John Peel Wiki

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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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John Peel Wiki
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Foetus

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(This page covers all variations of the Foetus project of JG Thirlwell, as well as music released under other aliases.)
Foetus

Foetus is a solo musical project of Australian JG Thirlwell. The project has had many similar names, each including the word "foetus".

The "members" of the project are aliases of Thirlwell; they include Frank Want, Phillip Toss, and Clint Ruin. Thirlwell occasionally collaborates with other artists, but doesn't consider them members of Foetus.

(Read more at Wikipedia.)

Links to Peel[]

On his 03 January 1981 (BFBS) show, Peel describes receiving a copy of the debut Foetus Under Glass single during a chance encounter with Jim Thirlwell while Christmas shopping in Oxford Street, London.

As noted by Peel author David Cavanagh, Foetus proved to be a “big favourite” of the DJ in the mid-1980s, under a constantly amended brand name. The writer describes the artist's music in the following terms:

“… a one-man Throbbing Gristle from Melbourne … can be hostile, bestial and overwhelming … a sound akin to being head-butted in a Thirties jazz bar ….”
(Good Night and Good Riddance, Faber & Faber, 2015, pg 352)

On the 17 October 1984 show discussed by Cavanagh, Peel enthused that the latest Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel LP, 'Hole', was "timeless" and should sound pretty good in ten years' time, while also admitting that most of the records he was playing on the radio ten years earlier now sounded awful to him and he can’t believe he ever thought they were any good at all - "and I hope that's always the case."

While Peel's opinion of Foetus in subsequent decades is not known at present, no plays of the project beyond 1987 can be found in currently available show tracklistings, despite further albums in 1988, 1995 and 2001, after Jim Thirlwell relocated from London to New York. Tracks as part of the Steroid Maximus grouping were heard on Peel shows in late 1991.

Festive Fifty Entries[]

  • None

Sessions[]

You've_Got_Foetus_On_Your_Breath_-_Peel_Session_1982

You've Got Foetus On Your Breath - Peel Session 1982

One session only, recorded as You've Got Foetus On Your Breath. No known commercial release.

1. Recorded: 1982-12-18. First broadcast: 04 January 1983. Repeated: 19 January 1983

  • Today I Started Slogging Again / Clothes Hoist / Wash It All Off / Ignorance Is Bliss (Or Is It?)

Other Shows Played[]

(List below is chronological, by first play under artist name.)

Foetus Under Glass
You've Got Foetus On Your Breath
Philipp And His Foetus Vibrations
Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel
Foetus ~ Art ~ Terrorism
Steroid Maximus

See Also[]

External Links[]

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