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in: 1997, Peel shows, Available online,
and 3 more

23 December 1997

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Show[]

Name
Station
YYYY-MM-DD
  • 1997-12-23
Comments
  • The 1997 Festive Fifty: which actually has only 31 tracks (which John curiously falls into the habit mid broadcast of calling the "pretty Festive 31"), in one 4-hour show, broadcast between 6.30-10.30 p.m., augmented by a session repeat and records chosen by family and listeners. The name of the person who chose each record is listed in bold.
  • Start of show: "Evening."
  • Before the Pavement session, JP warns them not to leave any long pauses in between songs, otherwise an emergency tape featuring an Oasis record ("and an old Oasis record!") will kick in.
  • Peel bemoans his lack of German: which consists mainly of the ability to count to twelve ("when you've done that once, there's no point in doing it again"), but manages to introduce numbers 18 and 17 in that language after coaching from occasional producer Susan. Then at number 10, after a suggestion from a listener's fax, he starts a countdown in Punjabi.

Sessions[]

Tracklisting[]

(JP: 'Right. Music loving John Peel with you for the next four hours here on Radio 1. These are the Propellerheads, of course and Take California, please. And quite a few of the bands that you'll hear in the next four hours would have been in that Scottish chart that you heard about on Newsbeat. We've also got Pavement playing live, well, not exactly live, but it was live when it was done originally, and most entertaining it is too, about twenty minutes of that will crop up at some stage in the programme, and also a sort of Festive 51 (sic). In addition to that, several of the records in the programme, quite a few of them in fact, have been selected by you, the listener. And that was the choice of Kevin Lewis from Darlington. Where as this was the choice of Paul McCarthy from Burton-On-Trent.')
  • Velocette: 'Get Yourself Together (CD single)' (Wiiija) Paul McCarthy (listener from Burton-On-Trent)
(JP: 'Former Comet Gainers picking and grinning their way into your hearts. That's Velocette on Wiiija Records and Get Yourself Together. And we don't really bother on the programme that I do normally with kind of exclusives, although if they come our way we're always grateful for them, and about the biggest exclusive we had during the year was this. Simon from Liverpool was just one of many that wanted to hear it again.')
  • Pulp: 'Help The Aged (CD single)' (Island) Simon (listener from Liverpool)
(JP: 'Please. That's Pulp of course. Help The Aged. And if you want to send a fax, the number is 0645110100 and as I say this is a four hour programme or three three quarter hours now in fact. So fax's will be very welcome. 0645110100. And I've already had them from Turbo Cat and Stuart at Adobe Systems. My thanks to them. And this is Cornershop. It's amazing the number of people I've met in the past few months who've said, "Of course I've been into Cornershop since 1974."')
(JP: 'My daughter Flossie's rather keen on this, and shockingly all of my children's favourite records of the year will be coming up later in the programme as well. Grotesquely self-indulgent, I'd say. Cornershop and from the LP, When I Was Born For The Seventh Time. Sleep On The Left Side. Chosen by Andrew Marston from Cornwall where as this was one of the choices of - well, the choice anyway of David Mill from Glasgow.')
(JP: 'Complete with the sound of distant traffic, that's Ivor Cutler from the LP, A Wet Handle on Creation Records. 83 tracks. Every single one played on this programme during the year. That was track number 11 in fact. Goosie. And the faxes pour in. One from Wendy in Five Live Trails and she says, "That track after Cornershop was particularly fine." That was Underworld, Wendy. And Moaner from the Batman and Robin soundtrack and hold on, what are these other faxes here? Let's have a look at this one. It says, This is from Alan Carins in the Isle of Wight and also Emma, it says Emma Rigley, I guess that would be in Weatherby. And the point is, you don't, you know. There's no point in sending me faxes now saying, "We'd really like to hear such-and-such a track", because quite clearly I don't have access to the record library at this time of night, and haven't brought in all of my records, so the programme's pretty much pre-ordained, but nice to get those faxes nevertheless. This is Starky Banton.')
  • Starky Banton: 'Weeping & Wailing (12 inch-Rastaman Chant)' (Fashion) Darren Parry (listener from Holyhead)
(JP: 'This was the suggestion of Darren Parry from Holyhead and a fine suggestion too. Starky Banton - Weeping & Wailing and Starky Banton going to be in session sometime early in 1998 on this programme. I mean the regular programme between 20:40 and 22:30. Right here on Radio 1. And this next one was chosen by Alex Powell from Peterborough. Symposium. Hold on a second. Let me make sure I'm going to play you the right tune. I think I am. (Plays the first couple of seconds, plays wrong song.) (No I'm not. Here we go.')
  • Suckle: 'Symposium (7 inch)' (Detox) Alex Powell (listener from Peterborough)
