I’m as crisp as a dew picked lettuce - John Peel introducing this edition on 21/2/93.
It’s always nice to hear Peel with a spring in his step, and in this case it could possibly be down to a letter he had received from a listener called Michael, who had written to say how much he enjoyed hearing dance music on the show. Peel was touched by this as he reckoned that Michael was the first person to have said this to him since he started playing dance music on his BFBS programme. He played Home is Where the Hartcore Is by Loopzone in thanks to Michael.
Also getting a spin was a 1979 tune by Skids called TV Stars, which mentioned Peel’s name together with a host of soap opera characters from Coronation Street and Crossroads. Peel warned any listeners who felt this was self-indulgent that they hadn’t heard anything yet as he played a recording called Humbug 1 performed by Combs Middle School which featured his son, Tom, as the lead voice. The song was taken from a show that appeared to be an adaptation of A Christmas Carol, with the song being sung from the perspective of workers in the factory owned by Ebeneezer Scrooge and Jacob Marley; perhaps during a visit from The Ghost of Christmas Past. Impressively, the show itself was written by two of the music teachers at Combs Middle School. If you haven’t clicked on the Humbug 1 link, I’d encourage you to do so, not least to hear Peel’s tale of his being ejected from the final of a national schools production competition for heckling the judges when Combs Middle School failed to win it. It’ll also serve as a long distance taster for when this blog reaches late 1994 and soundtracks my participation in Carnon Downs Drama Group’s production of the musical, Scrooge.
When replying to listener correspondence, personally, Peel often wrote by postcard. If he wasn’t using a Radio 1 publicity card - either of himself or more often of a younger, better looking colleague - he would reply on postcards showing images of Stowmarket. However, the company that made these cards had gone bust, so Peel was making up his own cards using photos he had taken of the town. He hadn’t really mastered the picturesque style of postcard images given that his portfolio of shots so far included an Indian restaurant and a set of major roadworks. Stirring stuff….
I’ve already referenced three tracks from this show which I passed on including. Other rejections included one of the few House of Love songs that I don’t care for, namely Love in a Car from their 1988 debut album, which was requested by a listener. Another request was for a 1979 track called Window to the World by the Australian band Whirlywirld, about which and whom Peel had no recollection of having previously played. On this show, he also played Barriers by Northern Irish band, Repulse. As he back announced it, he thought the next track on the Heads EP was playing. He liked what he heard and let it play on, only to discover it was just the ending for Barriers.
The selections from this show were taken from a full 2 hour show. There were 3 tracks that I had earmarked for inclusion but was unable to share:
The Brady Bunch Lawnmower Massacre - I’m Gonna Drink Myself to Life - More Australian rock from a 7-inch single on Shagpile.
Tiger - Chaos [Jungle Mix] - As previous posts have shown, I was enjoying the Jungle music tracks on this show, and my notes say that it was the jungle vibe that would have put this up for consideration.
Culture Fire - No Existence - A track taken from their Release EP and requested by a listener called Sebastian, who was due to spend the next 4 months away in San Francisco.
Three tracks fell from favour, having made my initial shortlist:
Nirvana - Oh The Guilt - I remember the excitement when this was released as part of a split single with Puss by Jesus Lizard and it reached Number 12 on the UK Singles Chart, so plenty of people were delighted to have it. But listening to it again for this blog, I have to confess that Nirvana philistinism raised itself within me again and my abiding instinct was to yell, “STOP FUCKING MOANING!”
Leatherface - Do the Right Thing - This is a band who have been appreciated here before for the emotional depth behind their hard rock clatter, but this ended up sounding far too by the numbers for permanent inclusion on the metaphorical mixtape.
Mudhoney - We Had Love - This was Mudhoney’s contribution to Set It Off, a compilation album of artists covering songs by The Scientists, whose work was unknown to me ahead of hearing Mudhoney’s version of We Had Love. I listened to about three-quarters of the performances on Set It Off, comparing each one to the original Scientists recordings, and it was certainly successful in terms of encouraging me to go and discover the work of The Scientists. However, this was mainly because of how poor virtually every cover was in comparison to the original track. I agonised over leaving We Had Love out, not least given the passion of Mark Arm’s vocal, but ultimately I decided that it was as guilty as all the other versions of not meeting The Scientists’ standards.
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