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!


on my radio

6 music
the bbc station that anyone with good taste will surely love. refreshing radio these days indeed.

bbc radio 2
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.


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the wonderful world of mike morton