Fades in Slowly

The middle of August, 1979 and I’d just turned 6. That’s me in the picture above, apparently. JP was on good form, although I was still a bit young to fully appreciate his genius. This was a shame really, as I was about to miss the one and only session by The Police. Not only did Sting and chums have a single in the top ten at the time, they also finally realised their dream of getting a Peel session, not that JP himself was terribly impressed by their effort. Other highlights of the mid August show included Dolly Mixtures first and only session. Full as possible details of the show have been lovingly cobbled together by my friends over at the Peel wiki, and you can download the little gem here.

Elsewhere, another band who, like the Police, had ‘pestered’ JP greatly to get on the show – U2 – were making their first big radio interview. Michael Jackson released his first breakthrough album Off the Wall, and on the telly we were treated to the very scary – I was 6 – Sapphire and Steel, among other things. Am I the only one who’d completely forgotten about Outer Spacers?

Here’s what magazines looked like back then.

If you want to look through the entire mid-August 1979 edition of Smash Hits, you can do so by clicking here (courtesy of the remarkable Like Punk Never Happened).

Unbelievably busy and haven’t been able to dedicate any time to the blog, this situation hasn’t changed so this is just a quickie to let you know I haven’t fallen off the face of the Earth.

Here we have the first of the four sessions that James recorded.

Recorded on 3rd October, 1983 and tranzmitted on the 19th of that month, it waz produced by the legendary Tony Wilson at Maida Vale 4.

James’ first session: October, 1983

TRACKLIST

Vulture
The Chicken Wire
Discipline
Hymn From A Village

LINE UP

Tim Booth (Lead Vocals)
James Glennie (Bass)
Paul Gilbertson (Guitar)
Gavan Whelan (Drums)

Will try to be back soon…

By 1984, JP had become a legendary figure on TOTP, appearing on an almost monthly basis and generally putting his cat among the pop pigeons. This was the seventh program hosted John Peel that year, notably being the first occasion he teamed up with his second long-term sidekick, Janice Long.

Among appearances by Bucks Fizz, Spandau Ballet, Sister Sledge, Level 42, Stevie Wonder and Elton John was this performance of a true ’80s classic from Alphaville with their legendary Big In Japan.

If you have any more info about this show, please add it to the wiki here.

You may well love this band but I can’t even bring myself to listen to this session. Horrible, indulgent nonsense. Enjoy…

Genesis 01/04/1970

Produced by Alec Reid and engineered by Nick Gomm at Maida Vale 4 in London on 22nd February, 1970. Listened to by countless beardy weirdies. Discussion about whether or not this is even a Peel session can be found here.

TRACK LIST

-The Shepherd
-Pacidy
-Let Us Now Make Love
-Stagnation
-Looking For Someone
-Dusk (sorry, but I don’t have this track)

Listen now…

LINE UP

-Peter Gabriel (Vocals/Flute)
-Mike Rutherford (Bass, Guitar, Vocals)
-Tony Banks (Keyboards)

Phil Collins would join later that year.

Little did we know it back then, but this was the last time the world would see the celebrated Peel / Jensen TOTP partnership. What better way to go out than by introducing this synth-pop classic.

I remember watching this one as well; Jones was a big favourite on the playground that summer. Also featured were Spandau Ballet, Evelyn Thomas, Bananarama, Bronski Beat and Wham! For more info on this show, or to add anything more that you know about it, click here.

Hi all, sorry for the extended absence, I’ve been fairly busy putting in a shift at the John Peel wiki (about time, I know). I’ve been concentrating on the curious cases of Peel’s appearances on Top of the Pops. I’m almost done now, just a few shows from his halcyon years of the early eighties left to fill in. For a full picture of those magical TV appearances, click here.

