Pavement were an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. The group mainly consisted of Stephen Malkmus (guitar and vocals), Mark Ibold (bass), Scott Kannberg (guitar and vocals), Steve West (drums) and Bob Nastanovich (backing vocals, keyboards and other instruments). … Pavement recorded five full length albums and nine EPs over the course of their decade-long career … (read more at Wikipedia)
As he would later explain, when introducing Stephen Malkmus on 28 October 2003, it was David Gedge who introduced Peel to Pavement:
“David Gedge out of Cinerama many years ago send me an EP by Pavement, and he said, ‘I think you are really going to like this band, John.’ And he was right and I certainly did.”
The first known play of their material was on 26 March 1990: John had previously played the Wedding Present's cover of Box Elder: he was surprised to find Pavement's original version (Slay Tracks 7") in his collection and he played it forthwith, with a couple of expletives edited out by someone called Ralph.
After the DJ’s death, the band’s 'Demolition Plot J-7' EP from 1990 was discovered among the favorites in John Peel's Record Box. As mentioned in the accompanying press release, read out by Peel on his 13 June 1990 show, Box Elder had been used by the Wedding Present on their Brassneck single.
Pavement were a regular feature of Peel’s programmes throughout the 1990s and headlined his 60th birthday special show on 31 August 1999 with a live set at Maida Vale. In his introduction from the stage, Peel declared them to be “one of the best bands in the world".
They amassed 14 entries in the Festive Fifty and recorded five sessions for JP's show: the fourth one was live from Maida Vale, prefaced by John interviewing the band and commenting after it had finished, "You've made an old man very happy....That will obviously be bootlegged and on sale in Camden Market and other places throughout the country." ([1]) The last number was a cover of the Fall's The Classical, perhaps a nod to Mark E. Smith's criticism of them: "It’s just like music when you reckon it up. It’s like listening to Pavement: it’s just The Fall in 1985, isn’t it? They haven’t got an original idea in their heads."[2]
(The list below was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive and is incomplete. Please add further information if known.)
13 June 1990: (JP: "Now here's a letter from Drag City, from Chicago in fact, and it says, 'Hey you, talentless, desperate, and with audio prostitute Steve Albini on hand, English Rock band, The Wedding Present, resolved the burden of finishing the Brassneck EP by choosing as its fourth track a cover of the obscure California band Pavement's Box Elder from their sold out, self-released first 7" "Slay Tracks". Predictably, things clicked into place. Brassneck sold largely due to the Pavement cover, an Albini production, well in excess of a million copies,' can that possibly be true? That was me saying that, that's not on the letter. 'securing them a contract with the US major label. And Pavement well the Slay Tracks single rose to advanced collector status, numbered copies fetching anywhere from $500 to $600 each. And then good fortune came to them. We at Drag City bought every last bit of hype about Pavement and signed the band to a twelve record deal. What you hold is a preview of the initial fruits of this merger. Fueled by resentment towards the Wedding Present's outright thievery, the band walked into their Stockton, California studio determined to record a record so powerful it would put their previous effort, and the Wedding Present, to shame. Demolition Plot J-7 originally titled, Kill The Weddoes rocks like no other record released this year'".) Fork Lift (7" EP - Demolition Plot J-7) Drag City DC002
04 September 1992: (JP on Reading: "Pavement, who were for me actually, it's always stupid to say that 'they were the best of the entire weekend', but I'm going to say it anyway. I enjoyed them more than anybody else, although the audience response was sort of, muted, I thought. Polite. But I hope to see them again further up the bill, or I just hope to see them again.")
04 September 1992: Home (10 inch EP-Perfect Sound Forever)' (Drag City)
16 February 1997: Starlings Of The Slipstream (CD – Brighten The Corners) Domino (JP before track: ‘A tune now, the last one which I shall be playing you on Sunday evenings, comes from Pavement.’)
28 October 2003: (JP on stage, introducing Stephen Malkmus: “David Gedge out of Cinerama many years ago send me an EP by Pavement, and he said, ‘I think you are really going to like this band, John.’ And he was right and I certainly did.”)
2004
17 March 2004: Lorreta's Scars (LP - Slanted and Enchanted) Big Cat
