John Peel Wiki

Changes to the look of John Peel Wiki will take place in the near future due to a new skin being rolled out over Oct/Nov across Wikia. Please see the Wikia Staff Blog for further details. On this site, the changes will affect the navigation from the left menu, as well as introduce a fixed page width with narrower content space. Please be patient while adjustments are made for the switch to the new system.

UPDATE: As the change is now in force for some users, I have switched the navigation to the simplified one for the new system. Please check Navigation in the Help section if you can't find things. I also initially made small adjustments to the front page layout, but have now reverted to the old look until all users are on the new system.

COUNTDOWN: Just a reminder for people still using Monaco that the final switch to the new skin is due on Nov. 3. After that, it will no longer be offered as an option. Sorry. Nothing to do with me.

Steve W

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Baby Bird

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Babybird

Babybird is a musical project centred around songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Jones, who has been releasing music since 1995. While Jones' early solo work was released under the "Baby Bird" name, the altered "Babybird" was first used to distinguish the full band line-up that has changed often over the years. However, in recent years, Jones has recorded many of the Babybird albums himself, in addition to recording as a solo artist, and under various aliases including Death Of The Neighbourhood, Trucker, Black Reindeer, Deluder, Arthritis Kid and others.

Stephen Jones started writing and recording songs at home and his first collection of these demos, I Was Born a Man, was released in July 1995 using the name Baby Bird. He formed a band in order to tour and promote this work. In 1996, Babybird signed to Echo Records and their first single was released in July 1996. The group's second single, "You're Gorgeous", reached number 3 in the UK in October 1996, and was one of the biggest selling singles of the year, going on to chart around the world. However, it presented a more commercial face to the public in comparison to Jones's earlier work, as well as in comparison to the rest of the material on the Ugly Beautiful album. The album produced two more hit singles in "Candy Girl" and "Cornershop".

Babybird were dropped from their record label in 2000 after their third album, Bugged, had poor sales. The band then split. Jones continued on his own, writing fiction, releasing solo work and created the score for the film Blessed. In October 2005, the band reformed with three members and created another album released in September 2006. They went on tour in November 2009 and then split again in 2013. After a number of Babybird releases on Bandcamp from 2015, Jones took the band back out on tour in late 2017 with a new line up. A compilation album Happy Stupid Nothing was released in 2019, featuring a selection of Babybird tracks from 2015 onwards.

Links to Peel[]

Stephen Jones was interviewed by The Mouth Magazine and was asked how his success in the mid-90's rose so quickly from being a support act for Jools Holland to appearing on Richard & Judy TV show. He mentioned Peel amongst other radio DJ's playing material from his Ugly Beautiful album:

"A fun night I remember! It was more propelled by Mark Radcliffe and Lard (Marc Riley), and Mark Lamarr. Doing radio sessions for them, etc. They played GOODNIGHT a lot. Even Peel did… UGLY BEAUTIFUL was rushed and contained band songs and some of my old tarted up demos, so it was a bit of a mess. YOU’RE GORGEOUS got the Richard and Judy spot, the Big Breakfast on Channel Four, the juggernaut BBC Radio One roadshows, etc, in full steam. All a big blur…" [1]

Peel supported Babybird with airplay in the mid-90's, though did not appear to have played the commercial breakthrough release "You're Gorgeous", and by the time the band released the Dying Happy album in 1997, he had moved on to other artists and this was at a time when the britpop scene was dying away, which Babybird became more associated with.

Festive Fifty Entries[]

Sessions[]

  • None

Live[]

Recorded live at the Phoenix Festival. First Broadcast: 21 July 1996

  1. Too Handsome To Be Homeless
  2. Man's Tight Vest
  3. Bug In A Breeze
  4. Goodnight

Other Shows Played[]

1995
Goodnight

Goodnight

1996
1997

See Also[]

External Links[]

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