Farm

The Farm (named after the Cantril Farm estate in Merseyside, where singer Peter Hooton worked as a youth worker) was formed in early 1983 and initially comprised Peter Hooton, Steve Grimes, John Melvin and Andrew John "Andy" McVann, who was killed in a police chase on 1st October 1986 at the age of 21, and to whose parents the band's subsequent album, Spartacus, is dedicated. The band evolved from an earlier group called The Excitements, initially including Phil Stephenson on bass guitar, Neil (Cad) Campbell on drums, Grimes on guitar and Thomas (the band's dancer). They became The Farm after Martin Dunbar (vocals) left and Peter Hooton joined, although they did play several gigs as The Excitements with Hooton on vocals.

Links To Peel
Singer Peter Hooton, co-editored The End, a fanzine which Peel mentioned as his favourite in the early 80's, due to having football, beer and music. Peel invited Hooton on the Oxford Road Show to talk about the fanzine and also later became a fan of his band, The Farm, inviting them to do 6 sessions for his show. In an interview with Sabotage Times, Hooton described how he met Peel:


 * "I first got to know the late great DJ John Peel through The End magazine in the early 1980’s. I used to send the magazine to him at Broadcasting House when he did his late night show from there. The magazine was usually accompanied by scathing satirical attacks on his show which I complained didn’t reflect the ‘underground’ music scene in Liverpool. I mean how could it when he was commissioning sessions by Xmal Deutschland and Children of the Bong interspersed with cutting edge Ukrainian folk music. When he later got to know me he admitted that he was intrigued by the irreverent tones of mine and other letters from The End staff and then he said he thought to himself that maybe we had a point."

Hooton along with Peel were also Liverpool Football Club fans and would regularly both meet up to see them play when they were at Anfield.

In 1990, The Farm produced two UK top ten singles, Groovy Train (#6) and All Together Now (#3), which made Peel proud after Groovy Train entered at number 47 in the Festive Fifty on his 22 December 1990 show:


 * "As I've remarked before in the course of these programmes, few things in the year have given me greater pleasure than the success of the Farm, who've made three absolutely classic singles. Even if they never made another one, they could rest on those laurels, I think. They're records that people will still be listening to with pleasure many years from now."

In 1991, the band had a UK number one album, Spartacus, which Peel played several tracks, sometimes on one show and at the 1992 Reading Festival, he felt saddened on his 04 September 1992 show that the audience threw mud at the group, when they were added to the bill at the last moment:


 * "I like the Farm and I've known Peter Hooton for years - oh sorry, that's me banging the microphone, waving my arms around in my excitement - known him for years and I like him a lot and I like the other members of the band as well, so I was saddened when people started chucking mud at them, which I suppose they probably did because they'd been, like, a 'chart group' as people perceive it. They saw it as being a kind of 2-2 away draw which is what Liverpool had had the same afternoon against Leeds of course. Nearly beat them, nearly got beaten in a curious way, the last three minutes, absolute chaos. I think the Farm pulled it back from being a goal or two down and it was a 2-2 away draw was how they assessed it at the end and a lot of mud on the stage which I didn't like to see I must admit. I felt sorry for them." 

After Peel's death in 2004, Peter Hooton organised the John Peel World Cup football tournament, where a mixture of celebrity musicians and members of the public do battle with each other on the pitch to raise money for the British Heart Foundation - a charity chosen by Peel's own family.

Festive Fifty Entries

 * 1990 Festive Fifty: Groovy Train #47
 * 1990 Festive Fifty: Stepping Stone #46

Sessions
All sessions are available on The Complete Studio Recordings 1983 - 2004 (7 x CD Compilation, Demon Music Group, 2015)

