 THE widow of legendary Wirral DJ John Peel last night paid tribute to her husband on a night-long tribute broadcast on Radio 1. Sheila Peel dedicated a special song to John on the John Peel Tribute Night. The song wasn't only made in Liverpool, but is about Liverpool - Does This Train Stop on Merseyside? by Liverpool band Amsterdam. "At first, I said 'no' when I was asked if I'd do it, because I'm not very good at that sort of thing," she said before going on air. "But I am going to do it, and some of the children have been thinking about what they'd like to play. "John just really loved the Amsterdam song. He always became really emotional when he played it. I could guarantee that every time he played it he would end up in floods of tears. He just wasn't capable of playing it without crying. "I think it was because he thought it was the quintessential Merseyside song and Merseyside was a place which just meant so much to him. It broke his heart. It isn't a sad, depressing song, but a melancholy one." Sheila, 55, added: "If he played it on the radio, he'd have to put something else on immediately afterwards, because he wouldn't be able to speak. And when he played it at home he'd always need a cuddle afterwards." Ian Prowse, Amsterdam song-writer and frontman, was touched to hear that Sheila wanted to play his song, explaining: "John told me he loved the song and that it really moved him and, as a songwriter, you really can't ask for anything more than that." John, who was born John Robert Parker Ravenscroft in Heswall in 1939, loved Liverpool - and Liverpool FC - with a passion. He and Sheila even wore red and white on their wedding day in honour of his beloved team - and he helped to launch many Merseyside bands, including Echo And The Bunnymen, The Mighty Wah! and Half Man Half Biscuit. Since John died, aged 65, on October 25, after suffering a heart attack while on a working holiday with his wife in Peru, Sheila and her family have been over-whelmed with messages of love and condolences. She said: "So many people have been so enormously kind and yes, it does make you feel better. John would never have believed the response, because he wasn't a boastful man. He would have been beside himself." Sheila and the couple's four children, William, 28, Alexandra, 26, Thomas, 24 and Florence (Flossie) 22, were also deeply moved by the warm tributes made by so many people immediately after John died, and the funeral service at St Edmunds-bury Cathedral, Bury St Edmunds, which was attended by a host of music industry figures and hundreds of John's devoted fans and listeners to his shows. "I knew people valued John, but I didn't think there would be such a public display of love and affection. It was quite heart-warming and quite wonderful. We were all enormously touched."In the last months of his life, John had been working on his autobiography and Sheila confirmed that his family will be finishing it. | 
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