Eggs Peel Session 1994

I posted in praise of Eggs a couple of years back but I can’t say I ever remembered them doing a Peel Session. Apparently though, they did and I’m an idiot who missed it.

Looking back it’s no real surprise I don’t remember it (or UK gigs they did on the same visit) as that summer included a holiday in Greece, my Grandad dying, the seeds of a horribly complicated love quadrangle developing, the seeds of a horribly complicated post-grunge band developing and an awful lot of nights out drinking, clubbing and generally wrecking myself (mentally and physically).

As a result, listening to it now is a bit of a revelation. The opening track “March Of The Triumphant Elephants” is an electronic instrumental on the album but for the Peel Session it’s given the full band treatment. The exact same song but with guitars & drums instead of synths. Glorious.

“A Pit With Spikes” was always one of my favourite tracks on the record and here they sound like a band who’ve relaxed totally in to a song. The opening section is ridiculously laid-back and by the time they get to the disco falsetto section it sounds like it could all fall in a heap at any moment. Then at the very end, a brief 8 bars of Thin Lizzy-style dual lead breaks out. Well, of course it does.

“Words” appeared posthumously on the “How Do You Like Your Lobster?” single compilation and the version here is not a million miles from it, but with added bossanova rhythm. Annoyingly only the first 2 minutes of the Peel Session track survive due to a pesky tape flip.

The final track “Maureen’s Beans” is again radically different to the album version. Where the original was drumless and almost whispered, here the band go flat out and it sounds like the Maida Vale 4 Grand Piano gets a hammering. Peel ends the track by virtually announcing the bands demise.

30 July 1994 Maida Vale 4
Produced by Paul Allen and Engineered by Fred Kay

1. March Of The Triumphant Elephants
2. A Pit With Spikes
3. Words (recording cuts out early)
4. Maureen's Beans

Andrew Beaujon – Guitar, Vocals
Robert Christiansen - Guitar, Trombone, Keyboards, Vocals
John Rickman - Drums
Evan Shurak – Bass

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Kitchens Of Distinction - Peel Session 23rd August 1992

Oh go on - while I'm at it. If anyone thinks I am working through these DAT-sourced Peel Sessions in alphabetical order then you might be right (for today at least)

I first heard Kitchens Of Distinction in 1989 when Peel played their debut single "Prize". I immediately went out and bought it and then got progressively less interested in them, but listening to their back catalog a few weeks ago I was reminded that actually, they were a great band. Maybe that loss of interest was more down to me going away to Poly and finding myself drowning in a sea of excellent music and gigs almost every night. I never saw Kitchens Of Distinction though - did they tour much? Who knows.

Also a mystery is why it took three years for them to get their first Peel Session. We may never know, but here it is..

Peel Session August 23rd 1992

Producer - Mike Engles
Engineer - Dave Mccarthy
Studio - Maida Vale 3

TRACKLIST

1. Four Men
2. Mad As Snow
3. When In Heaven
4. Blue Pedal

LINE UP

Patrick Fitzgerald (Bass, Vocals)
Julian Swales (Guitar, Harmonica)
Dan Goodwin (Drums)

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Kit - Peel Session 28 November 1989

To celebrate John Peel Day I thought I'd post another obscure Peel Session (again direct from the source DAT not off-air recording).

This one came from Liverpool band Kit, who only released a handful of records at the back-end of the 80's. They made a sort of indie-skiffle sound and the singer perfected her wobbly-larynx vocal style long before that pant-wetter from Bright Eyes did it.

There doesn't seem to be much out there on the web but here's a couple more links:

http://music-isms.blogspot.com/2010/04/kit-singles-1989-90.html

http://www.myspace.com/kitliverpoolband

Peel Session November 28th 1989

Producer - Dale Griffin
Engineer - Mike Robinson
Studio - Maida Vale 5

TRACKLIST

1. How To Break This
2. Up On A Wire
3. Cheatin' My Heart
4. What If I Fell

LINE UP

Lin Sangster (Guitar, Vocals)
Michelle Brown (Bass)
Tony Smith (Drums)
Kenny Manson (Guitar)
Phil Luckin (Trumpet)



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Ian McCulloch Peel Session 4-Dec-1989

Another DAT-sourced Peel Session in pristine quality – this time from Ian McCulloch circa his first solo album “Candleland”.