1. Recorded: 1983-04-17. Broadcast: 27 April 1983. Repeated: 17 May 1983, 20 September 1983 2. Recorded: 1984-02-28. Broadcast: 19 March 1984. Repeated: 01 January 1985 3. Recorded: 1985-11-26. Broadcast: 09 December 1985. Repeated: 07 January 1986 4. Recorded: 1986-08-10. Broadcast: 20 August 1986. Repeated: 10 September 1986 5. Recorded: 1990-05-06. Broadcast: 24 May 1990. Repeated: 17 July 1990, 06 October 1990, 23 December 1990, Peel Festive Period 1990 Part 1 6. Recorded: 1991-07-21. Broadcast: 31 August 1991. Repeated: 10 November 1991, 28 December 1991, Best Of 1991 Vol 4
 * Information Man / No Man's Land / Memories
 * Hears And Minds / Too Late / Somewhere / Same Old Story
 * Some People / Sign Of The Cross / Little Ol' Wine Drinking Me / Heart Of The Nation
 * Worn Out Sayings / Power Over Me / Wearing That Smile / The Moroccan
 * Groovy Train / Very Emotional (Ballad To Ray Toohey) / I Don't Know / Family Of Man
 * Mind / Smile / Love See No Colour / News International

Other Shows Played
1984 1985 1990
 * 27 November 1984: Hearts And Minds (12") End Product
 * 17 December 1984: Hearts And Minds (12") End Product
 * 28 October 1985: Better (12" - Steps Of Emotion) PA
 * 10 April 1990: Stepping Stone (12" - Stepping Stone / Family Of Man) Produce
 * 12 April 1990: Stepping Stone (12" - Stepping Stone / Family Of Man) Produce


 * 14 May 1990: Stepping Stone (Ghost Dance Mix) (7" - Stepping Stone / Family Of Man) Produce
 * The Farm - Groovy Train -Official Video- August 1990: Groovy Train (12") Produce Records
 * 23 August 1990: Groovy Train (7") Produce Records
 * 28 August 1990: Groovy Train (7") Produce Records

1991
 * 01 December 1990: All Together Now (7") Produce
 * 22 December 1990: 'Groovy Train (Terry Farley Mix) (12 inch)' (Produce) FF #47 (JP: 'As I've remarked before in the course of these programmes, few things in the year have given me greater pleasure than the success of the Farm, who've made three absolutely classic singles. Even if they never made another one, they could rest on those laurels, I think. They're records that people will still be listening to with pleasure many years from now.')
 * 22 December 1990: 'Stepping Stone (7 inch)' (Produce) FF #46
 * 23 February 1991: Hearts & Minds / How Long / Sweet Inspiration (Album: Spartacus) Produce
 * 24 February 1991: Higher And Higher / Don't Let Me Down (Album: Spartacus) Produce
 * 02 March 1991: Tell The Story (album - Spartacus) Produce
 * 09 March 1991: Hearts & Minds (album - Spartacus) Produce
 * 23 March 1991: Sinful (7") Siren (with Pete Wylie)
 * 13 April 1991: Don't Let Me Down (12") Produce
 * 18 April 1991 (Radio Mafia): Sinful (7") Siren (with Pete Wylie)
 * 14 July 1991: Stepping Stone (single) Produce
 * 27 July 1991: 'Mind (Midnight Sun Mix) (12") (Produce)


 * 02 August 1991 (BFBS): (JP: 'And here's a new single from The Farm, probably be already in the charts by the time you hear this programme, but I might as play to you anyway') Mind (12") Produce
 * 04 August 1991: 'Mind (Midnight Sun Mix) (12")' (Produce)

1992
 * 23 August 1991 (BFBS): Mind (Contorted Face Mix) (12") Produce
 * 16 November 1991: 'Love Sees No Colour (7")' (Produce)
 * 17 November 1991: 'Love See No Colour (World Colours Mix) (white label)' (Produce)
 * 07 December 1991: Love See No Colour (Single) Produce
 * Tiger 91: 'Love Sees No Colour (7")' (Produce)
 * Best Of 1991 Vol 3: Mind (Midnight Sun Mix) (12") Produce
 * 05 June 1992: 'Rising Sun (12 inch)' (End Product)
 * 06 June 1992: 'Rising Sun (12 inch promo-Hercule Spiro Minimix' (Sony)
 * 13 June 1992: Rising Sun (Partizan Mix) (12 inch) Sony

1994 2003
 * 06 July 1992 (Ö3): 'Rising Sun (7")' (End Product)
 * 26 July 1992 (BFBS): Smile (EP - Rising Sun) End Product
 * 19 September 1992: 'Don't You Want Me (CDS)' (End Product)
 * 13 November 1992: Been A Long Time (album - Love See No Colour) End Product
 * 30 July 1994: ‘Messiah (CD Single)’ Sire
 * 25 November 2003: Stepping Stone (7") Produce Records