what got on the neighbours nerves during my
Peel years
playlist
R.I.P. John Peel
here is a list of my favourite songs from the years i listened to John Peel.
i know if it wasn't for his show, i'd never have been exposed to this fantastic music
GREGORY ISSACS:NIGHT NURSE
loved Gregory Isaacs the moment I heard John Peel play him for the first time. this track was my favourite, must have heard this around 1977/78 time. ended up buying many Gregory Isaacs records and got at least two of my friends seriously into him.
BASEMENT 5:SILICON CHIP
the 1980 10" of this is still near the front of one of my record piles and gets played pretty often still.
SEX PISTOLS:ANARCHY IN THE UK
always remember hearing the Pistols on Peel. i'd heard about them in the music press but no-one ever played them. it was fantastic to hear the Festive 50 the year the Pistols knocked Led Zepellin's 'Stairway To Heaven' off the top spot.
BRONSKI BEAT:PEEL SESSION
listening to this one as i write this
list. Bronski Beat put it on the b.side to 'I Feel Love'. each member does a seperate track. Jimmy sings a beautiful solo song in french and Steve and Larry do two totally different
instrumentals that sound like movie soundtracks.
PAULINE MURRAY:DREAM SEQUENCES
the debut single by the former Penetration vocalist. still play this rather alot.
KRAFTWERK:NEON LIGHTS
John Peel played the original 1978 release of 'The Model' which no one else ever did. i ended up buying the 'Man machine' album at this time. 'Neon Lights' came on a luminous 12" so I always remember playing this in the dark.
CLINT EASTWOOD & GENERAL SAINT:ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST
not the actor, but a great reggae tune. Peel really was the one responsible for my love of reggae. he played Althia & Donna's 'Uptown Top Ranking' a year before it hit number one here.
CHRISTINA:IT THAT ALL THERE IS
in my day we didn't have to listen to crap like Christina Aguilera, we had this Christina. wonderful little story really...
OMD:ELECTRICITY
first heard OMD's debut single on Peel and soon went out and bought it. i'd have been about 15 years old around this time.
SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES:HONG KONG GARDEN
if this list was in any order, this would be at the very top. Peel played Siouxsie from day 1 and i just thought this band were the bees knees! Peel had them in session many times before they even had a record deal. but this, their first single is such an amazing debut single. i never tire of this song.
ELVIS COSTELLO:LESS THAN ZERO
thanks to John Peel my ears were opened to this Elvis from the very start. this along with 'Alison' and 'Red Shoes' were real gems from a man who's still making great music today, some 26 years later!
ALTERED IMAGES:DEAD POP STARS
John was very fond of this group right at the beginning and played this, their debut single many times. still sounds fantastic even today.
SHINY TWO SHINY:WAITING FOR US
this lovely little tune still gets played by me at least a few times every year. no-one else but Peel played this that's for sure!
janice long hosts my favourite show during my kind of hours at midnight to three am from sunday through to thursday. and if i'm up on a saturday morning jonathan ross is always a good listen.