THE JOHN PEEL SESSIONS, PART 3
This will be my third post on songs recorded for the legendary UK disc jockey John Peel, and it never gets old. I actively collect songs recorded for the Peel Sessions for a few reasons. First, John Peel had absolutely spotless taste in music. The bands he helped break could fill the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. Name a punk, post punk, new wave, or alternative band, and chances are that John Peel had em on his show.
For those not familiar with the Peel Sessions, the short of it is that he would have the bands come into the BBC studios, and in one day lay down four songs. They were then mixed the same day, giving the recordings a kind of rough edge to em. As Wikipedia says, the recordings are somewhere between live versions and polished studio versions. All I know it that it’s a big bunch of sweet ear candy. My only question is aimed at those out there that grew up with BBC1…did you listen to John Peel, and was it as great a time as I imagine it to be? I would love to have listened to him live, at least once.
The video is of Joy Division doing Love Will Tear Us Apart. I believe the video footage is regular video, NOT of their Peel Session. But the audio IS from the session, and has that nice, rough around the edges feel to it. Enjoy!
Download iPod Video:Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart (Peel Session Version)
- Gene – Save Me I’m Yours (Peel Session)
- Fire Engines – Candyskin (Peel Session)
- Pavement – Kentucky Cocktail (Peel Session)
- Siouxsie & The Banshees – Hong Kong Garden (Peel Session)
- Mercury Rev – Planet Caravan (Peel session)
- Strawberry Switchblade – Sixty Cowboys (Peel Session)
- Wire – 99.9 (Peel Session)
- Man Or Astro-Man – Lo Bat (Peel session)
- Interpol – N.Y.C.
- My Bloody Valentine – I Can See It (But I Can’t Feel It)
- Billy Bragg – A New England (Peel Sessions)
- The Fall – No Xmas For John Quays (Peel Sessions)
- The Smiths – How Soon Is Now (Peel Sessions)
- Joy Division – Transmission (Peel Session)
- Galaxie 500 – Final Day
April 25th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
I have loads of dusty old c60’s crammed with music recorded in glorious mono direct from the wireless, John Peel’s show was always worth listening to. He was quite a droll man too, good for a laugh.
I think he had a recording studio in his home, and many of the peel sessions were created there.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
@mac:
Now see, your my new hero in life!
I’ve heard bits and pieces of his shows where I can get it, and while he may not have been colorful, he was great at what he did. I recently found the John Peel Punk Rock Special from 1976, and it was just about the greatest radio show I ever heard.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
I suppose you’ve seen the many odds and ends available for download/listening on the BBC website, if not then take some time as it’s well worthwhile.
And in the spirit of things, fond and all as I am of your bit of the web, indeed it’s one of the best in my opinon, you really could do with more Fall. But then, one could say that of almost any situation in life.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
@mac:
I am going to agree 100% with you on The Fall. Given my fondness for them, I’m pretty much at a loss to explain why I haven’t featured em more. Thanks for the suggestion..it’s one that I’ll be taking action on soon, I promise you that!
I absolutely love the BBC site. You could get lost for day on that site, and never get bored. I’ve not spent a great deal of time on the music page…I end up there every so often. But I did read a white paper on the technology that the music portion of the site is built on…boring yes, except for the geek IT pro in me.