(JP: I've been working out me timings, actually while that was playing and the Pavement set if you're interested now will be coming up about, I reckon ten to eight. And then '"Not the Festive Fifty", or if you'd rather the Festive 31, put together really at the last minute, but I mean you know, these things are always interesting, and I always quite enjoy doing them, that'll be starting at something like 13 minutes and 40 seconds past 8, I think, according to my calculations. That was Symposium by Suckle for Alex Powell from Peterborough. And there are one or two choices of mine in the programme, not very many as a matter of fact, because quite clearly, I have the whole year to choose records, you know. I play them three nights a week, so it would be a bit daft for me to fill the programme with all of my choices, but there are one or two things which were chosen at random which I thought to myself as I was sorting out other records, you know for other people, "Hmm, I'd like to hear that one again", and here's a case in point.')
  • Cuff: 'Evaporate (7 inch)' (Spangle) John Peel (DJ)
(JP: 'Excellent stuff. That's Cuff and Evaporate. One of my choices for the year. I mean, As I say, there have been many thousands of them. And faxes coming in here. One from Kevin at Offside asking me about the Dalglish that he sent me up in. I've been wearing it actually ever since it arrived. And I wore it until this morning when by my family got together a little petition and said, D'you mind changing the shirts?' I got a different one. Man or Astro Man shirt on at the moment in fact. And one here from Mac of Shifty Disco in Oxford. He says, "Any chance of saying hello to us on the wireless? We're having some kind of Shifty Dixie, Disco Christmas do and love and figgy pudding", he says. What a disgusting concept. Well, there you go. Young people. What they're get up to. Uh, where are we now? Oh yeah. This is the choice of Richard Perry from somewhere in the West Midlands.')
  • Idlewild: 'Chandelier (7 inch)' (Fierce Panda) Richard Perry (listener from West Midlands)
(JP: 'Big evening session favourite. That's Idlewild on Fierce Panda records and Chandelier. I seem to be rather louder than the records. I'll just - Oh, my goodness me. I'll just turn myself down a little bit. (adjusts the volume.) There you go. Professionalism for you. And only one person's had two choice of records in the course of this programme, which goes on till 10.30 here on Radio 1, and that's Sheila, my wife, aka The Pig. And I'm glad she only had one choice of husband. Here are her two choices back to back.')
(JP: 'That word is flog, in course you're aghast. It does make more sense. That's the Pig's two picks for the year from Velodrome 2000 - the second of them and Charity Shopping. The first of them - Vinyl Junkie and Can't Forget. And the faxes continue to pour in. Here's one from Neil Young of Sunderland. At least one of your requests will be satisfied before the end of the programme, Neil. And this next is our William's choice.')
(JP: 'Well, the man is a god, of course. And frankly you have to have this LP. It's by Panacea - the LP's called Low Profile Darkness and that was Stormbringer and that was our son William's choice. And this is my daughter Alexandra's.')
  • Verve: 'Sonnet (CD-Urban Hymns)' (Virgin/Hut) Alexandra Ravenscroft (DJ's daughter)
(JP: 'This is The Verve, of course and Sonnet from the LP, Urban Hymns. My daughter Danda's choice for the year. And I imagine she would want me to play it for her mates in Manchester should any of them be listening. And a postcard from Carl who writes to me from Rue something with a rather attractive name in Paris and he says, "Hope you'll be able to play us a tune this year. We'll be back in Leeds on the 23rd of December and listen to all your programmes until the 3rd of January." Well, sort of bad news in a way, Carl because after this programme I don't have another one until the 6th of January (laughs.) So you can get it in Paris though, you know on satellite. I'm sure you can. You must be able to. The next couple of selections are producer's choice, really. The first from Alison, the producer. The second one from Susan - the occasional producer who's producing tonight, in fact. This is Alison's choice.')
  • Blur: 'Beetlebum (CD single)' (Food) Alison Howe (Peel Show producer)
  • (trailer for Radio 1 breakfast show)
  • DJ Hype: 'Peace, Love And Unity (12 inch)' (True Playaz) Susan (occasional Peel Show producer)
(JP: 'This is Susan - the occasional producer's choice of the year. DJ Hype -Peace, Love And Unity, a remix. Always like any record with a bit of backward spooling on it. And before that, it was Alison the producer's choice. Blur, of course. And Beetlebum. I asked our son Thomas what his favourite record of the year was, and he said he hadn't heard a decent record for two years. But then to my surprise nominated this.')
  • Ash: 'A Life Less Ordinary (CD single)' (Infectious) Thomas Ravenscroft (DJ's son) %
(JP: 'And that's our son Thomas' choice. Ash, of course and A Life Less Ordinary. And Pavement recorded - Well, played live in our Maida Vale studios on the 21st August and I'm going to play you that in just a moment. It's introduced by me, asking the usual penetrating questions that I ask people on these occasions. But before I do that, this is our Flossie's choice and I was very pleased that she chose this because it's a favourite of mine as well.')
  1. Date With Ikea
  2. Fin
  3. Grave Architecture
  4. The Classical [1]
(JP: 'You've made an old man very happy....That will obviously have been bootlegged and be on sale tomorrow in Camden Market and other places throughout the country.')
  • Junior Reid: 'Mashing Up The Earth (12 inch)' (JR Productions)