Given that the Bunnymen hadn’t done a Peel Session for a good 6 years prior to this, I was never sure if this was because Peel had just gone off them or if they were simply above it all once they made it big in the States? Nonetheless I have good memories of this session going out and Peel sounded as enthusiastic as ever. That said, there seems to have been a 3 month gap between recording and transmission, so it may not have been a priority for the show to broadcast it.

Anyway – we have three tracks from Candleland and a 4th track “Damnation” that would end up on the 2nd solo album “Mysterio”.

I really liked the Candleland album but bear in mind that this was around the time that the Bunnymen were still ploughing ahead without McCulloch (and yes I did see them play in Bootle at their “comeback” gig – it wasn’t pretty) so it didn’t take much to win that particular battle..

The Peel Session versions were much less polished and lacked the 80’s production sheen of the album so they actually sound better in retrospect.

EDIT - reupped with the squeal in the middle of Damnation sorted out! Sorry about that

Tracklist:

01 - Faith And Healing
02 - Flickering Wall
03 - Damnation
04 - Candleland

Line Up:

Ian McCulloch: Guitar & Vocals
Steve Humphreys: Drums
Edgar Summertime: Bass
John McEvoy: Guitar
Mike Mooney: Guitar & Keyboards




Ian McCulloch - 1989 Peel Session

Cranes Peel Session 1990

A quick response to a request via the Peel Group. Here we have the 2nd Peel Session from Cranes. I always thought of them as a sort of demonic Cocteau Twins.

Bought their mini album after hearing their 1st Peel Session back at University in 1989, but never really followed them much further than that. Saw them live at the Duchess Of York and the singer spent the whole gig looking like she was about to burst into tears. Maybe she was?

Tracks:
1. Give
2. Da Da 133 (I Dreamed)
3. Inescapable

The quality on this is perfect as it was sourced from a pre-broadcast DAT (so no FM compression). Thanks to the original provider of the tracks - you know who you are.


Cranes - Peel Session 1990

James Kirk

Yesterday was one of those brilliant days where things conspire to make you smile constantly.

We woke up to the news that my chum Steve Domino (and more specifically his good lady wife) had given birth to a baby girl. Had an hour or so of breakfast time hanging out with our own baby and then found great quality New Order bootleg from 1985 online and spent the rest of the morning listening to it.

I’d put a load of our old crap on Ebay too and that finished around lunchtime and breaking the three figure barrier by the time it all closed.

Back home later for tea time with the baby and then on to see Derby County beat the Dirty Leeds United scum (coming back from 1-0 down in a majestic performance with a stunning winning goal) with my eldest. He’s been totally off football recently as he’s turned 15 and discovered some of the more exciting things in life, but the win had us both on a high and we talked about music all the way home. He’s just getting into Nirvana and we had an awkward father-son moment when I mentioned the Incesticide album. He said “Dad – what’s a b-side?”

I was still smiling this morning, and just when I thought things couldn’t get much better I received a whole bunch of Peel Sessions in the email – sourced directly from the recordings on DAT (ie pre-broadcast quality). Some of these I’d never heard before and some were great sessions that I only had on old hissy tapes.

So to spread the joy I propose another Peel Sessions week like the one I had back in September last year. Probably starting in Easter week. Watch this space

And for no particular reason other than it makes me feel like a good summer is just around the corner, here's an obscure track from ex-Orange Juice legendary guitarist James Kirk. Inventor of the JANGLE!

James Kirk - Faraway Station

Peel Session Week #7: - Ivor Cutler 15th June 1987

Hard to belive it's well over 4 years since Ivor Cutler passed away

This session was the first time I ever heard him and after the initial confusion I quickly came to realise I was listening to a genius.

