PJ Harvey

Joe writes: When I first started listening to Radio 1, Mark Goodier presented the Evening Session and of course John Peel was a fixture. Songs that stick in my head from what was a period of discovery for me include Here and Trigger Cut by Pavement, Jesus Built My Hotrod by Ministry, and Sheela Na Gig by PJ Harvey:

I've now learnt what Sheela Na Gig is thanks to the YouTube comments (knowledge was not so accessible in the era of Mark Goodier's Evening Session). What a way to announce yourself as an artist.

Just last week I saw this photo displayed in a venue, and it was so familiar despite the fact that I hadn't seen it for 15 years or so:

I think I may have torn some PJ Harvey photos out of Select magazine and Blu-Tacked them to my bedroom wall.

I was at the Mercury awards the first time PJ Harvey won, on September 11th 2001. Here's You Said Something from that album Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea:

I was pleased that PJ Harvey won the Mercury Music Prize again tonight. I hope this will encourage more artists to engage with politics in their music, as Polly has done on Let England Shake. And I'm going to spend more time with Let England Shake, which is the kind of reaction the Mercurys are supposed to inspire I guess.

I wish there were more artists like PJ Harvey. Well done to the Mercury judges for recognising her.