The main reason it’s taken me so long is that every time I trawl through the youtube archives, I stop and watch all the clips I find. So, I’ve decided to share some of the highlights with you. Today you’ll be enjoying The Cure performing ‘The Walk’ in July, 1983, in a show that also featured the talents of Iron Maiden, ELO, Eurythmics, Rod Stewart and Mike Oldfield, as well as JP and Kid Jensen in ‘ska’ outfits.

I remember watching this one as it was the first time I’d ever heard Iron Maiden. For more info on this show, click here.

Last year’s blog post about the two Punishment of Luxury sessions proved one of my most popular, mainly because the links to the downloads died. Here they are again, finally.

thank you to Martin Wheatley at the John Peel radio show discussion group.

Second in notoriety only to the ‘shake and vac‘ lady are those poor souls who, for better or worse, volunteered their dancing services to Top of the Pops. Remember young ‘uns to look out for your mum or dad in these clips. I apologize profusely for the appearance of Spender at the beginning.

Peel and faithful sidekick Kid Jensen make an appearance at about 8:45 into this televisual delight. I never watched this but I’m guessing mid ’90s, based on the fact that Danny Baker is considerably less fat and unkempt than he is now.

Download and cherish forever?

Here we are with the first show of the new year, courtesy of Kevin on the JP radio show discussion group.

‘This 2 hour show was composed exclusively of sessions recorded in 1977 by bands who made their debut on the show in that year. “Sessions” is used slightly loosely, as it includes a recording of the Stranglers at the Roundhouse.’

If, like me, you’re already foaming at the mouth in anticipation, get a load of the track list:

The ’77 Sessions – 21st December, 1977

Motors – Bring In The Morning Light
Wreckless Eric – Semaphore Signals
Tom Robinson Band – We Ain’t Gonna Take It
Sham 69 – Borstal Breakout
Stranglers – Something Better Change
Rich Kids – Bulletproof Lover
Siouxsie & The Banshees – Suburban Relapse
Buzzcocks – Pulsebeat
Generation X – Day By Day
Sham 69 – Rip Off
Wreckless Eric – Go The Whole Wide World
Stranglers - Goodbye Toulouse
Tom Robinson Band - Long Hot Summer
Siouxsie & The Banshees – Mirage
Rich Kids – Rich Kids
Sham 69 – Hey Little Rich Boy
Buzzcocks – Fast Cars
Generation X – Youth Youth Youth
Motors – Emergency
Siouxsie & The Banshees – Love In A Void
Wreckless Eric – Rags And Tatters
Sham 69 – Don’t Understand
Tom Robinson Band – Don’t Take No For An Answer
Stranglers – Hanging Around
Rich Kids – Young Girls
Buzzcocks – What Do I Get?

Here be some visual stimuli:

If you have any more info on this show, please add it here.

My dear friends, here is the final part of the festive countdown… I hope you’ve enjoyed listening to this chart as much as I have cobbling it together. My laptop is resisting all attempts to Peelify the chart, so at the moment there’s only the zip file download available. I hope to remedy this in the next few days. Enjoy the top ten and have a great year.

10 Bob Marley – Punky Reggae Party (Adam – Fades in Slowly)
09 The Boys – First Time (Stewy – Mr. obscure)
08 Head Hands and Feet - Warming Up The Band (Dave – Planet Mondo)
07 Gustav Holst - Saturn, The Bringer Of Old Age (Steve – Teenage Kicks)
06 Smoke Fairies – Frozen heart (Davy – Ghost of Electricity)
05 Morrissey – I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris (Adam – Fades in Slowly)
04 The Fall – Slippy Floor (Mark Mix) (Kris – Burning World)
03 Butcher Boy – A Better Ghost (Jim – Vinyl villain)
02 Bloc Party – This Modern Love (Adam – Pretending life is like a song)
01 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero (Ed – 17 seconds)

I’m sure you’ve all had much better things to do, so you might have missed 50 to 41, 40 to 31, 30 to 21and even 20 to 11.

Now then, anyone remember The Price is Right?