Archive for the ‘on the telly’ Category
- A brief history of JP on TOTP #3: Alphaville – September 1984
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.
- A brief history of JP on TOTP #2: Howard Jones – June, 1984
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.
- A brief history of JP on TOTP #1: The Cure – July, 1983
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.
- The legend of the TOTP audience
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?
- The blogger’s choice Festive 50 2009: 20 – 11
Here we are then, with the decade about to end. It’s frightening to think that there will be soon be parts of the 1970s that will be forty years ago.
Here be the penultimate part of the festive countdown…
20 The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Stay Alive (Adam – Fades in Slowly)
19 Bats For Lashes – Two Planets (Adam – Fades in Slowly)
18 The Silence – Hi Fi Woman (1979 Peel session version) (Stewy – Mr. obscure)
17 The Wannadies – Might Be Stars (Adam – Pretending life is like a song)
16 Big Boss Man – Beat Breakfast (Dave – Planet Mondo)
15 Richard Hawley – For Your Lover Give Some Time (Davy – Ghost of Electricity)
14 St. Vincent – Actor Out Of Work (Ed – 17 seconds)
13 Cats on fire – Horoscope (Jim – Vinyl villain)
12 Carl Orff – Carmina Burana Ecce Gratum (Steve – Teenage Kicks)
11 Gardeners Question Time – I Saw God (Short Version) (Kris – Burning World)
Listen ye now…
Just in case you’ve had better things to do, you might have missed 50 to 41, 40 to 31 and 30 to 21.
Back in 1984, Martina Extra Dry cost you £2.28 a bottle.
- Christmas Day TOTP 1981
This is the Christmas Day edition of Top Of The Pops from 1981, presented by Andy Peebles, Paul Burnett, Paul Gambaccini, Dave Lee Travis, Adrian Juste, Simon Bates, David Kid Jensen,Tony Blackburn, Steve Wright, Peter Powell, Jimmy Saville, Richard Skinner, Mike Read and John Peel making his first appearance since 1968. Happy Christmas everyone!
Lamentably, the audio to parts 1, 6 and 7 has been disabled by internet bastards.
- The Rolling Stones at the BBC: 1963 and 1964 (Part 1)
Like The Beatles, the Stones’ early ’60 s gigs were ruined by howling, screaming teenage girls who’d drown out any attempt to record the shows. What exists are – still never officially released – studio sessions the band recorded for broadcast on BBC radio. While the Stones were never as prolific as the Beatles at the BBC, there are some gems.
The Rolling Stones at the BBC: 1963/64
The tracks ‘Memphis Tennessee’, ‘Roll over Beethoven’ and ‘Come on’ were recorded for Saturday Club on September 23rd, 1963 and broadcast on October 26th of that year.
These four songs, ‘Mona’, ‘Route 66’, ‘Cops and robbers’ and ‘You better move on’ were recorded for Blues in Rhythm on March 19th, 1964 and broadcast on May 9th.
‘2120 South Michigan Avenue’ was recorded for Blues in Rhythm on October 8th, 1964 and broadcast on October 31st, while ‘Not fade away’ was recorded for Saturday Club on April 13th, 1964 and broadcast on April 18th.
The final four songs for today, ‘High heeled sneakers’, ‘Little by little’, ‘I just want to make love to you’ and ‘I’m moving on’ were recorded live on the Joe Loss show on April 10th, 1964.
This is only part one, when a few people have left a comment to tell me how lovely the music is, I’ll post part two.
While we’re at it, here’s one of my favourite versions of ‘Not fade away’ by the Scotch Video Tape Skeleton:
- TOTP classics: JP introduces Orange Juice, 1983
The year is 1983 and TOTP has become one of the biggest and most prominent endorsements for Thatcherism imagineable. You can learn a hell of a lot about the spirit of the time by watching the audience for this performance from one of the most famous non-festive 50 bands of them all. JP is typically magnificent in his ‘while all around you lose their heads‘ attitude…
- John Peel in Dallas
Thanks to Dave (Fillerzine) for this little gem. another very lazy post, I’m afraid, this info taken straight from YouTube. Some great footage, especially good to finally see exactly where JP was standing when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot:
John Peel, recorded June 23,1996:
‘I went over there the beginning-to-middle of 1960. The first radio programs I did were on a station called WRR in Dallas and they had a rhythm & blues program called Kats Karavan, spelled inevitably with two K’s. I’d gotten some British LPs of blues and rhythm & blues stuff that were only available in Britain, or in Europe anyway, so I went along and played them some of those records and they put me on the radio to talk about them. I thought they’d probably put me on there because of my extraordinary knowledge of the music, but I think in fact they probably put me on there because they found my accent very entertaining because in those days I used to talk a bit like Prince Charles.
This was not the day that Lee Harvey Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby; it was a few days before that. It was when he was kind-of presented to the press as the man who’d been arrested and charged. And, I mean, it was just one of those things that — Earlier on when the assassination first happened, and I’d been – I used to work here for an insurance company on Central Expressway, so I was able to get into town pretty quickly. I was an office boy, so I could come and go as I pleased, and so when I heard about the assassination, it was announced on the P.A. in the office, and I just drove into town and went to the police cordon and told the policeman, I said, “I’m from The Liverpool Echo” and instead of telling me to piss-off, he let me through. It’s one of those things which sounds so bizarre. And I walked down – I didn’t go to the grassy knoll – I just stood on the other side of the road and kind of watched what was going on until frankly it became boring. It’s hard to imagine that it did, but after I stood there about 40 minutes and watching people scurrying about, so I then went and made what I’d said kind-of retrospectively true and phoned The Liverpool Echo, and funnily they weren’t terribly interested. I thought, Cripes, here’s my chance because I’ve always wanted to be in journalism, so I thought, hey, this is my chance to get into journalism. I could be The Liverpool Echo’s “Man in Dallas”, but they really didn’t care. So I was a bit wounded by that, but then that night a mate of mine and I had been driving around and were trying to figure out what to do, and at the end of the evening I said, why don’t we go down to the police headquarters and see what’s going on. And we got down there, and I said to this policeman, I said “what’s happening?” And he said, “Well, actually there’s a press conference down here,” pointing to a flight of steps into the basement of the building – “there’s a press conference in here in a few minutes.” And I said, “Well, actually I’m from The Liverpool Echo and this is my photographer,” and we went down there. I mean, we didn’t have a pen or paper or camera between us, but we went in there anyway. It’s a story that I’ve told so often that you get to the point where you don’t really believe it yourself, it just seems so unlikely. But then in one of the bits of film of that press conference, we were all standing in this room and they had the identification parade in the basement of this building and they said – Henry Wade said – that this is the man that’s been charged in the assassination of President Kennedy, and they brought in Lee Harvey Oswald. And he stood there looking slightly puzzled and alarmed for a while, and then was taken away again. In one of the films of this, which they showed on British television, they showed that Jack Ruby was in the room as well – which I didn’t know he was until I saw this film they sort-of panned across the room and in the last few frames you can see me and my friend Bob standing there looking like tourists.
None at all, no. I wish, I don’t know, y’know, I think, I mean, everybody else does, but I think we’ll probably never know the truth.’
John Peel, interview recorded June 23, 1996. Published Sept. 1996 (Filler #5). Soundtrack music “Comment Naissent des Meduses” from “Science is Fiction,” written & performed by Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan, James McNew (Yo La Tengo).
- Peel and Star Trek
musical careers of various Star Trek folks:
