Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and county in South West England with an estimated population of 449,300 in 2016. It is England's sixth and the United Kingdom's eighth most populous city, and the most populous city in Southern England after London. The city borders the Unitary Authority areas of North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, with the historic cities of Bath and Gloucester to the south-east and north-east, respectively. The city of Bristol in the UK has spawned various musicians and artists, and is typified by its urban culture. While the city is most associated with a group of artists who emerged during the 1990s, especially the "Bristol Sound", the city maintains an active and diverse underground urban scene.

Links To Peel
The year 1979 proved to be the watershed year for the Bristol music scene, where three bands, Vice Squads, Hybrids and the Pop Group started to make a name of themselves due to no small part to BBC Radio One DJ John Peel, who seemed to be on a one man mission to put Bristol on the music map. What really got the national press salivating, was the release of the compilation album, Avon Calling, The Bristol Collection on Heartbeat Records, which Peel described as  'The compilation by which all others should now be judged... truly superb and not a bad track on it'. Peel played tracks from the album on his October 1979 shows.

Peel would regularly go to Bristol for his roadshows in the 80's, especially at Bristol Polytechnic and visit gigs to see musicians perform.

In his January 26, 1986 column in The Observer, Peel reviewed the Half Man Half Biscuit's first gig outside the North West – at Bristol’s Tropic Club. He wrote: ''“Their lyrics are the first genuinely and consistently funny pop lyrics since Viv Stanshall wrote for the Bonzo Dog Band, and they are set to unexpectedly memorable tunes, the whole rendered in a manner more appropriate to rehearsal than to performance. Somehow this is as it should be.” He concluded: “In Bristol they were a tonic, giving me my best night out in years. You must see them.”''

In the late 80's, many labels in Bristol including Sarah Records promoted indie pop records, which Peel gave airtime to numerous releases on the label, from the first single (Sarah 001), 'Pristine Christine' by the Sea Urchins – having earlier played the band on a Kvatch flexidisc – through to the final compilation CD (Sarah 100), 'There And Back Later Lane'.

In the mid 90's, Peel immersed himself in Sound City in Bristol in 1995, broadcasting his programmes live from the city and including recorded performances from the festival in his shows.

Session Artists
The following artists from the Bristol area recorded Peel sessions:

Festive Fifty
The following artists from the Bristol area had Festive Fifty entries:

Peelenium
The following tracks by artists from the Bristol area were chosen by Peel in his selections for each year of the 20th century: