Touched by the Hand of God was recorded by New Order in 1987 as both a standalone single and a contribution to the soundtrack of the film Salvation!, a comedy parodying televangelism - and how delicious it has been in 2020 to see those odiously, slick frauds melting down in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s defeat. It would be even better were it not for the large numbers of people that they have brainwashed or bullied into thinking that the vote is invalid because Trump lost.
But in October 1992, poking fun at the Christian Right was the last thing on John Peel’s mind when he played this. As he explained, the reasoning behind its airing on this edition of John Peel’s Music was altogether more celebratory:
The John Peel Roadshow was out and about in a manner of speaking last night....It was something like the third or the fourth or the fifth anniversary of The Waterfront in Norwich, it might even have been the second, I can’t remember at all. But I went along there to play one or two records, and it was quite moving actually because when I got up on stage, I couldn’t speak because there was so much cheering and shouting. I think they thought I was Andy Peebles to be quite honest with you. I soon got rid of them, I mean I cleared the dance floor in no time at all and ended up playing records to a deserted room, by and large. And this is one of the records that I played because, I’ll let you into a little dee-jaying secret here, what you tend to do is put on long records so that you can just stand there, look bored and wait for it all to end. And this is one of the records that I put on in those circumstances and it sounded pretty darned good at huge volume, so turn your radios up.
With Christmas imminent, my work being excessively busy and various domestic and international problems to think about, I’ve found myself spending more time worrying about the various spellings of this track and artist than has probably been legally sane. Was it Green Line or Green Light? One pressing of the single that I saw plumped for Greenling. And was it Garnet Silk or Garnett Silk?
Being a reggae infused record, there was also the consideration of what the eponymous Green Line meant? Was it ganja related? A particular type of hemp, maybe? Alas, no. Silk seems to have been far too clean-living a man to have indulged in that during his short life, and it certainly wouldn't have benefitted his gorgeous singing voice. A lot of his material, including this track, was deeply spiritual in its tone. I think the green and red lines mentioned here refer to lines that if followed either lead to redemption (green) or temptation (red). In other words, the track is an affirmation of faith towards Jah, a commitment and expression of love to God. Which makes it a perfect pre-Christmas track for this blog.
Stay safe and well over this festive period, friends.
John Peel’s compilation album of choice through late 1992/early 1993 was a multi volume series called Girls in the Garage. Released through Romulan Records and described as “A collection of girl garage and girl groups from the 60s”, the series had just issued an EP labelled Volume 6 1/2. Future blog posts here will hopefully be able to bring you more of the selections Peel played from some of the volumes including tracks with such alluring titles as I’m Gonna Destroy That Boy as well as a 1965 cover of a Shangri-Las b-side which appears to have invented The Jesus and Mary Chain.
To begin with though, let us take you to an alternative vision of pop-life. The 1950s saw an explosion of songs about cars, predominantly from a male point of view in which they not only offered the invitation of a ride in their cars, but also plenty of lovingly described detail about the physical make-up of their cars. Gleaming bodywork, powerful engine, plush interior - the Freudian inferences about sexual and romantic fetishisation of their cars are inescapable. The car was both a status symbol and an expression of their identity. As a result, listeners were invited to consider automotive expressions of masculinity such as Buick 59 (The Medallions) or aspiration as in Somethin’ Else (Eddie Cochran). In the 60s, and especially with the emergence of Surf music, the car song would soar to greater heights. What’s your favourite?
But while the men obsessed over their cars, what of the women? Well, while the likes of The Delicates did sterling work in expressing female love of cars, The Darby Sisters were speaking for every woman who found themselves fighting an unequal battle with a car for their lover’s attention. Written by the sisters as a b-side to their 1959 debut single, Misunderstood, Go Back, Go Back to Your Pontiac sees the sisters giving their lover an ultimatum to choose either the car or them. It’s all quite charmingly lo-fi with the cowbell sounding like the clank and clatter of engine repairs serving as a backdrop to the laments about late arrivals to dates because the needs of the 1933 Pontiac superseded those of the sisters. Listening to it with my greasepaint hat on, I wondered if it may have been a favourite track of playwright, Alan Ayckbourn, whose repertoire of plays through the 70s and early 80s specialised in family dysfunction whereby wives lost their grip on their sanity due to being married to men who spent more time exploring the world under the bonnet of their car instead of within the heart and mind of their wives.
Alas, Peel had little sympathy for the sisters’ plight. Being an enthusiastic petrolhead, he agreed with the sleevenotes to the album in that, given the choice, he too would probably fall for the charms of a ‘33 Pontiac ahead of a socialite.
Taking their name from “the Hindu God of Cosmic Dance”, The Visions of Shiva were a German nu-Age, techno, trance duo. One half of the duo was Harald Blüchel, who under the alias, Cosmic Baby provided one of my favourite tracks from Peel’s shows over the summer of 1992 with Cosmikk Trigger 1.
Perfect Day has none of the sensuality which made Cosmikk Trigger 1 quite so intoxicating to listen to but does a better job as a dance floor filler.
If the Discogs link above is working - and this is a moot point because I’ve been having problems pasting links on the blog tonight - you’ll be able to read the comments and spend your time listening to the various piano pieces which the track is built out of and trying to place where they come from. The opening, circular piano riff is said to be based on the piano part in the outro of Purple Rain by Prince. This is quickly usurped by synths which range from the understated to the declamatory. At 3:35, it’s time for another round of Name That Piano Piece. Again, the Discogs comments range from We Love You by The Rolling Stones to the more contemporary Love 91 mix of Playing with Knives by Bizarre Inc, though I’m not entirely convinced by either suggestion.
