Teenagers In Trouble

Teenagers In Trouble were a band originating from Bristol. Information about them is scant, and mainly comes from founder Richard King's e-book Original Rockers: in it, he describes their genesis. ''In that they existed at all Teenagers In Trouble were a band that dwelt in the imagination of my friend James Webster and I. Together we ran a small label called Planet Records, the office of which consisted of a table and filing cabinet propped up against a wall in the Revolver [local record shop] back room. We had released a series of 7 inch singles by bands mainly from Bristol, and Teenagers in Trouble were our conception of the perfect group. As such conceptions usually originated around last orders, we had decided that the first Teenagers In Trouble release would be a limited edition cassette-only cover version of the entire Woodstock soundtrack, and that Webster and I would be the core members. Such was our confidence in the project that we had written a brief overview of the release and had assigned it a catalogue number in our latest Planet Records fact sheet. These took the form of a small typed insert written in a semi-confrontational house style, included with every single.'' / Such a release found its way into Peel's hands and he called King one morning to arrange a session and to discuss the Fall. It debuted over the so-called 'Woodstock weekend' in August 1994, and the band used their studio time to record cover versions of songs made popular by groups who appeared at that festival in 1969 (namely, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joe Cocker, Sly & The Family Stone and a 'Woodstock medley'). At the time, Peel reported that they were in the (slow) process of recording an entire LP of such songs, to be released on the Planet label. It would seem that this project never came to fruition: thus, their (still unreleased and never repeated) session, recorded in their own studio stands as the chief proof of their endeavours. The songs use extracts from the original concert recordings, but are presented in a low-fi screeching manner with distorted vocals. (The final medley eschews any performance by the group in favour of a sound collage.) King relates that he was too nervous to listen to the show live, but a friend recorded it for him and passed the tape to Revolver.

This seems to have been the sum total of the band's fifteen minutes of fame. Peel claimed the following year, after meeting the band at Bristol Sound City, that the Woodstock project was finished, but the only recorded evidence was an album of excerpts released jointly with Fat Paul on Swarffinger Records in 1996.

Festive Fifty Entries

 * None

Sessions

 * One session, no known commercial release.

1. Recorded: unknown. First broadcast: 12 August 1994. No repeats.
 * Suite: Judy Blue Eyes / With A Little Help From My Friends / I Want To Take You Higher / Woodstock Medley

Other Shows Played

 * 15 September 1995: 'Radar Eyes (Compilation LP-Godz Is Not A Put-On)' (Lissy's)