Peel confessed to his audience that he was recording this show with a slight hangover. We know that he had been drinking the night before given that he confessed to having indulged in a rare outbreak of public dancing. For those wondering why he may have been drunkenly dancing to Whitney Houston, it appears to have been an ecstatic reaction to his watching a set by Voodoo Queens, the first all Asian female band that he’d ever seen. The band played 3 songs in a 10 minute set, which bowled Peel over and had him inevitably making comparisons with how he felt when he had first seen The Slits.
Also receiving a thumbs up was reggae artist, Terror Fabulous, whose single Pop Style was played on this show. While liking the single, Peel advised caution when approaching Terror Fabulous albums due to the amount of sexist claptrap on them. This was starting to become a bugbear for him, and while he would never abandon reggae, I’ve noticed a marked drop off in rap/hip hop records on Peel playlists as my own listening approaches May 1993. Although, I have a Terror Fabulous track from April ‘93 on my list of selections. Join me in 2026 to see if it retains its place on the metaphorical mixtape...
Given his love for watching motor sport events, and remembering what a wonderful time he had at the previous year’s TT Race in The Isle of Man, Peel was surprised to reflect that he had only attended one drag race event in the last year. He resolved to change this in 1993.
This programme also featured a Wrong Speed moment with Peel playing an eponymous track by Bedouin Ascent from his Ruthless Compassion 12-inch EP at 45rpm for over a minute and not intervening until it duly lapsed into unlistenability, though he thought it had sounded good up until then.
There was 1 track which I would have liked to share but couldn’t find:
F.I.A.F. - Untitled: taken from a white label 12 inch called Chart Material and issued under the disappointingly crap new name for Foreheads in a Fishtank. What were they thinking? Didn’t they remember what happened to Kajagoogoo?
There were 3 tracks which made the shortlist, which fell from favour:
The Orchids - Pelican Blonde - Taken from a compilation album of Sarah Records artists, this track had the same effect that the work of The Magic Numbers had on me back in 2005/06; I was briefly seduced on first hearing and then revolted by the maudlin tweeness that characterised the work and which seemed so obvious when the track was heard again. When Sarah Records got it wrong, the results could be excruciating.
Johnny DuHon and The Yello Jakets - So What - Released in 1959 as one side of a split single with Fatty Hattie by Ray Gerdsen, who was also backed by The Yello Jakets. This is a swoonsome, bluesy instrumental which fuses Jimmy Reed style guitar with a precursor to the Motown brass style. On first listen, it’s got swagger and style, but subsequent listens left me thinking that the title of the track hit the mark a little too closely. It’s much better than Fatty Hattie and can be considered a borderline miss, as can...
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 - Gentleman’s Lament - my notes describe this as a crazy, chaotic rocker with choirboy vocals (not literally) and there’s no disputing that, on first listen, it’s a lot of fun. But to have stayed on the mixtape that chaos needed to invite the listener to participate without reserve, each time I heard it. Instead, it got more and more distancing. Ultimately, I think I’ll regret leaving it off, but it’s too late now.
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