Right On!           

Peter Young

Peter Young, aka PY, sadly 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 single-handedly responsible for introducing new generations to soulful Black music via his hugely influential radio show, The Soul Cellar, which he started in 1979.

The Soul Cellar was a celebration of the r&b music of Black America, mainly from the late 50s through to the early 80s, but generally con­cen­trating on the golden era of the 60s and 70s. Motown, Stax, Atlantic, Chess, Phila­del­phia and some of the smaller labels from the Southern States made up the back­bone of the show.

It was always Peter Young's ambition to be involved in music and he cites radio pre­sen­ter Alan ‘Fluff’ Freeman as an inspi­ration for making every­thing he played sound exciting. PY remem­bers buying his first soul record at the age of twelve: “Fingertips” by another 12-year old, Little Stevie Wonder. This was on the UK Oriole label and was picked up from Edgware Electrics in 1963.

photo © Peter Young

PY worked for Capital Radio for 15 years and briefly for BBC Radio, but moved back to Jazz FM — the station he regarded as home, having been one of its original presenters when it launched in 1990.

In 2004, Peter Young celeb­rated 25 years of The Soul Cellar and played a rare live set at Right On! to mark the occa­sion. Describing the event, he said, “I really enjoyed it. 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.”

Soul Cellar (2010)
Soul Cellar (2006)
Soul Cellar Vol.2 (2006)