Last year, British broadcasting legend John Peel passed away whilst on a working holiday in Peru. Peel had championed new and exciting music for almost 40 years, earning the respect of all parts of the music industry. We have news of a tribute album, out next month, that includes Pink Floyd's "Set The Controls" as part of the selections included.

Liverpudlian Peel's long career in 1962, when he started working for US radio stations - his extensive knowledge of music and the emergence of The Beatles opening many doors for him there. 1967 saw the US "underground" scene rise, in part a resistance to the British pop sound of the era. John caught on to this new scene, and returned to England, where the fledgling Pink Floyd and others were playing their shows at UFO. This started a love of the groups music for him that persisted for many years.

It was at this time that BBC Radio One started up, and John joined the station, staying with them to the present day. It was in those early days that he brought the Floyd sound to wider audiences, with Peel presenting Top Gear sessions, and his voice will be familiar to many introducing the songs in the oft-heard 1970 BBC sessions. His close association with the band certainly lasted until 1975, when he was the compere for the Floyd's Knebworth show.

One of his well-known commentaries about the band, resulted from the June 1968 Hyde Park Free Festival - which featured T-Rex, Roy Harper and Jethro Tull, alongside Pink Floyd:

"I always claim that the best outdoor event I've ever been to was the Pink Floyd concert in Hyde Park, when I hired a boat and rowed out and I lay in the bottom of the boat, in the middle of the Serpentine and just listened to the band play. I think their music then suited the open air perfectly. It was - it sounds ludicrous now, it's the kind of thing that you can get away with saying at the time and which now, in these harsher times, sounds a bit silly - but I mean it was like a religious experience, it was that marvellous. They played A Saucerful Of Secrets and things. They just seemed to fill the whole sky and everything. And to coincide perfectly with the lapping of the water and the trees and everything. It just seemed to be the perfect event. I think it was the nicest concert I've ever been to..."

His comments at the show about the band making the sound of universes dying, earned him a place in Private Eye magazine's Pseud's Corner (which Peel was very proud of!).

Today, details of the CD were released. "John Peel - A Tribute" will be a 2CD compilation album, featuring many of Peel's favourites, released on 17th October, following on from a tribute concert on 12th October, and John Peel Day on 13th October. The concert, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, will feature artists such as New Order, The Fall, and Super Furry Animals. John Peel Day will be marked by hundreds of concerts across the UK.

The compilation contains many Peel favourites, including his hero Lonnie Donegan, his favourite band The Fall and his all-time favourite song, 'Teenage Kicks' by The Undertones. The Floyd contribution is "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun", which John played incessantly at home, even into his final years. It is not a newly recorded version, just to clarify.

A portion of profits will go to charities - The Salvation Army, East Anglia's Children's Hospices and The Kariandusi School Trust.

The full tracklisting is:

CD 1
Lonnie Donegan - 'Lost John'
Tyrannosaurus Rex - 'Deborah'
Pink Floyd - 'Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun'
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - 'Spanish Castle Magic'
Van Morrison - 'Sweet Thing'
David Bowie - 'Life On Mars?'
The Doors - 'Five To One'
Tim Buckley - 'Song To The Siren'
The Faces - 'Stay With Me'
The Misunderstood - 'I Can Take You To The Sun'
Country Joe & The Fish - 'Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine'
Fairport Convention - 'Meet On The Ledge'
Captain Beefheart - 'Big Eyed Beans From Venus'
Loudon Wainwright III - 'Be Careful There Is A Baby In The House'
Roy Buchanan - 'I Am a Lonesome Fugitive'
The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 'Mr Apollo'
The Ramones - 'I Don't Want To Walk Around With You'
The Clash - 'Complete Control'
Joy Division - 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'
New Order - 'Ceremony'

CD 2
The Undertones - 'Teenage Kicks'
Altered Images - 'Happy Birthday'
The Smiths - 'How Soon Is Now?'
The Cocteau Twins - 'Pearly-Dewdrops Drops'
The Jesus & Mary Chain - 'Sidewalking'
Blur - 'Song 2'
Culture - 'Lion Rock'
Billy Bragg - 'A New England'
Robert Wyatt - 'Shipbuilding'
The Wedding Present - 'Brassneck'
PJ Harvey - 'Sheela-Na-Gig'
Pulp - 'Common People'
The Fall - 'Theme From Sparta F.C.'
Super Furry Animals - 'Something For The Weekend'
Nina Nastasia - 'Bird Of Cuzco'
The Delgados - 'Pull The Wires From The Wall'
Belle & Sebastian - 'Lazy Line Painter Jane'
Laura Cantrell - 'Two Seconds'
Orbital - 'Chime'
Elmore James - 'Dust My Blues'