The Jasmine Minks are a British indie pop band, whose early singles were amongst the first releases by Creation Records. Formed in Aberdeen in 1983, the band were initially a quartet of Jim Shepherd (guitar/vocals), Adam Sanderson (vocals/guitar), Martin Keena(bass guitar), and Tom Reid (drums/vocals). After sending a demo tape to Melody Maker, the band were recruited by Alan McGee to record for the fledgling Creation label. Their first single, "Think!" was recorded for £50 at Alaska Studios, Waterloo.
The 4 piece line up was augmented by keyboards from Dave Musker, and the single produced by Joe Foster. The small brown plastic electronic organ was the same one that had previously been used on "Blue Boy" by Orange Juice. Prior to recording, Sanderson had been listening to the Buzzcocks' Spiral Scratch EP, and repeated the two note refrain from "Boredom" at the end of "Think!". Later, Edwyn Collins of Orange Juice was to reference "Boredom" and repeat the same two note refrain on Orange Juice's hit single "Rip It Up". "Think!"/"Work For Nothing" was released in March 1984, and reached single of the week status, jointly with The Pastels single that Alan McGee released at the same time.
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Links to Peel[]
Jim Shephard, the singer of the band, praised Peel in his blog, published in March 2020 in promoting the band:
"Our main listening for alternative music was John Peel’s show on Radio 1. It was on from 10pm til midnight Mondays to Thursdays and it was the place to hear new music and to hear sessions from groups who were invited in to present a more immediate version of their album songs. I phoned up the BBC early in the evening and asked to be put through to John Peel and a minute later I was talking to him. I asked him if he would consider playing our first single on his show. He said that he was aware of it and was already planning to play it that very night. I thanked him and got off the phone dazed to have talked to one of the legends of the 60’s scene, legend of the 70’s rock scene and legend of the punk scene – the DJ who first played punk rock records when no one else did." [1]
The band had their premier appearance on Peel's show on 14th February 1984, which singer Jim, uploaded a cassette of that broadcast on Twitter. [2]
Sessions[]
Their only session is available on The Jasmine Minks – John Peel session 17.02.86 EP / digital, 2021 (Precious Recordings of London)
1. Recorded: 1986-02-04. First Broadcast: 17 February 1986. Repeated: 04 March 1986
- The Ballad Of Johnny Eye / Cry For A Man / You Can Take My Freedom / I Don't Know
Other Shows Played[]
- 14 February 1984: Think! (7") Creation
- 20 February 1984: unknown (trailed only)
- 13 August 1984: Where The Traffic Goes (7") Creation
- 1985
- 27 May 1985 (BBC World Service): What's Happening (7") Creation
- 31 July 1985: What's Happening (7") Creation
- 1986
- 29 March 1986 (BFBS): Forces Network (AFM Version) (12"-Cold Heart)' (Creation)
- 31 March 1986 (BBC World Service): World's No Place (7" - Cold Heart) Creation
- 29 April 1986: Force's Network (AFM Version) (12" - Cold Heart) Creation