worked for Capital Radio for over a decade before be­com­ing one of Jazz FM’s original presenters when it launched in 1990. He also briefly worked for BBC Radio, before re­turning to Jazz FM—the station he regarded as home.

Peter Young at Right On

In 2004, Peter Young celebrated 25 years of The Soul Cellar. He marked the occasion by playing a rare club set at Right On at Sahara Nights in King’s Cross.