This Mortal Coil

This Mortal Coil was a gothic dream pop collective led by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British record label 4AD. Although Watts-Russell and John Fryer were technically the only two official members, the band's recorded output featured a large rotating cast of supporting artists, many of whom were signed to, or otherwise associated with, 4AD.About half of the songs released were cover versions, often of 1960s and 1970s psychedelic and folk acts. On each of the band's three LPs, at least one song would also be a cover of a 4AD artist, and most of the original songs were instrumentals. The name "This Mortal Coil" is taken from the Monty Python's Flying Circus "Dead Parrot sketch",which in turn is a quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Links To Peel
Peel was a big fan of the band's Song To The Siren track, originally sang by Tim Buckley and featuring the vocals of Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, which reached number 4 in the 1983 Festive Fifty and was one of Peel's favourite tracks in his Peelenium 1983. In later years in the 80's, the band's music was often played by Peel, but by the 90's, he rarely played any of their new material.

Festive Fifty Entries

 * 1983 Festive Fifty: Song To The Siren #04
 * 1984 Festive Fifty: Another Day #33
 * 1984 Festive Fifty: Kangaroo #21
 * 2000 Festive Fifty (All Time): Song To The Siren #10

Shows Played
1983 1984 1986 1990 1991 1999 2000
 * 07 September 1983 (Peel Early Sep 1983): Sixteen Days - Gathering Dust (12") 4AD
 * 13 September 1983: Song To The Siren (single) 4AD
 * 29 December 1983: 'Song To The Siren (7 inch)' (4AD) FF #04
 * The Peel Tapes Vol.2: Kangaroo
 * 19 December 1984: 'Another Day (LP-It'll End In Tears)' (4AD) FF #33
 * 25 December 1984: 'Kangaroo (LP-It'll End In Tears)' (4AD) FF #21
 * 09 July 1986 (Peel July 1986): Come Here My Love (10") 4AD
 * 18 August 1986: Come Here My Love (10" - Come Here My Love / Drugs) 4AD
 * 13 August 1990: Song To The Siren
 * 06 July 1991: Song To The Siren (12" - Sixteen Days - Gathering Dust) 4AD
 * 09 December 1999: 'Song To The Siren (7")' (4AD) Peelenium 1983
 * 25 January 2000: 'Song To The Siren (LP-It'll End In Tears)' (4AD) AT FF #10