All of the stories told in this session are superb and featured in the book Fremsley but it's Cutler's delivery that really makes them come alive. I remember my sister coming into my room wondering why on earth I had an ageing Scottish man with me. It didn't take long before she was hooked too.

Ivor Cutler - Peel Session 15th June 1987

01 The Shapely Balloon
02 The Clever Night Doctor
03 The Aggressive Onion-Vendor
04 Me And My Kid Brother
05 The Perambulating Scottish Collander
06 A Wag At The Flicks

Peel Session Week #6: The Shamen - 12th April 1988

In retrospect The Shamen are possibly the unhippest thing I could post. Images of Mr C bobbing around off his tits on e's and whizz come to mind, but back in 1988 (ie pre-ecstasy culture) I thought they were a great band.

This session includes my favourite single "Knature Of A Girl" which was typical of the industrial psychedelic pop they peddled in the early days.

"War Prayer" and "Misinformation" are two sample-heavy tracks that featured on the album "In Gorbachev We Trust" - the record which heavily sign-posted their imminent change of direction

The 3rd track "Nothing" is otherwise unreleased as far as I can tell

The Shamen - Peel Session 12th April 1988

01 Knature Of A Girl
02 War Prayer
03 Nothing
04 Misinformation

Peel Session Week #5: Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet 26th June 1993

I was always going to like a band with a name like Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet and this session highlights their guitar instrumental chops quite nicely.

I was never sure whether the Shadowy bit was a reference to The Shadows, because they have that Hank Marvin twang which bears more than a passing resemblance at times.

The last track is a corker - essentially being a medley of brief riff-snippets (riffets?) from cliched encore songs. Can you spot them all?


Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - Peel Session 26th June 1993

01 Telepathetic
02 They Used To Pay Him To Watch The Trains
03 The Jehrny
04 16 Encores

Peel Session Week #4: Scratch Perverts 26th January 1999

This session from Scratch Perverts caught me by surpise as I didn't expect it to be that interesting. How wrong I was. A relentless 30 minute lesson in A+ scratching. Astonishing stuff.

Scratch Perverts - Peel Session 26th Jan 1999

Peel Session Week #3: Foreheads In A Fishtank - 24th August 1991

I thought this session from Foreheads In A Fishtank was a killer when I first taped it and promptly bought the Happy Shopper single (which reached Number 21 in the 1991 Festive Fifty). As Peel quite rightly pointed out, the singer "managed to sound like Noddy Holder & Morrissey within the same song" and the style of music was totally at odds to the burgeoning grunge movement that was taking shape.

The album "Buttocks" was a bit of a disappointment and I don't think they reached these heights again (although they did release a completely bizarre cover version of Haircut 100's "Favourite Shirts" as a single a few years later that was quite entertaining)

Foreheads In A Fishtank - Peel Session 24th August 1991

01 Sylvester's Mother
02 British Telecom
03 Happy Shopper
04 Sex And Drugs And..

Peel Session Week #2: The Hepburns - 17th April 1989

Another session that I taped without knowing anything about the band, but The Hepburns had a good name (not to be confused with the later all-girl pop-rock monstrosity Hepburn) so I took a punt.

Excellent it was too, but their records seemed devlishly hard to find - in fact I don’t think any of these session tracks were ever officially released apart from "Where You Belong" which turned up on a fanzine flexi.

The band hold a special place in my heart because on my first day at University in Leeds I discovered Jumbo Records and was astounded to find one their records ("Electrified 12") which I snapped up and took back to my room. I listened to it non-stop and even now I can smell Jasmine joss sticks when I hear those songs. Aaah! Isn't it amazing the things a simple piece of music can do?

