Cornershop

Cornershop are a British indie rock band best known for their 1998 UK number one single "Brimful of Asha". The band were formed in 1991 by Wolverhampton-born Tjinder Singh (singer, songwriter, and guitar), his brother Avtar Singh (bass guitar, vocals), David Chambers (drums) and Ben Ayres (guitar, keyboards, and tamboura), the first three having previously been members of Preston-based band General Havoc, who released one single (the "Fast Jaspal EP") in 1991. The band name originated from a stereotype referring to British Asians often owning corner shops. Their music is a fusion of Indian music, Britpop, and electronic dance music. Along with Cornershop, Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres also had a side project called Clinton, where they produced electronic music.

Links To Peel
Peel seemed to discover the band in 1992 and mentioned on 20 November 1992 that he saw them perform at the Falcon in London:


 * ‘Just before the programme I went out and saw the future of rock and roll. Well not really the future of rock and roll at all but the vastly entertaining Cornershop.’

On his Austrian radio show on 03 May 1993 (Ö3), Peel also mentioned Cornershop as:


 * "The first poptastic band from Britain's Asian community"

The band were regularly played on Peel's playlist, even when the band's hits dried out after 1998. Cornershop's side project Clinton were also played on his show. After Peel's death, the band recognised Peel contribution in helping the band to get exposure and attended his funeral in 2004.

Festive Fifty Entries

 * 1993 Festive Fifty: England's Dreaming #17
 * 1995 Festive Fifty: 6am Jullander Shere #36
 * 1997 Festive Fifty: Brimful Of Asha #01
 * 2002 Festive Fifty: Staging The Plaguing Of The Raised Platform #25
 * 2004 Festive Fifty: Topknot (featuring Bubbley Kaur) #40

Sessions
1. Recorded: 1993-01-17. Broadcast: 13 February 1993. Repeated: 21 May 1993 2. Recorded And Live at Maida Vale. Broadcast: 17 April 2002
 * Nai Zindagi Nai Jevan (New Way New Life) / Summer Fun / England's Dreaming / Trip Easy
 * Heavy Soup / Staging The Plaguing Of The Raised Platform / Norwegian Wood / Jullander Shere / Lessons Learned From Rocky 1 To Rocky 3 / Spectral Mornings / We're In Your Corner

Other Shows Played
(The following list was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive and is certainly incomplete. Please add further details if known.)

1993
 * 08 January 1993: tbc