- Kat's Karavan Makes my July

Not only is the Perfumed Garden back in the full swing of things, we also have a stupefyingly great addition to the Peel archive over at the mighty Kat's Karavan. Here's what Mr. D. Paddy has to say about the New Years Eve 1967 show:

So here we have music-loving Johnny Peel and Thomas ("The") Vance introducing a Radio 1 Top Gear show from New Year's Eve 1967. There's sessions from The Alan Bown (Set), The Herd (featuring Peter Frampton, "The Face of 1968"), The Moody Blues, The Pink Floyd and Eric Burdon and The Animals.

Apart from tape flips and a couple of minor glitches, this is a full 3-hour show in four parts (192K MP3). Admittedly, it's pretty lo-fi stuff, but perfectly listenable when your ears become attuned to it.

I haven't listened to it yet but am foaming at the mouth with excitement. Once again I get to use the phrase 'gloriously washy medium wave', yay!

- Best Videos Ever #3: Adam Ant - Prince Charming

There was a time when a band or an artist would do a Peel session or two and then within a couple of years become the biggest band in the World. This was the case for one Stuart Leslie Goddard and his gang and the status they had achieved by the time they released this masterpiece. Growing up as a nipper named Adam in the late 70s and early 80s, there was really never going to be any escaping the nickname Adam Ant, although given the Godlike genius of music like this, it was something I could live with, even at the age of 8. I've just listened to this seven times in a row while writing this post and the hairs are tingling on the back of my neck still. The late great Diana Dors looks about as magnificent as it's possible for a fifty-year-old woman to look. I expect arms-crossed prancing galore while you're watching this! And people tell you the eighties were crap, honestly...

- Perfumed Garden: Now with Forum

The Perfumed Garden has made something of a spectacular return to form over the past month, now even incorporating a Forum. Get over there and start sharing.

- The '76 Fifty: A Helping Hand

'Just too darn bloody long ago' I hear you all rant. Give me a break, I was only three years old and have already decided which three tracks I'm going to choose (none of which appear on 'Frampton Comes Alive', I should add, nor will Joan Armatrading make the cut, I'm afraid to say).

Frampton has waited a long time for Festive Fifty glory. Will you oblige him?

If you need a bit of help making up your mind, check out the Wikipedia music of 1976 page. This should help you narrow it down to 100 or 200 tracks! You've got the Ramones debut, BMW's Rastaman Vibration, Bowie's Station to Station, ABBA's seminal Arrival LP, Genesis churning out prog rock, the Steve Miller Band's Fly Like an Eagle, and would you believe that this was the year that the Cure formed?

You could go ahead and choose one of the years 5 biggest selling singles:

- ABBA - Dancing Queen
- Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
- Chicago - If You Leave Me Now
- ABBA - Fernando
- Elton John & Kiki Dee - Don't Go Breaking My Heart

Others may choose this, this, this or even this.

- Perfumed Garden Back in Action

Great to see the Perfumed Garden is back from its almost year-long hiatus with a Peel show from 20th August, 1990. Hope to see regular sessions again from this lovely blog, Kris!

- 1976 Revisited

I've always felt that '76 was important enough to warrant a 50 of its own. As we all know, this was Peel's inaugural festive offering and was an all-time best list, featuring the likes of Genesis and many others who were conspicuous by their absence from subsequent years.

I got to thinking what a fifty would have been like just for the year 1976, then thought that we could bloody well go ahead and do it, albeit thirt-odd years too late. After the unmitigated success of Steve's super-duper all-time fifty on Teenage Kicks last year, I'm going to compile all of your votes and do a series of podcasts round about the end of December / beginning of January based on your favourite records of that stupendous year.

Here's what you need to do:

-Choose your favourite 3 tracks from 1976 (they must be from that year).

-Email them to me at the special address: the1976festive50@gmail.com.

-Sit back and relax.

-Go to the pub.

-Check the blog some time towards the end of the year.


I'll only be taking entries sent to that address as I suspect this is going to be quite a task, so please don't leave your entries in the form of comments on any of the blog posts. Am I nuts for doing this. Yes, probably so.

- Far from Moscow

I received an email a while back from David MacFadyen, a professor at the deptartment of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of California, Los Angeles, about a website called Far From Moscow. Always happy to oblige people spreading the word about new music, I promised I'd give the site a mention. Here's what David has to say:

We’ve just created the only English-language site dedicated to new music from Russia. Every day we add video, audio, and quick sketches of the artists. It’s called “Far from Moscow” (the name of a famous Soviet novel and film). We cover all kinds of genres – all the way from soothing melodies to vile noise!

No comment could do this picture justice.

Please go and take a look as there are all manner of curios. There is also an RSS feed.

- Christmas With Peel: 24th December 2003

Over on the almost as good as Teenage Kicks blog I wish it could be Christmas every day you can find the 2003 xmas spectacular.

