Here we have a little Mid Nineties broadcast from The Late and Legendary John Peel. This Episode of The John Peel Show was First Broadcast on the 22nd of April, 1994.
Just over a Fortnight before, this broadcast, Nirvana Frontman Kurt Cobain committed Suicide. Peely gives him a Tribute on the show here by playing All Three Nirvana Peel Sessions. He plays them back to back after the initial show. However, this doesn’t affect the shows regular helping if fresh bands. We still get them But, as a result of the added Nirvana sessions, this show is a bit longer than usual. Instead of the usual Two hour broadcast, we get a show that’s almost 3 hours long.
The John Peel Show 22-04-1994
The Tracks Played;
01. Loop Guru: Hymn (Amazonian Mix) (12″ Duniya Remixes) (Nation)
02. Doo Rag: Can’t Be Satisfied (LP: Chunked & Muddled) (Bloat)
03. Heavy Vegetable: Thingy (LP – The Amazing Undersea Adventures Of Aqua Kitty And Friends) (Headhunter)
04. Heavy Vegetable: Saloon (LP – The Amazing Undersea Adventures Of Aqua Kitty And Friends) (Headhunter)
05. Arabs: A Message (LP – Cry Tuff Dub Encounter Chapter 1) (Hit & Run)
06. Mazey Fade: Dumb Cripple Tag (LP – Secret Watchers Built The World) (Domino)
07. Sleeper: Delicious (single) (Indolent)
08. Hiroshima: Self Immolation (12” single) (Dream Inn)
09. Space Streakings: Sexual Aesthetic Salon After School (single) (Skin Graft)
10. Hardfloor: Roarrh (LP – Funalogue) (Harthouse)
John Peel plays all three sessions recorded by Nirvana back to back with no interruptions
11. Nirvana: Love Buzz (1989 Session)
12. Nirvana: About A Girl (1989 Session)
13. Nirvana: Polly (1989 Session)
14. Nirvana: Spanx Thru’ (1989 Session)
15. Nirvana: Son Of A Gun (1990 Session)
16. Nirvana: Molly’s Lips (1990 Session)
17. Nirvana: D7 (1990 Session)
18. Nirvana: Turnaround (1990 Session)
19. Nirvana: Dumb (1991 Session)
20. Nirvana: Drain (1991 Session)
21. Nirvana: Endless, Nameless (1991 Session)
22. King Tubby: Conquering Dub (LP: King Tubby’s Prophecy Of Dub) (Prophets)
23. Lobe: Honeybee (EP (split with The Powers That Be, Stated Kate, & Easter) When Cotton Was King) (Dipsomania)
24. Peter Perfect Meets Justin Robertson: Pitstop (Pitstop -The Prankster Mixes) (Finiflex)
25. Brain Police: Lying To Myself (LP: Drain) (BGR)
26. Vapourspace: Opiate Tea (Carblanche Nova) (album – Themes From Vapour Space) Internal
27. Beck: Pink Noise (Rock Me Amadeus) (LP: Stereopathetic Soulmanure) (Flipside)
28. Senser: Age Of Panic (LP: Stacked Up) (Ultimate)
29. Fred McDowell & Eli Green: Bull Dog Blues (LP: Fred McDowell, Vol 2) (Arhoolie)
30. Fireworks: Just So You Call Me (LP: Set The World On Fire) (Crypt)
31. Ambush: Aton (12″ Aton (Remixes)) (Harthouse)
32. Fall: The Reckoning (LP: Middle Class Revolt) (Permanent)
33. Fall: Surmount All Obstacles (LP: Middle Class Revolt) (Permanent)
34. Fall: Middle Class Revolt (LP: Middle Class Revolt) (Permanent)
35. Hardbag: Ceasefire (Drum Club Conspiracy Mix) (12” Ceasefire) (Media Circus Project)
36. Jamaicans: Things You Say You Love (single) (Treasure Isle)
37. Secret Shine: Liquid Indigo (Greater Than God EP) (Sarah)
38. Nimon-Toki Lala: Zig-Zag (LP: Ça Déménage Pépito) (Jimmy’s International)
39. Movietone: She Smiled Mandarine Like (single) (Planet)
40. Police Cat: Drown (single) (Domino)
41. Supersuckers: Seventeen Poles (LP: La Mano Cornuda) (Sub Pop)
42. Mouse On Mars: Schnee Bud (LP: Frosch) (Too Pure)
43. Unconvinced: Sit At Home (single) (18 Wheeler)
44. Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet: Sabeha (LP: Saxhouse) (Knitting Factory)
The John Peel show
The John Peel show was a Radio Show on BBC Radio 2 which ran for years up til the DJs death in 2004. He was one of the first broadcasters to play Psychedelic Rock and Progressive Rock records on British Radio. He was most famous for his promotion of small, obscure Bands that wee unheard of and promoted them. Way back before the days of the Internet, if you had a band, you sent your demo tape into John Peel and hope it got heard by him and played.
However, he got thousands of Demo tapes sent into him. I once saw a documentary where he’d enter his office of a normal day and his door would have a massive pile of mail lying piled up behind it. He’d have to shoulder the door to get in. So you can imagine the backload of tracks he had to play. But when he died, the barn that he owned was stacked full of stuff that he still hadn’t had a chance to listen to yet.
Respect for the Tunes
But I think the thing I loved most about John Peel as a D.J was the fact that he let each single play fully right to the end before he said a word. Most DJs rabbit on over the music. Disturbing it. So annoying. Again, Back in the pre internet days before MP3 Downloads that take a few seconds, we used to tape things from the radio.
This required putting a cassette tape in the player and pressing record n play to capture songs we liked on the Radio. Since Peely was an ex pirate ship radio D.J from the Radio Caroline days, he was onboard with this. So he always made sure he let the track play right to the end before talking. He also liked to be constructive when he did talk. As far as John Peel was concerned, he was there to play music.
However, broadcasting rules required DJs to have a certain amount of taking in the 2 hour slot he’d gave on a Tuesday and Thursday nights between 8pm and 10pm. So instead of just babbling Luke most DJs seemed to do for the same of it, he’d use the time wisely. Between every second song he would tell you the song that had just played and introduced the next track. But every half hour or so, hed spend about Five minutes telling all about a group or a new release, etc
What do you think?
Well then. What did you think of that? Did you enjoy it? Or didnt you like it? Whatever your thoughts and opinions are on the show, we’d love to hear them in the comments below. Here at The Collective Jukebox, we just love to chat about music and always keen to read what others have to say about the music we share.
Actually, if youre a music lover like us, who loves to share their favourite tunes as well as discovering new stuff, then why not join us. We’re the world’s Number One Online Music Community and we’re always keen to hear what everyone likes. We also beleive that Music should be available to everyone, regardless of their financial situation or status. So it’s absolutely FREE to join and always will be. Just click the button below to become part of the community. See you Inside!