23 February 1987

Show

Name

• John Peel Show

Station

• BBC Radio One

YYYY-MM-DD

• 1987-02-23

Comments

• The recording contains the first hour of the show, but is missing the opening two minutes.
• The David Bowie track presumably opened the programme to commemorate Warhol's death the previous day.
• Peel had been to see the band Europe in Birmingham with his son William. "It was one of those things you go to really expecting to be able to tear it to shreds to be honest with you, actually in a sense there wasn't enough there to dislike. By the end of it I felt quite sympathetic towards them. You'll be appalled to hear that, I don't doubt, some of you, but... a good show, there's no getting away from it. They could actually play quite well and it was quite entertaining. Perhaps I'm mellowing in my old age." (Review is reprinted in Olivetti Chronicles, p.64)
• Still on the subject of gigs: "Out of all the gigs that I've had to review for the newspapers, the only one that I really came away from thinking... in fact I left at half time because I thought if I stayed any longer I should have some kind of rather exciting seizure, was the Cliff Richard gig."
• After the gig Peel had been out for a meal with Robert Lloyd and Derek Hammon, formerly of the group Yeah Yeah Noh.
• Another television appearance is referenced: "You may recall that there was a programme about Polish music on BBC television recently, and then I talked a load of patronising codswallop about it on 'Did You See?' which you may not have seen, in fact."
• The Mekons cover Merle Haggard's 'Skid Row' in their session, adding a verse for Peel: 'Well hello John Peel what we want to know / When you going to quit? Where will we go / We'll never get played on the radio / But we'll see you down on skid row.'
• Peel couldn't recognise a Japanese record, as it was written in Japanese. The record turns out to be from あぶらだこ (Aburadako), whose track "29" was played at the wrong speed by Peel. That version can be found on this link. The normal version can be seen on this link.

Sessions

• Mekons #6. First broadcast. Recorded 10th February 1987
• Dub Sex #1. Repeat of session first broadcast 04 February 1987. Recorded 20th January 1987

(Please add details of any commercial release of these sessions)

Tracklisting

• David Bowie: Andy Warhol (LP - Hunky Dory)
• Mongo Mange Gatoo: Capital Punishment (LP - Death Can Be Hazardous To Your Health) Lethal Death
• Mekons: Danton (session)
• Playground: Nothing New (7")
• Dub Sex: Man On The Inside (session)

JP: "Another religious experience with a Manchester area band."

• Super Diamono de Dakar: Soweto (LP - People) Encore
• Abaddon: Kto (LP - Wet Za Wet) New Wave Records
• Railway Children: Brighter (7") Factory
• Age of Chance: Crash Conscious (cut)

Tape flip

• Mekons: Skid Row (session)

JP: "I'm not on skid row yet, although people do laugh and snicker at my clothes already."

• Stetsasonic: My Rhyme (LP - On Fire) Tommy Boy
• Too Tight Henry: Charleston Contest Part 2 (LP - Blacks, Whites and Blues) CBS
• Dub Sex: Then And Now (session)

JP: "At our house we have a new favourite record. It's not a new one at all, actually, it's old, but it's been growing on us over a long period of time and now we can't get through the day without hearing it several times. In fact the Pig sings it and rather well without knowing the words at all. Here it is."

• Bhundu Boys: Hupenyu Hwangu (LP - Shabini) Discafrique
• Birthday Party: Release the Bats (The Peel Sessions EP 12") Strange Fruit
• Aburadako (あぶらだこ): 29 (LP - あぶらだこ) ABURA 1 (Played at the wrong speed and of course Peel didn't notice it, as the lyrics were in Japanese)

JP: "As I say, we don't know the name of the artist, nor the name of the track, nor the record label, nor indeed anything about it, beyond the fact that it's Japanese and on blue vinyl."

• Cockc'Nell: 再生 (LP - Boys Tree) BaLcony

File

Name

• 1987-02-23 Tape 407.mp3

Length

• 1:01:22

Other

• File created from T407 of 400 Box.

Available

• [1]