Cannibals

Previously the singer of mid-Seventies R&B pub rockers the Count Bishops, Mike Spenser formed the Cannibals in 1976. Billed as "Mike Spenser and the Cannibals" on their debut single, they reverted thereafter to just "The Cannibals".

As one of the foremost garage rock / Trash bands on the UK scene, they issued a string of albums throughout the Eighties and gigged often, with a constantly revolving lineup.

The Cannibals still play live occasionally as of 2014.

Links to Peel

"Nothing Takes The Place Of You"

"One of the most wonderful records of all time I think... always a pleasure to hear that." (29 August 1978)

The group's debut 7" was issued in late 1977 or early 1978, with "Good Guys" as the A side and "Nothing Takes The Place Of You" on the other. Side A was a faithful cover of the Standells' 1966 garage rock staple "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White". Peel's preference was for the rather more sentimental flip, "Nothing Takes The Place Of You", a cover of an original Toussaint McCall R&B hit from 1967.^[1] The emotional pull of the song clearly struck a chord with Peel, judging by his on-air comments whenever he played it.

On 17 August 1978 he played the original Toussaint McCall version in response to listener Linda from Harrogate, who was on holiday in Bideford for a fortnight and in need of cheering up. She had requested the Mike Spenser version, but said Peel on the night: "I thought it would be instructive to actually play you the original."

"Nothing Takes The Place Of You" was one of the forty songs Peel selected to mark his 40th birthday in August 1979 (on 30 August 1979, to be precise).

On 13 October 1999, a listener wrote in to say that he remembered John playing the song as part of his 40th birthday celebrations in 1979 but wasn't certain of the artist or track name. Peel obligingly played the track again. "A great record", was his opinion.

Although Peel played the group's next single, a cover of Chuck Berry's "Nadine", it does not seem from the available evidence that he played any further material.

A copy of the "Good Guys" / "Nothing Takes The Place Of You" 7" was subsequently found to reside in John Peel's Record Box of his most treasured singles.

Festive Fifty Entries

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Sessions

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Shows Played

The list below was researched only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive and is certainly incomplete. Please add further information if known.

22 December 1977: Nothing Takes The Place Of You (7") Big Cock
03 January 1978: Good Guys (7") Big Cock
25 January 1978: Unknown
29 August 1978: Nothing Takes The Place Of You (7") Big Cock
09 January 1979: Nadine (7") Hit Records
30 August 1979: Nothing Takes The Place Of You (7") Big Cock
09 March 1981: Nothing Takes The Place Of You (7") Big Cock F-UK 1
23 August 1981 (BFBS): Nothing Takes The Place Of You (7") Big Cock F-UK 1
30 December 1985: I Wanna Be Your Man (album - The Rest Of ...) GMG
27 April 1996 (BFBS): Nothing Takes The Place Of You (7") Big Cock^[2]
13 October 1999: Nothing Takes The Place Of You (7") Big Cock
21 October 1999 (Radio Eins): Nothing Takes The Place Of You (7") Big Cock
06 July 2000 (Radio Eins): Nothing Takes The Place Of You (7") Big Cock

See Others

Trail Of Trash

External Links

Footnotes

↑ Evidence on the 45cat website suggests that subsequent pressings of the single had the sides reversed.
↑ Peel mentions that this was requested recently on his domestic programme. Presumably then the track was played on either 20 April 1996 or 21 April 1996, for which there are currently incomplete track listings.

[0] Evidence on the 45cat website suggests that subsequent pressings of the single had the sides reversed.

[1] Peel mentions that this was requested recently on his domestic programme. Presumably then the track was played on either 20 April 1996 or 21 April 1996, for which there are currently incomplete track listings.

[1]

[2]