28 May 1969

=The one where John created a furore by admitting he'd had VD=

Preamble
You'll have heard Peelie mention his Wednesday night 'nameless shows' if you've listened to very many of the Top Gears available on Kat's Karavan. These programmes were essentially JP's bit of the post-midnight multi-format Night Ride shows, extracted and moved to a bit earlier in the evening. And these Night Rides/nameless shows/whatever, featuring BBC archive tracks from all over the world, studio guests and discussions mixed in with contemporary Peel favourites, are probably the most free-form, eclectic radio Peel ever did. And if you have the slightest idea about the bloke you'll realise that's a hell of a statement. In my opinion, having enjoyed Peel shows from all eras, I'd say these are probably the best he ever made. I really wish there were more out there.

The show
OK, on to this particular show. The session is from John Fahey (above and/or right, depending on your browser and screen res) and the studio guest is the poet Pete Roche. There are also interviews with Theresa Lever, about the Youth Drama Centre in Euston, and Tony Vandenberg about Radio 4's upcoming report on Venereal Disease. This latter interview has acquired some notoriety as it's the one where Peel reveals that he contracted the disease earlier that year.

The infamous VD admission
From Wikipedia (which seems slightly wrong, as it suggests Peel is still suffering from the disease at the time of broadcast):

During 1969, after hosting a trailer for a BBC programme on VD on his Night Ride programme, Peel received significant media attention because of admitting on air to be suffering from a sexually transmitted disease. This admission was later used in an attempt to discredit him when he appeared as a defence witness in the 1971 OZ obscenity trial. The judge in that case even instructed that a glass of water he had drunk from be thrown out.

[EDIT: Looks like that entry has been corrected now. One of the editors reading this blog, perchance?]

Whatever controversy the VD comment was to generate, John P, a notoriously inept interviewer, actually handles the chat with Vandenberg very well. But on to the details:

Track listing
Jeff Beck Group - Plinth John Fahey - Bucktown Stomp (session) Pete Roche - A Thing Apart (live poem) Indian classical music - Whistled and played on a bowed string instrument and accompanied on drum and drone (from BBC archives) Choir of the Krakow Philharmonic - Apotheosis (from "Dies Irae: The Oratorio in Memoriam for the Victims of Auschwitz" by Krzysztof Penderecki) John Fahey - The Death Of The Clayton Peacock (session) Peel chats with Tony Vandenberg about Radio 4's upcoming report on Venereal Disease. John Hiseman's Colosseum - Plenty Hard Luck (from "Those Who Are About To Die Salute You") John Fahey - Sunflower River Blues (session) Pete Roche - To See How Far It Is (live poem) Radio Ceylon Orchestra - Wind, String Instruments and Percussion (from BBC Archives) Peel chats to Theresa Lever about the Youth Drama Centre in Euston Phil Ochs - I Kill, Therefore I Am (from "Rehearsals for Retirement") John Fahey - In Christ There Is No East or West (session) Romanian Radio and Television Folk Orchestra [pipes: Dumitru Zamfira] - The Hora (from BBC archives) Peel chats to Jon Curle about his part of Night Ride Pete Roche - The Skin Diver (live poem) Shirley and Dolly Collins - Nellie The Milkmaid (from "Anthems in Eden") John Fahey - Steel Guitar Rag (session) Terry Riley - In C (part) Intro to Jazz Workshop

Where can you get this show
Kat's Karavan