The band seemed to have been rejuvenated at the turn of the century and have released quite a lot of stuff since then - check it all out here

The Hepburns - Peel Session 17th April 1989

01 Believe Me
02 Tonight The World Of Entertainment
03 Where You Belong
04 You Must Have Had It All

Peel Session Week #1: Benny Profane - 6th June 1988

Benny Profane were a band that I saw play many times in the late eighties/early nineties and they never failed to impress. I remember one particularly strange gig seeing them support Echo & The Bunnymen (the debut gig of the Mac-less Echoes Of The Bunnymen line-up) in Bootle, surrounded by a who's who of the Liverpool music scene. I thought Benny Profane stole the show that night as they played a storming set with the air of a band who knew they had nothing to lose

This Peel Session came just after I first saw the video for their single "Rob A Bank" on the late night ITV indie music program (the name of which escapes me but was consistently excellent). The single was scheduled to come out on Ediesta Records but disappeared, along with so many other releases when the Red Rhino distribution network collapsed.

The band then released two albums in quick succession (both featured new versions of two tracks each from this session) and boom..split up.

I love all four songs on this session but Dave Jackson's lyrics on track 4 slay me every time..a true unsung indie hero


When he grabbed the microphone
He knocked his front teeth right out
And that was the last time
He sang without dentures


Benny Profane - Peel Session 6th April 1988

01 Beam Me Up
02 Everything
03 Rob A Bank
04 Quickdraw McGraw Meets Dead-Eye Dick

Close Lobsters Peel Session

I used to have this Peel Session on cassette - recorded one evening in 1988 when the reception was particularly bad (at the time my parents lived next door to a morse-code hobbyist who had some sort of Jodrell Bank going on in his garden that used to mess with my stereo in a big way), and it's upset me for 20 years that I never had a decent copy of it.

Forever linked with the C86 movement their debut album "Foxheads Stalk This Land" was a fine collection of songs but suffered from some failry horrendous 80's production values - particularly the drums.

This session featured three songs from the follow-up EP - "What Is There To Smile About" (probably my favourite Lobsters record) and a cover of "Mirror Breaks" by The Mob (about whom I know nothing but they have a Wikipedia page if you're interested.)

I was happy to see that 6music were re-broadcasting the session in its entirety last week so I dutifully grabbed the audio and here it is:

Close Lobsters - John Peel Session BBC Radio 1 (4th Jan 1988)

Session Details here

The following year they released their final album "Headache Rhetoric" and we saw them play a fantastic typically shambolic gig at Trent Polytechic. Talking to the band afterwards it was clear that they were all absolutely pissed beyond words and having a great time. They remain heroes in my house.

Nico 1974 Peel Session

I seem to only do requests these days, and here's another. The first Nico Peel Session was released on Strange Fruit in the late 1980's and was the first time I heard any of her solo stuff. Astonishingly dark with wheezing harmonium and elongated vowels. I probably heard the word "teutonic" for the first time when I saw it reviewed. Or maybe that was a Michael Schenker Group review in Kerrang circa 1984?

Her second session was never released, so here it is. I remember reading on Henry Rollins blog that he wanted to hear a copy so I emailed him but he never replied. I guess he was probably busy lifting weights or frowning.

Three of the tracks came from the 1974 album "The End" but are just performed by just Nico, none of the Eno / Cale mucking about over the top. The 9 minute version of The Doors song is a masterclass in bleakness.

This is for Starman015

1. We've Got The Gold
2. Janitor Of Lunacy
3. The End
4. You Forgot To Answer

Recorded 3rd December 1974

Here

I, Ludicrous Peel Session

Unsurprisingly another Peel Session request fulfillment post..this time for Steve at Teenage Kicks

It's the one and only Peel Session that I, Ludicrous recorded - 21 fun filled years ago..

Since their classic debut flexi release "Preposterous Tales" the band have continued to record albums & gig sporadically, in fact I saw them for the first time supporting The Fall in Sheffield earlier this year and they were, indeed, fabulous

The two highlights of this session for me are "Quite Extraordinary" - the tribute to ex-BBC sports commentator and "A Question Of Sport" host David Coleman (who I have to admit I thought was dead, but apparently not) and "A Pop Fan's Dream (Sunday Lunch With The Geldofs)" wherein the narrator wins a competition to have a meal with Bob Geldof, his lovely wife Paula (Yates - now she IS dead) and their daughter Fifi Trixibelle (Peaches and Pixie weren't even born at this point). A story told with such a perfect level of sincerity that you can't quite tell how serious they are being until the final line delivers the pay-off.