Here's the track listing, shamelessly copied and pasted:

Nightcaps - 'Wine, Wine, Wine (7")' (Musicor)
Rude Ass Tinker - 'Magical Digital (LP - Drug Skill)' (Deathchant)
Al Ferrier - 'Don't Play Blue Eyes (crying in the rain) (7")' (Master-Trak)
Laura Cantrell - 'Pretty Paper/The New Year's Resolution' (Peel Session)
Can - 'Silent Night (7")' (Virgin)
Jack White - 'Never Far Away (LP - Cold Mountain)' (DMZ/Columbia/Sony)
Peel Family Choir - 'Oh Come All Ye Faithful' (NA)
The D4 - 'Don't Believe in Christmas (LP - Christmas on the Rocks' (Fast Food)
Darlene Love - 'Winter Wonderland (LP - A Christmas Gift For You)' (Phil Spector)
Ballboy - 'There Are Only Inches Between Us, But There Might As Well Be Mountains And Trees/Past Lovers' (Peel Session)
Elephant Man - 'Badman Holiday (7")' (In The Streetz)
Melys - 'Eyeliner (CDR)' (Sylem)
Peel Family Choir - 'Once in Royal David's City' (NA)
Scott Brown - 'Ice Cold (12")' (Evolution)
James Brown - 'Hey America (7")' (King)
Ballboy - 'A Starry Night' (Peel Session)
Ballboy and Laura - 'I Lost You, But I Found Country Music' (Peel Session)
Don Gibson - 'Sweet Dreams (7")' (RCA)
Skynet - 'Skyway (12")' (Skynet)
Shikari - 'Morning Wood (LP- Shikari)' (Level-Plane)
Peel Family Choir - 'While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks' (NA)
Elvis Presley - 'Santa Claus is Back in Town (LP- Elvis' Christmas Album)' (RCA-Victor)
Mr H. Lambton - 'A Christmas Ghost Story (10")' (Pig's Big 78-Zonophone/Twin)
Mr. Airplane Man, 'Come On DJ (LP-Come On DJ)' (Sympathy For The Record Industry)
Laura Cantrell - 'Oh So Many Years' (Peel Session)
Laura and Ballboy - 'I Still Miss Someone' (Peel Session)
Buddy Hollies - 'Yeah Yeah (LP - Fire At Will)' (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
George Nooks & Bounty Killer - 'Party Vibe (7")' (Big Yard)
Peel Family Choir - 'Hark, the Herald Angels Sing/We Wish You A Merry Christmas' (NA)
Stylus - 'Pluen Eira (7")' (Ochre)

Click here for festive frolicks.

- Skrewdriver Session, October, 1977

I had many mixed feelings about sharing this session with you all. While the original Skrewdriver had a reputation for violence at their concerts, with none other than Bob Geldof being reportedly knocked unconscious by a friend of founder Ian Stuart Donaldson at one concert, they did not openly support any political party during their early years. The reformed Skrewdriver of the 80s did, however, eventually becoming openly supportive of far right wing groups, after a period of denying such claims. This session dates from their earliest days and not their neo-Nazi dickheads era, which is why I decided to make it available to you all.

Nazis are crap and don't you forget it.

Skrewdriver were formed in Poulton-le-Fylde near Blackpool in 1976 by Ian Stuart Donaldson (this fact is disputed), after seeing the Sex Pistols in Manchester. In 1978, Donaldson moved to Manchester, where he recruited guitarist Glenn Jones and drummer Martin Smith. This lineup toured extensively, but certain venues were reluctant to book the band because of their reputation as a violent skinhead band. Performing largely for a skinhead audience (which they shared with Sham 69 but, unlike the other band, failed to denounce), the first versions of the band released one album and two singles on the Chiswick label. This version of the band split up in January 1979 after a concert in Warrington, but Donaldson resurrected the name Skrewdriver in 1982 using new musicians and becoming far right morons. This session predates almost all of these events, being recorded in October of 1977. Peel was as big an influence as any in guiding the punk movement away from neo-nazism, with his regular, incessant mix of punk and reggae in his shows of the time leading the way for multiculturalism in his listeners and, therefore, followers of punk. Shame he couldn't save Donaldson from the path of foolishness.

TRACKLIST

Street Fight
Unbeliever
The Only One
Anti-Social


LINE UP

John Grinton (Drums)
Kevin Mckay (Bass)
Ron Hartley (Guitar)
Ian Stuart (Vocals)




File size: 9mb

- Generation X Session, April, 1977

‘Why, you bastard, why?’ I hear you scream. I know, I’ve already subjected you to one of these tracks on a podcast, but I couldn’t resist. This is the first of three sessions that Lord William of Idol et al did for the Peel show, spanning from ’77 to ’79.

Dancing with, er, not just himself

Formed in November, 1976 by Idol, Tony James and John Towe, Generation X hold a somewhat dubious place in the punk hall of fame, largely due to the fact that they ignored most of the self-imposed ‘rules’ and ‘ideals’ adopted by other UK punk rock bands. This probably helped the band to become one of the first punk bands to appear on the popular BBC Television music program Top of the Pops. This session is at least very energetic. I have to confess that 'dancing with myself' remains an all time favourite.

Tony James now looks like this

TRACK LIST

Day By Day
Listen!
Youth Youth Youth
Your Generation

LINE UP (to be confirmed by someone with Ken’s book)

Lord William of Idol (Lead Vocals)
Bob Andrews (Guitar, Vocals)
Tony James (Bass, Vocals)
John Towe (Drums)




File size: 12 mb