John Peel Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Bis-9732

Bis are a Scottish indie pop band composed of Steven Clark (Sci-fi Steven), John Clark (John Disco), and Amanda MacKinnon (Manda Rin). The band's name, rhyming with 'this', derives from "Black Iron Skyline", a lyric from the song Twilight of a Champion by The The. Formed in 1994, the band broke up in 2003, but reformed briefly in 2007 for a series of concerts. The three musicians formed Bis in 1994, when Rin and Disco were in secondary school and Steven had recently finished there. About a year later, they appeared on Top Of The Pops performing "Kandy Pop" from their Secret Vampire Soundtrack EP ahead of its release: much being made at the time about them being the first 'unsigned' band to do so (in reality dozens of bands had appeared on the show with singles released on labels they had no formal contract with other than as a distributor or, like Bis, on a single by single basis). The band's early releases were on Glasgow's Chemikal Underground label, run by The Delgados, before transferring to Wiiija, where labelmates included Cornershop. (Read more at Wikipedia.)

Links to Peel[]

In a 1997 interview, John Disco cited Peel as an example of someone whose age was less important than his musical perspective:

"He's done what he's wanted to do throughout his life. He's 54 or something, [1] and even though he still listens to some of the stuff that he liked when he was eighteen, he also likes to listen to drum-and-bass stuff. Some people don't like him because they don't think he should still be a youth icon--because he's that old. But I don't think people should criticize him for that. I think they should compliment him." [1]

Festive Fifty Entries[]

Sessions[]

Three sessions. #1 selected among Peel Sessions: The Best 125. Official releases:
- 'Super James' from #1 on Various Artists: Songs About Plucking 2x7”, 1996 (Fierce Panda NING 18).
- John Peel session 14.10.95 (10"/digital, 2023, Precious).
- John Peel session 16.06.96 (10"/digital, 2023, Precious)

We_Love_John_Peel_by_Bis_(1996_BBC_Session)

We Love John Peel by Bis (1996 BBC Session)

'We Love John Peel' (session #2), first broadcast 16 June 1996.

1. Recorded 1995-09-17. First broadcast 14 October 1995. Repeated 03 February 1996.

  • Teen-C Power / Super James / Kandy Pop / Icky-Poo Air Raid

2. Recorded 1996-06-04. Broadcast 16 June 1996.

  • Sweet Shop Avengers / Antiseptic Poetry / We Love John Peel / Keroleen / Rebel Soul

3. Recorded: 1998-06-28. Broadcast 04 August 1998.

  • Making People Normal / Action & Drama / The Hit Girl / It's All New

Live[]

  1. This Is Fake DIY
  2. Kandy Pop
  3. Burn The Suit
  4. Secret Vampires
  5. Icky Poo Air Raid
  6. School Disco
  7. Kill Yr Boyfriend
  1. Young Alien Types
  2. I'm A Slut
  3. Eurodisco
  4. unknown
  5. Action And Drama
  6. unknown
  7. unknown
  8. Shopaholic
  9. unknown
  10. School Disco
  1. Kandy Pop
  2. Eurodisco

Other Shows Played[]

(The list below was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive. Please add more information if known.)

1995
1996
  • 19 January 1996: Kandy Pop (EP - Vampire Soundtrack EP) Chemikal Underground CHEM 003
  • 17 February 1996: Kandy Pop (7" - The Secret Vampire Soundtrack) Chemikal Underground
  • 24 February 1996: Secret Vampires (7" - The Secret Vampire Soundtrack) Chemikal Underground
  • 25 February 1996 (BFBS): Kandy Pop (7"-The Secret Vampire Soundtrack) Chemikal Underground
  • 01 March 1996: Teen-C Power (7"-The Secret Vampire Soundtrack) Chemikal Underground
  • 02 March 1996 (BFBS): Secret Vampires (12"-The Secret Vampire Soundtrack) Chemikal Underground (JP: 'I used to be a member of a secret society when I was at school, when I was about eight or nine or something like that. We all had codenames: mine was White Jaguar, this was more to do with cars than anything else. I thought I'd just pass that on to you, 'cos I know you're interested in that sort of thing.')
  • 09 March 1996 (BFBS): Teen-C Power! (10"-This Is Teen-C Power!) Grand Royal (JP: 'I was supposed to go and see them during the week, but one of those strange things: I went to an Indian restaurant beforehand, and I'd been in there earlier on with a couple of mates about a month beforehand, and they'd served us so quickly, it was like there was nobody else in the restaurant....we thought, we'll go in there because they do serve you quickly if nothing else, and of course it was exactly the opposite. About the time the band was going on in Cambridge, we were just getting the food put down in front of us in Bury St. Edmunds, so we didn't get to see Bis, and a jolly interesting story it therefore becomes.')
  • 19 March 1996: Kandy Pop (CD: The Secret Vampire Soundtrack) Chemikal Underground
  • 21 March 1996: Kandy Pop (EP - The Secret Vampire Soundtrack) Chemical Underground CHEM 003
  • 20 April 1996: Super James (Peel Session) (v/a 2x7" - Songs About Plucking) Fierce Panda
  • 27 April 1996 (BFBS): Super James (Peel Session) (2x Compilation 7"-Songs About Plucking) Fierce Panda
  • April 1996 (BBC World Service): Super James (Peel Session) (2x Compilation 7"-Songs About Plucking) Fierce Panda
  • 04 May 1996: This Is Fake DIY (7 inch – Bis vs The DIY Corps) Teen-C Recordings
  • 05 May 1996: This Is Fake DIY (CD Single – Bis Vs The DIY Corps) Wiiija
  • 11 May 1996: Burn The Suite (7 inch – Bis Vs The DIY Corps) Teen-C Recordings
  • 12 May 1996: Dance To The Disco Beat (7"-The D.I.Y. Corps)' (Teen-C Recordings)
  • 18 May 1996: This Is Fake D.I.Y. (7" - Bis Vs. The D.I.Y. Corps) Teen-C
  • 18 May 1996 (BFBS): 'This Is Fake D.I.Y. (7"-The D.I.Y. Corps)' (Teen-C Recordings)
  • 09 June 1996: This Is Fake D.I.Y. (single - Bis vs. The D.I.Y Corps) Teen-C
  • 15 June 1996: Keroleen (7 inch - split with Heavenly) K
  • 05 October 1996: Starbright Boy (EP - Atom Powered Action!) Wiiija
  • October 1996 (FSK): Team Theme (7" - Atom Powered Action!) Wiiija
  • 10 October 1996 (BFBS): 'Starbright Boy (7"-Atom Powered Action!)' (Wiiija)
  • 13 October 1996: Team Theme (EP - Atom Powered Action!) Wiiija
  • 13 October 1996 (BBC World Service): Starbright Boy (EP - Atom Powered Action!) Wiiija
  • 28 September 1996: Starbright Boy (7 inch – Atom Powered Action!) Wiija
  • 28 December 1996: Kandy Pop (Maxi CD-The Secret Vampire Soundtrack) Chemikal Underground FF#14
1997
1998
1999
2000
2002
Post-Peel

See Also[]

External Links[]

Footnotes
  1. Actually 58 at this time.
Advertisement