Peel Sessions: The Lost Opportunities

Background

 * The BBC's policy of wiping sessions made for Peel's shows was frequently referred to by John, especially in his later years. Equally regretted were the sessions that were either made but never broadcast or ones that were never recorded in the first place. This page is an attempt to document those missed opportunities, and information is drawn from comments made in published Peel-related literature or comments made on his shows, with dates where possible.

Unaired Sessions

 * 4 Skins: Recorded in 1981, but unaired due (presumably) to the Southall riots. It has since been issued by the Captain Oi! label.
 * Love Child: Recorded 1992-12-21. Ken Garner says (in The Peel Sessions, p. 304) that 'no BBC data or regular listener can find a trace of this having been broadcast. Considered opinion is that the session, which is just dandy, was simply overlooked on the shelf. It happens sometimes.'
 * Morrissey: A session was recorded in 1988 following the breakup of the Smiths, described by Peel as 'tentative', and never aired at the singer's request. However, two tracks from a live split session with Zane Lowe appeared on the 19 May 2004 show.
 * Pogues: When the band were still known as 'Pogue Mahone', their debut session (recorded 1984-04-10, TX 17 April 1984) contained a song named 'The Boys From County Hell' that never made it to air due to the amount of bad language.

Abandoned Sessions

 * Clash: A recording date of 24 April 1978 was set, but an internal dispute during the session led to the band cancelling. There are conflicting reasons as to why this happened: see the band's page for more information.

Sessions That Were Never Made
"Different stories abound as to why the Sex Pistols never recorded a session for the programme. Walters balmed himself; he felt guilty about imposing on the unsuspecting BBC emgineers a band that raucous. John thought that the Pistols had turned down the offer. Whatever the reason, they got away. (Margrave Of the Marshes, Bantam Press, 2005, p. 368)"
 * Sex Pistols: John Walters regardded this as one of the great lost opportunities to capture a moment in time. Sheila says: