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Television Personalities

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The Television Personalities are an English post-punk band formed in 1978. Led by singer-songwriter Dan Treacy, the band have released eleven studio albums and have undergone numerous line-up changes along the way. Initially broken up in 1998, they reformed in 2004 before operations were put on hold again in 2011, where it was reported that Treacy was seriously ill after an operation to remove a blood clot from his brain.

Links To Peel[]

Dan Treacy described in an 1984 interview with the Slow Dazzle fanzine how Peel got the attention of the band:

Television_Personalities_-_14th_Floor

Television Personalities - 14th Floor

"Well, I did the 1st single '14th Floor' and we got the money back. I was a bit naïve when I did it - I paid too much money to get it done. I mean, like I was 16 an' just didn't know the first thing about it. I got the money back, and my parents were pleased to see me doing something, so they helped me do 'Part Time Punks', they offered to lend me the money, and what happened was I got as far as the test pressing of 'Part Time Punks' and I didn't realise how much it would cost to put a record out, so I couldn't do it. So I had 2 copies and I sent one to John Peel and he was really sympathetic, and played it... And Peel loved it, and after playing it and saying 'oh, it's a shame they can't get the record out' about half a dozen people phoned up and Rough Trade said they'd press it and lend me the money to do it, and then it became ridiculous. I got 1,000 then Rough Trade phoned up 2 days later saying we want another 2500, and at that time that was like getting told you're getting a gold disc! And then it just went on and on and on..."[1]

The band did a session for Peel's show, but after the group released their debut album in 1981, Peel was disappointed with the result and Dan Treacy described in the Slow Dazzle fanzine how the DJ lost interest:

TELEVISION_PERSONALITIES_-_part_time_punks

TELEVISION PERSONALITIES - part time punks

"Peel doesn't like us any more. He was the one who sort of cracked it in the first place by playing 'Part Time Punks' 25 nights in a row, and then he got Jensen and Powell to play it, then after that he got the first album and probably thought 'God, this is a bit heavy'. He was actually quoted as saying 'What a pity they've grown up'."[2]

The evidence below of plays on the programme suggests that Peel didn't quite abandon his interest in the band as Dan Treacy believed.

Sessions[]

Television_Personalities_-_Peel_Session_1980

Television Personalities - Peel Session 1980

1. Recorded: 1980-09-10. Broadcast: 01 September 1980. Repeated: 25 September 1980.

  • Silly Girl / Picture Of Dorian Gray / La Grande Illusion / Look Back In Anger

Other Shows Played[]

1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1985
1986
  • 18 March 1986: God Snaps His Fingers ('How I Learned To Love The Bomb' 12") Dreamworld
1992
2001

See Also[]

External Links[]

Footnotes
  1. ↑ Ken Garner's The Peel Sessions (Chapter 11, Page 220)
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