1997 Festive 31: Numbers 31-01[]

(JP: 'Now there's no Festive Fifty this year, this for the benefit of regular listeners, because well the Christmas schedules were a little uncertain, and when they came out that wasn't - I didn't really have enough programmes to do a Festive Fifty, and it is a bit late anyway, so Alison the producer organised, well, a Festive 31 really, and people sent in emails, faxes, letters and cards, and incidentally on the subject of emails, because we've had rather a grisly autumn at home, I am coming to terms with these emails, and will try and answer as many of them as I can over Christmas and New Year: I've got plenty of time to do it, after all, so I will give that my first attention, well, reasonably full attention anyway. So Alison put together this chart from these emails, faxes, letters and cards, the Festive 31 if you like, and this is at number 31.')
(JP: 'This is for Mary Ann Hobbs and Lieutenant Hannah closing on Oxford even as we speak because at 22:30 Mary Ann Hobbs' programme is tonight comes to you live from the Zodiac club in Oxford with floor scorching sets from Lo-fi Allstars, Death In Vegas, Midfield General and Aphrodite. Propellerheads of course and that was Velvet Pants which also crops up on the LP - Decksandrumsandrockandroll. First class stuff throughout. And before that, that was number 28. Before that was 29, Hybirds and the single Seventeen. And this is number 27 in your sort of quite Festive 31. Would have been a lot higher in mine, I suspect.')
  • 27: Delgados: 'Pull The Wires From The Wall' (Peel Session) %
(JP: 'That is wonderful, I think. The Delgados in session and Pull The Wires From The Wall. Number 27 in the Festive 50 and the sooner that comes out on record, the happier I shall be. And I hope to see more of the Delgados next year because I saw for a couple of days when I was around sort of Motherwell, Kilmarnock, and Lanark and places like that. About a mouth ago as I say. Saw quite a bit of them. Even if it's only for another pub quiz at the Electric Bar in Motherwell. It would be nice to see them. This is - that was number 27. This is 26.')
(JP: 'I should have got Zoe Ball or somebody to shout out the numbers so it wasn't my voice after each one. 24! That was Prolapse in the Festive 31. And Autocade. And this is at number 23 and this in fact is going to be the first part of a Radio 1 twin spin.')
(JP: 'Number 22 in your silver dollar survey. That's Bis and Sweet Shop Avengerz and at 23 before that, of course. It was Secret Goldfish - Dandelion Milk Summer on Creeping Bent Records. One of the - well, quite a few actually. Sort of genuinely independent Record labels that's made 1997 a most enjoyable year as far as I'm concerned. A fax here from Alison and Andrew of Iodine Records, saying, "What's poor David Gedge going to do with his infamous Festive 50 statistics now that this year's is only a Festive 31? We're concerned!" Well, so am I, I dare not ask him, to be perfectly honest with you. But he'll have worked out something, of that you can be certain. And Tim Calpason, the answer to your question is yes.')
(JP: 'I always like a good football record, and that's a good football record, no question about it. There aren't many of them, though.')
