Going for a song ... Elton John features on the new single - why? Photograph: Dan Chung
Q: What do the following have in common? Roger Daltrey, the Datsuns, Barry from the Futureheads, David Gilmour, Peter Hook, Elton John, El Presidente, Robert Plant, Pete Shelley, the Soledad Brothers, Andy Gill and Jeff Beck.
A: They all appear on a new version of the Buzzcocks' 1978 hit Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've), in tribute to John Peel. The press release says it's a "cast list of contributors which reads like a perfect John Peel playlist." Does it? Does it really? Or does it read like the cast list of a very strange dream?
Naturally, everyone's hearts are in the right place. The project was masterminded by Peel's son, Tom Ravenscroft, to mark the first anniversary of his father's death and raise money for Amnesty International, and at least it's less predictable than doing Teenage Kicks. It's not even a travesty - Daltrey and Plant overact with gusto, and Hook weaves in a New Order-esque bassline towards the end.
Peel himself would probably greet it with an awkwardly flattered chuckle and move on. But any record that features Elton John (!) but not the Fall, the Datsuns but not the White Stripes, is a peculiar piece of work that tells the listener nothing about the man - except that, er, he liked a lot of music. Well, so does Paul Gambaccini.
It's misleading in another sense. Like the recent tribute album featuring the likes of The Clash, Joy Division and The Smiths, this single gives his legacy a fusty, canonical air, in keeping with the era of listaholic music magazines and nostalgic TV shows but antithetical to Peel's own agenda.
If Peel was about anything, it was championing new music, even bits of it he didn't particularly like. And although he did support Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin on their way up, it's annoying to hear so often that Peel's show was a launchpad to stardom. For its listeners, it was equally - especially - about those oddballs and squarepegs who would never become household names.
So to balance things out, I propose an alternative tribute single. It features Mark E. Smith, David Gedge from the Wedding Present, Spizzenergi, one of the Bhundu Boys, Lawrence from Felt, Boards of Canada, Bogshed, Half Man Half Biscuit, Laetitia from Stereolab, Foreheads in a Fishtank and the drummer from Napalm Death. Peter Hook can still play bass. There should be the crackle of needle hitting vinyl at the beginning, a terrifyingly dark drum'n'bass interlude in the middle and a bit of reggae at the end. And it should be a song you've never heard before.
