- (This page is about the city. For the British band of the same name, see Bradford(2)).
Bradford is in the Metropolitan Borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, in the foothills of the Pennines 8.6 miles (14 km) west of Leeds, and 16 miles (26 km) northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897. Following local government reform in 1974, city status was bestowed upon the wider metropolitan borough. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Bradford rose to prominence during the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture, particularly wool. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the earliest industrialised settlements, rapidly becoming the "wool capital of the world". The area's access to a supply of coal, iron ore and soft water facilitated the growth of Bradford's manufacturing base, which, as textile manufacture grew, led to an explosion in population and was a stimulus to civic investment; Bradford has a large amount of listed Victorian architecture including the grand Italianate City Hall.
Links To Peel[]
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Peel's wife Sheila came from Shipley, which was absorbed into the city of Bradford in 1974. He said that one of his initial attractions to her was her "impenetrable Bradford accent" and as well as visiting his wife's family he also played gigs and gained an honorary degree at the university there.[2] He featured artists from Bradford on his shows (although not as many as from nearby Leeds). Among them were the folk group Swan Arcade, who took their name from a Victorian shopping arcade in the city.
In an episode of the Sounds Of The Suburbs TV series, broadcast in 1999, Peel explored the music scene in Bradford where he interviewed Aki Nawaz of Fun-Da-Mental and Lianne Hall, who both did sessions for his radio show. In 1986, Peel's producer John Walters visited the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford, and presented a BBC2 programme on its new Television Gallery, as part of the BBC's "TV50" celebrations.
After Peel's death, one of the selections he had made for the posthumously released Pig's Big 78 album was a pre-1914 brass band piece entitled "Bradford", performed by the Besses o' th' Barn Band. In 2012, a group of campaigners launched an ultimately unsuccessful plan to turn the derelict Art Deco cinema in Bradford into a music venue dedicated to the former DJ.[3]
In football, Sheila supported Bradford Park Avenue until it went into liquidation in 1974. Despite this, Peel's first show of the 1990s included a track by the other local club, Bradford City, entitled "You Know We're Going To Win".[4]
Sheila and her consort took in Bradford on their somewhat ill-fated camper van road trip in September 1977. The unreliable van was in fact left "languishing" at a garage in the city at the end of the week's travels.[1]
Session Artists[]
The following artists from Bradford recorded sessions for the John Peel Show:
- 1919: (2 sessions, 1982-83)
- Det-Ri-Mental: (2 sessions, 1994-95)
- Fun-Da-Mental: (3 sessions, 1992-94)
- Lianne Hall: (4 sessions, 2000-04) [2]
- Joolz: (1 session, 1984) [3]
- New Model Army: (1 session, 1984)
- Passmore Sisters: (2 sessions, 1985-86)
- Radio 5: (1 session, 1980)
- Skeletal Family: (2 sessions, 1983-4) [4]
- Southern Death Cult: (1 session, 1982)
- Swan Arcade: (3 session, 1973-74)
- Welfare State: (1 session, 1969)[5]
Compilations[]
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(Including various artist releases related to the city's 1 In 12 Club)[5]
(LP- Enemies Of The State: Worst Of The 1 In 12 Club, Vol. 3) 1 In 12
- 22 August 1984: Chinese Gangster Element: The World's On Fire
- 30 August 1984: Three Johns: Bloop
- 02 September 1984 (BFBS): Chinese Gangster Element: World's On Fire
- 02 September 1984 (BFBS): Requiem: Spartan Life
- 02 September 1984 (BFBS): Word: Boys Choir
- 02 September 1984 (BFBS): Eton Crop: Boringisms
- 03 September 1984: Chinese Gangster Element: World's On Fire
- 03 September 1984 (BBC World Service): Chinese Gangster Element: World's On Fire
- 23 September 1984 (BFBS): Seven Antelopes: Eat People
- 10 October 1984 (VPRO): Eton Crop: Boringisms
(LP - Systembeat: The Worst Of The 1 In 12 Club, Vol 4) 1 in 12 Club
- 03 June 1985: The Men From The Mountains: Trembling
- 05 June 1985: Dig Vis Drill: I'm Hip, I'm Vain
(LP - Systembeattwo: The Worst Of The 1 In 12 Club, Vol 5) 1 In 12 Club
- 22 October 1985: 1,000 Violins: The Tragic Tale Of Daniel
- Peel 020 (BFBS) (1985-00-00): Passmore Sisters: Strong For Europe
(2xLP - "Volnitza" (Worst Of The 1 In 12 Club Vol 6/7)) 1 In 12
- 09 August 1989: Shrug: Fear & Violence On The Last Bus Home
(2xLP - Wild & Crazy "Noise Merchants" ... ...Invade A City Near You: Worst Of The 1 In 12 Club Vol. 9/10) 1 In 12
- 04 November 1990: Godorrhoea: Star Of Deathly Realm: Glub Dub Drib: Mothman: Garble
- 25 November 1990: Greenhouse This One's For Me
(LP - A Nightmare On Albion St. (Worst Of The 1 In 12 Club – Vol. 11)) 1 In 12
- 23 October 1992: Threshold Shift: Power Games
See Also[]
- Negatives
- Leitmotiv
- Rootsman: On 04 May 1999, Peel played a collaboration with Muslimgauze called 'Bradford' from the album 'Return To The City Of Djinn'.
- Sounds Of The Suburbs: Bradford
- Peel On Record Cover Sleevenotes: In 1971, JP contributed sleevenotes to 'Count Me Out', the debut album of Bradford band Moonkyte.
- 01 January 1990: Bradford City Football Club: You Know We're Going To Win (2xLP - Flair 1989: The Other World Of British Football) Confection
- Gigography 1969 | Gigography 1982 | Gigography 1987
- Disc & Music Echo: Peel Columns
- Sounds
External Links[]
- Footnotes
- ↑ As recounted in Peel's Sounds column, 17 Sep. 1977
- ↑ Originally from Peterborough, Hall relocated to Bradford and lived in a bus for five years before moving to Brighton in 2000 and later relocating to Berlin, Germany. Her fourth session was a collaboration with Caroline Martin.
- ↑ Performance poet Joolz Denby was born in Colchester, moved to Harrogate with parents age 11, and was subsequently based in Bradford, working with New Model Army, among others.
- ↑ From Keighley, a town approximately 6 miles to the NW of Bradford.
- ↑ As noted by Peel in the sleevenotes for John Peel Presents Top Gear, which features the session, Welfare State were a multi-media art college group from "the excellent city of Bradford”.[1]