The band had an excellent new EP out this year called "Dirty Washing" which I heartily recommend and you can buy it from their website

I, Ludicrous - Peel Session 1987

The Family Cat 3rd Peel Session 1992

As requested on the posting of the first two Family Cat Peel Sessions at The Perfumed Garden today. Here is the third excellent session featuring stuff from their second and (probably best) album "Furthest From The Sun".

As always the Peel Session versions have an energy lacking in the officially released versions.

EDIT - now re-upped and taken from the MV DAT source (original file was from my off-air tape)

1. Furthest From The Sun
2. Too Many Late Nights
3. River Of Diamonds
4. Prog One

Download

This Poison

This is another John Peel Session request from the new forum just started by the excellent Perfumed Garden blog, which you can join here

This Poison released a couple of singles on The Wedding Present's Reception label, before disappearing again, only to resurface as a distant memory 17 years later when Egg Records released an excellent anthology of their studio output. There isn't a lot more to say that isn't already said on the Egg Records biog page for the band and I thoroughly recommend you buy a copy of the CD. Cos it's ACE.

The Peel Session doesn't feature on the CD and I remember taping it off the radio a month after George Best came out, purely because "the Wedding Present release their records so they must be good". I wasn't wrong.

This Poison! Peel Session November 1987

Best Gig I Ever Done See #5 - Will Oldham Palace Bonnie Prince Bullshit Whatever

Palace Brothers
Nottingham, The Narrowboat 7th June 1994


I somehow missed the very first Palace Brothers gig when they came to Nottingham in 1993 and did all the stuff from the first album, so I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't miss them the next time. Except when the next time came it wasn't a "them" it was a "him".

The second album hadn't been released when he played at The Narrowboat in (early summer) 1994 so I didn't realise it was just Will Oldham and a guitar, and at first felt a little short-changed when I realised that was the format for the gig too. At this point in my life I'd probably never even seen someone play acoustic guitar to so many attentive people in such a small room, but it was dictionary-definition spine-tingling (this was way before anti-folk and alt.country made this sort of thing commonplace.)

Will sat down and my first thoughts were "jesus he's ugly". Sadly he hasn't improved with age either..

Next he introduced a song with the words - this is called "I am a cinematographer" and when, at first, the lyrics seemed to be that phrase repeated over and over, there were people around me stifling giggles like they'd just turned up to a concert at the special school.

The evening progressed and the audience settled in as Will did a few tracks from the first album, then the giggles started again when he introduced "a song by Prince" - of course he was joking we thought...but no it was a gorgeous sparse rendition of "The Cross" from Sign O' The Times, which sat perfectly within the context of the religious imagery in Will's other songs. Was he joking? Part of me wonders if everything Will Oldham does is a joke I just don't get. That beard even?

When I got home the first thing I did was get my flatmate to play the Prince version (as I didn't own any Prince records - I was still scarred from my mate refusing to lend me the Purple Rain soundtrack when we were at school so I could offend my parents with the track about the girl wanking herself off with a copy of Cosmo). Anyway - I listened to it a lot for the next few weeks and it's still a big favourite.

So here is NOT the Prince version but the 2nd Palace Brothers Peel Session recorded on this visit to the UK, including aforesaid reading of "The Cross"

Will Oldham Peel Session 29 July 1994

The Sundays Peel Session

As requested on the John Peel Yahoogroups mailing list - The Sundays Peel Session from March 1989...back when they were the next big thing. Ripped this from my old cassette copy this afternoon - the sound is pretty good for a nearly 20 year old tape.

The Sundays - Peel Session 06 March 1989

*UPLOAD LINK FIXED - NOW HOSTED WITH MEDIAFIRE SO CLICK THROUGH**