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.

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Don Fleming

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Don Fleming

Donald Gene Fleming (born September 25, 1957) is an American musician and producer. Besides fronting a number of his own bands, (Velvet Monkeys, B.A.L.L., and Gumball) Fleming has produced Sonic Youth, Screaming Trees, Teenage Fanclub and Hole. Fleming started his musical career with the art/garage/punk group The Stroke Band of Adel, Georgia in the late 1970s. They released one album, Green and Yellow, in 1978 on Abacus Records.

After The Stroke Band, Don relocated to Norfolk, Va. in 1979 and formed the punkish/new wave group Citizen 23 with Elaine Barnes, Mark Myers, and, Stephen Soles. Their only recorded output was on the compilation album No Room to Dance in 1980.

Citizen 23 broke up in early 1981; all members but Mark Mayers relocated to Washington, D.C. shortly thereafter and formed the three-piece psychedelic/post-punk band The Velvet Monkeys in the fall of 1981. The Velvet Monkeys line-up featured Fleming on guitar & vocals, Barnes on keyboards and vocals, Stephen Soles on bass, and a drum machine called Dr. Rhythm providing the beat. The Velvet Monkeys would go through many incarnations over the next 10 years, with Fleming the constant factor in all versions.

By 1988, Fleming and Spiegel had re-located to New York City where they teamed up with former Shockabilly bass player and Shimmy Disc impresario Mark Kramer and drummer David Licht to form B.A.L.L. After that group's acrimonious demise, the trio of Fleming, Riviera and Spiegel reunited to form the next iteration of the Velvet Monkeys. Fleming expanded the band with such indie celebrities as John Hammill of Pussy Galore, Thurston Moore, J Mascis, and Julia Cafritz. This supergroup recorded the band's final album, a soundtrack parody called Rake that paid tribute to the 1970s Blaxploitation film Shaft.

The band has never officially broken up, and Fleming continues to revive the group when the time is right. After Fleming and Spiegel's group B.A.L.L. broke up in 1990, the duo briefly joined Dinosaur Jr. and released "The Wagon" 45 on the Sub Pop label. The two left Dinosaur Jr. shortly after the release of the single.

In 1990 Jay Spiegel approached his friend Eric Vermillion, a member of Camp Hill, PA's The Stump Wizards, about playing with himself and Fleming. Vermilion agreed and subsequently quit The Stump Wizards. After less than a week's rehearsal, the new trio played its first show and Gumball was born. Their first release came our shortly thereafter: an eponymous 12 inch EP on Paperhouse Records/Sire Records in England. In 1991 the band released the album Special Kiss, also on Paperhouse, and embarked on a tour with Mudhoney, Sonic Youth, and other similar American indie bands of the early 1990s.

By early 1995 the band called it quits rather than shopping for another label. Fleming was also a member of the supergroup, Dim Stars. The group was composed of bassist Richard Hell of Richard Hell and the Voidoids, guitarist Thurston Moore and drummer Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth, guitarist Don Fleming from Gumball; there was some guitar work by Robert Quine, also of the Voidoids.

Links to Peel[]

Peel played many of Don Fleming's groups throughout the 80's and 90's, including a couple of sessions from Gumball which they recorded for his radio programmes. He even played material from the musician collaborating with Tom Smith in 1991.

Sessions[]

Gumball_-_Peel_Session_1990

Gumball - Peel Session 1990

Gumball

1. Recorded: 1990-11-25. First Broadcast: 15 December 1990. Repeated: 24 February 1991

  • All The Time / This Town / I Want You / Vietnam

2. Recorded: 1991-08-20. First Broadcast: 29 September 1991. Repeated: 01 December 1991

  • 39 Lashes / Light Shines Through / Back Off Boogaloo / Marilyn / High Or Low

Other Shows Played[]

B.A.L.L._-_Should_Brothers_Kill

B.A.L.L. - Should Brothers Kill

B.A.L.L.
  • 11 January 1988: Billy And The Comets (LP - Period (Another American Lie)) Shimmy Disc
  • 27 January 1988: The French (LP - Period (Another American Lie)) Shimmy Disc
  • 01 February 1988: Skull And Cross (LP - Period (Another American Lie)) Shimmy Disc
  • 28 September 1989: Should Brothers Kill? (LP - Trouble Doll (The Disappointing 3rd LP)) Shimmy Disc
Gumball_-_Pre

Gumball - Pre

Gumball
Velvet_Monkeys_-_Rock_The_Nation_(1991)

Velvet Monkeys - Rock The Nation (1991)

Velvet Monkeys
  • 27 April 1991: Rock The Nation (Singles of The Month Club) Sub Pop
  • 14 June 1991 (BFBS): Rock The Nation (7" - Rock The Nation b/w Why Don't We Do It In The Road?) Sub Pop
  • 15 October 1993: 'We Call It Rock (2x7"-Better Living)' (Ecstatic Peace)
Dim_stars-christian_rat_attack

Dim stars-christian rat attack

Dim Stars
Tom_Smith_&_Don_Fleming_~_Dizzy

Tom Smith & Don Fleming ~ Dizzy

Tom Smith & Don Fleming

See Also[]

External Links[]

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