A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Ride - The Model (11 October 1992)

Buy this at Discogs

1992 was the 40th anniversary of the first edition of the New Musical Express.  To mark the occasion, the newspaper commissioned a triple-disc compilation album called Ruby Trax, which saw 40 bands/artists covering chart hits, predominantly number 1s from the last 40 years.  Proceeds from sales of the album went to support the cerebal palsy charity, Scope. The album featured a mix of up and comers, men of the moment, reluctant superstars, veterans, a legend with a note from his mates, a foul mouthed saint and a Top 10 single released by a bunch of tossers.  The Fall were also on there with a typically idiosyncratic choice of cover.

John Peel got considerable mileage out of the compilation over October/November ‘92 and a few of those selections will crop up over the course of these Midsummer Night’s Dream shows.  Anyone hoping for a guitar-based overhaul of Kraftwerk’s 1982 Number 1 hit would have been disappointed as Ride chose to break out the keyboards and presented a very faithful rendition of The Model, albeit in a slightly lower-sounding key than the original.  It’s impossible to miss with The Model which manages to balance its futuristic sound without ever sounding chilly or cold.
Later in the programme, Peel played his wife’s favourite track from Ruby Trax, Billy Bragg’s cover of When Will I See You Again by The Three Degrees.

Kraftwerk perform the original German language version on the German equivalent of Pebble Mill at One.



Videos courtesy of Disorder 213 (Ride) and 80smusicfan (Kraftwerk)