(JP: 'A fax from David Gedge saying, "Good question. Here's to 98!"....Apart from the music, you know, the radio programmes, one or two other bits and pieces, it's been a terrible year. The second half of the year, anyway.')
(JP: 'This is another record actually which would have been a great deal higher in any Festive Fifty of mine.')
(JP: 'Tim Calpason, I've just reread your fax and the answer is no rather than yes. Apologies for that. Number 16 in the Festive 31. Hey! Fever. This is Arab Strap from the EP The Girls Of Summer on the Chemikal Underground record label of course. (pause) And this is number 15.')
(JP: 'Couldn't really talk over that, could you? That's Stereolab & Nurse With Wound. Number 14 in the pretty Festive 31. Simple Headphone Mind. The title of it. And this, I think, the first record to appear so far that doesn't have its origins essentially in the UK or Ireland. This is at 13.')
(JP: 'Gave our transmitters a bit of a workout when Damon started shrieking there....I was tempted to play the one that was recorded in our garden, but I thought that would seem almost like bragging.')
  • 10: David Holmes: 'The Holiday Girl (Don't Die Just Yet-Arab Strap Mix) (CD single)' (Go! Beat-white label) $ @
  • 09: Clinic: 'IPC Subeditors Dictate Our Youth (7 inch)' (Aladdin's Cave Of Golf)
(JP: 'That would have figured pretty prominently in any chart of mine, I think.')
(JP: 'And this, quite rightly, at number 4.')
(JP: 'You seem to have chosen a lot of records in your Festive 31 that got louder and louder and louder, and in this case softer again, causing me a great deal of inconvenience here in the studio. How dare you. That was at number 2 in your Festive 31, New Paths To Helicon - Mogwai on Wurlitzer Jukebox Records again. I'll be back on whenever it is, Tuesday the 6th January with Comet Gain in session. On the Wednesday the 7th it's Girlfrendo. And on Thursday the 8th Plaid and then Love Junk, To Rococo Rot and Christian Vogel the week after that. And, well, all that remains really is for me to play you the number 1 record in your Festive 31, and this is it.')
(JP: ' Well, there you have it. That's your number 1. Cornershop, of course. And Brimful Of Asha. And have a good holiday, and I hope you'll join me on January 6 on Tuesday with Comet Gain. Thanks very much for listening, and after the news you're going to be Breezeblocking with M A Hobbs.')
Tracks marked $ also available on File e
Tracks marked % also available on File g
Tracks marked @ also available on File h

File[]

Name
  • a) Peel Show 1997-12-23
  • b) 1997f31
  • c) ff97.1.1 & 2, ff97.2.1 & 2, ff97.3.1
  • d) 1997-12-23pt1.mp3, 1997-12-23pt2.mp3, 1997-12-23pt3.mp3
  • e) 1997-12-xx-1998-01-xx Peel Show LE385
  • f) John Peel 23 Dec 1997 complete.mp3
  • g) 1997-09-xx-12-xx Peel Show UC136.mp3
  • h) 1997-12-xx-1998-01-xx Peel Show UC137.mp3
Length
  • a) 3:57:31
  • b) 2:17:04
  • c) 0:46:03, 0:48:19, 0:48:35, 0:50:34, 0:50:48
  • d) 1:20:04, 1:20:25, 1:16:36
  • e) 1:32:17 (10:58-16:29, 1:04:08-1:23:05)
  • f) 4:00:09
  • g) 1:29:52 (from 49:01)
  • h) 1:29:20 (to 56:12)
Other
Available
Footnotes
  1. ↑ A Fall cover.
  2. ↑ Taken from a Peel Session.
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