My notes for this show selected this track from Belgian dance duo, Astrospider’s debut release, Rave Odyssey 2001 as my favourite track of the night, so apologies if anyone’s worried about the quality of my other selections from 25/10/92 as they roll out over the next fortnight. There’s nothing especially world-changing about Synthetic Happiness, but once the synths drop in at the 50 second mark, I think you’d have to have a hard heart to not be up and dancing. I’d also wager that DJs in nightclubs and discotheques all across Europe probably hit their strobes in unison at the 2:30 mark.
Released via Wonka Beats, Peel had picked up a copy of Rave Odyssey 2001 during his fortnight driving around Europe. He revealed that he had made contact with a number of different record labels during his trip. The labels had eagerly sent him records for his consideration. These arrived together with the many other records sent into him from all over the world. He revealed that the amount of records waiting for him after his fortnight away measured 23 and a half feet.
The recent 2020 US presidential election was the second one in this blog’s lifetime. I’ve been fortunate that happy accidents of scheduling have meant that within a few weeks of the elections, I’ve been able to post a track from John Peel’s 1992 playlists which has somehow managed to predict the political mood of the last two US presidential elections. In late November 2016, I was able to mark (because I sure as hell wasn’t celebrating it) the victory of Donald Trump with The Corner Hot Dog Stand by Gag, a story of a Mexican family business getting pushed out of its pitch and replaced with a faceless, neon restaurant. Gag did at least draw the line at making the Mexicans pay for it. Now, nearly a month after voting day, I’m delighted to be able to celebrate Trump’s defeat with Youth Against Fascism, originally recorded for Sonic Youth‘s 1992 album, Dirty. The actions and behaviour of a large number of prominent Republican Party leaders and officials since the election make it a perfect track to mark the occasion.
Just as it was 4 years ago, Trump would always be the story of the election and that remains the case even after he has lost this one. It’s been incredible to see how, either through not being able to bring themselves to acknowledge Joe Biden’s victory at one end of the scale or by clamping themselves to the ongoingclown car that is Trump’s legal challenges driven by Rudy Giuliani who is as determined to shred any dignity and gravitas he may once have had as he is to uncover evidence of voter fraud and accompanied by Jenna Ellis who went from arch Trump critic to breathless fangirl over the course of Trump’s sole term. Of course, she’s not the only person in Republican circles to do this. Step forward Senator Lindsey Graham, who over 4 years went from a Trump critic to the only named person, so far, who tried to influence this election in a way that could be considered questionable. Don’t take my word for it, ask Brad Raffensperger, The Republican Secretary of State for Georgia. Trump has galvanised the right wing of American politics in many different ways over the last 5 years, but I don’t think anybody quite foresaw that he would be skilled enough to make the response to his defeat one where so many people on the right essentially try and argue that he should be granted the powers of a dictator and be allowed to stay in power regardless of the numbers.
When Sonic Youth recorded Youth Against Facism, their targets were fairly obvious symbols of the extreme right wing such as the Ku Klux Klan or Westboro Baptist Church. Although they made jibes against George H.W. Bush, they would have any number of targets to aim at within the Republican Party now, especially those like Mitch McConnell who through either their silence or belligerence towards compromise and lack of a view of the bigger picture ending up fomenting an atmosphere which has seen fascism and totalitarianism drift more centrally into the American body politic than at any time since the late 1960s. Given the potential problems that the Republicans face in trying to get voters out to vote in 2 Senate seat runoff elections in January - Republican National Committee Chair, Ronna McDaniel, has just these past few days discovered the difficulties of trying to both claim electoral fraud and convince those whose votes your party needs to trust in the system - I find myself asking which will be destroyed first: The United States of America or The Republican Party? Given the way the Conservative Party crashed the UK in order to achieve Brexit as a means of securing their own survival, I’m not optimistic about the answer to that question.
Youth Against Fascism is built around three main elements: a rotating bass line, a frantic - almost apoplectic guitar part - which sounds like a hundred people spewing invective and which may have been played by Ian Mackaye, who was invited down to the studio by the band while they were recording this song. On arrival he was handed a guitar and asked to improvise a guitar part. The final main element is provided by Thurston Moore‘s refrain at the end of each verse, “It’s the song I hate” which takes in the poison spread by white supremacists, the bigotry of rednecks, American foreign policy especially in relation to the 1991 Gulf War and in yet another reminder that things never really change in American politics, a sideswipe at the behaviour of a Republican nominee - subsequently appointee - for the US Supreme Court. The line “I believe Anita Hill” showing support to her allegations of sexual harassment against Clarence Thomas. Has anyone in recent years written anything supporting those who made similar accusations against Brett Kavanaugh? And don’t get me started on the way Republicans have manipulated the make-up of that court over the last 5 years and the blatant, stinking hypocrisy of blocking an Obama pick for the Supreme Court for 10 months before an election while being happy to nod a Trump pick through just 35 days before one.
Among Sonic Youth, the song became the hit that could never be. DGC Records, feeling that the record might be topical in an election year, chose it as one of the singles to be taken from the album. Unfortunately, no radio station would go near it and the record bombed, although UK record buyers nearly got it into the Top 50.
Looking at it from this distance, it feels like a record out of its time and I’m sure that at the time, one reason it failed to connect was that it seemed unnecessarily gloomy in its predictions given the mood of optimism that was still widely felt in the post Cold-War years. But now, despite the respite brought about by Biden’s victory, it could be turned from a simple 3.39 rock song into a full-scale musical.
