My Peel Tapes: Part 9

Hello folks,

a bank holiday here in Germany plus a day off, which means to you that I have found the time to work on the 'My Peel Tapes' - series. And if I don't talk too much, there will be more to come on the weekend as well .... let's wait and see. Here we go:

(51) As you might imagine, there were numerous bands that Peel featured, which turned out to be one-hit-wonders without having had a hit in the sense of commercial success. You heard the record, thought to yourself 'oh, this is quite nice stuff' and that was about it. They never came back with another record, at least not knowingly. The Stitched Back-Foot Airmen are a prime example: I know nothing about them or where they might possibly be up to at the moment. Nor did I know back in 1986, when this came out on Very Mouth Records as a 7": 'Wouldn't You Like To Know' (mp3).

[upon request:
Frightwig - 'Big Bang'
Half Man Half Biscuit - 'D'Y'Ken Ted Moult?'
Stump - 'Buffalo'
Soup Dragons - 'Head Gone Astray']

(52) The Slits - 'Love And Romance' (mp3). A total classic, not only because of the fantastic line 'Oh, I forgot the lyrics now'. In the Strange Fruit 'Peel Sessions' 12" - series, released in 1986, the session itself dates from 1977 though. More about The Slits: here.

(53) I know you've been wondering for quite some time why I never posted anything by The Wedding Present so far. Well, the truth of the matter is, I always thought to myself: 'Hmmm ... this one is not good enough, there will come another one which is even better'. But then again: ALL of what they did back then is utterly brilliant, so there is no use to wait any longer. So why not go for their 'My Favourite Dress' (mp3), a 12" on Reception Records from 1987?

[upon request:
Railway Children - 'Brighter'
Siouxsie & The Banshees - 'Mirage'
Primitives - 'Stop Killing Me'
Pastels - 'Up For A Bit']

(54) Quite hard to decide which one to post here and I'm pretty sure some requests will come in for the tracks below. I'll go for 'I Love My Leather Jacket' (mp3) by The Chills, because with this track the whole Kiwipop - thingy really started, I would think. At least it did for me. The Chills made a lot of good songs, the same was true at the time for a lot of bands from New Zealand. And still is, as a matter of fact. I know I used to think very often indeed that the people from down there must be a really lucky and relaxed bunch of lads. You literally could feel this in the music they made, you know ... From a 7" on Normal Records from Germany, released in 1986.

[upon request:
New Order - 'Ceremony'
DCL Locomotive - 'King Midas In Reverse'
Gang Of Four - 'At Home He's A Tourist'
Artery - 'The Death Of Peter X' ('Into The Garden')]

(55) SSgt. Barry Sadler - 'Ballad Of The Green Berets' (mp3). Well, some of you will hate this, others may like it as much as I do. I think it has a certain charme, but then again I'm the sort of guy who sometimes likes to look the odd U.S. - war movie from the 60's late at night when Mrs. Loser is already sleeping. Albeit they are all totally uncritical to the horrors of war and tell us that all American soldiers were nothing less than heroes, I still like to watch them exactly because of the way they patronise ..... and fall asleep in the middle of them. You can compare all of this to the track by the Staff Sergeant: not that I fall asleep when I listen to it, no, but there is something in it which I can't explain really. Originally released as a 7" on RCA Victor in 1966 and you have to judge yourself whether it's any good or not. Please let me know: I'm really interested to learn what you think of it ....

(56) The Band Of Susans - 'Hope Against Hope' (mp3). From a 12" EP on Furthur Records out of the States, released in 1987 and called 'Blessing And Curse'. They had three guitars, which you will able to tell when you listen to the tune. Six members were in the band (here's their homepage), but only 3 of them were called Susan: Susan Stenger: Bass, vocals, Susan Tallman: Guitar, Susan Lyall: Guitar ....

[upon request:
Laibach - 'Geburt Einer Nation'
Laibach - 'Leben Heisst Leben'
Shonen Knife - 'Devil House']

(57) The Fizzbombs' 'Sign On The Line' (mp3). You will not find much on the net about The Fizzbombs apart from the fact that they contained ex-members from The Shop Assistants and Jesse Garon And The Desperadoes. They came from Edinburgh and lasted a little under two years releasing two singles and a track for a flexi compilation. 'Sign On The Line' was the first record, released in 1987 on Narodnik Records. And I saw recently it had gone on ebay for some 38,- Euros .... unbelievable ... !

[upon request:
Wire - 'Ahead'
Flatmates - 'Happy All The Time'
Flesh For Lulu - 'Siamese Twist']

Enough for today, my beauties. I hope you enjoyed today's songs and will have a look at No. 10 as well ... which will be ready rather soon, I think.

Take care,

Dirk

My Peel Tapes: Special Request Edition

Dear friends,

I can't tell you how pleased I was to - finally - receive some requests for the stuff I mentioned, but didn't link to. This shows me that people show interest in the series and are eager to hear more. Good for them!

So here we go:

Dan wrote in on April 26th and wanted to hear some Shonen Knife. So here is 'I Wanna Eat Choco Bars' segued into a fantastic version of 'Suzy Is A Headbanger' (mp3) for you to enjoy. Both recorded live at The Kilburn National Ballroom in London on 05.12.91 and available on a Mini - LP called "We Are Very Happy You Came" (Creation Records 1993). The Colourblind James Experience, by the way, Dan, will crop up not before the #73 - edition of the series, 'cos that's the first time when Peel played something from the LP. So keep having a look .....

Anonymous (now that's a clever nick, if there ever was one *smile*) from America wanted me to play something from The Shop Assistants on April 27th. Here you are, Anonymous ... and because you didn't specify which song you wanted to hear, you're gonna get them all:

'All That Ever Mattered' (mp3)
'I Don't Wanna Be Friends With You' (mp3)
'What A Way To Die' (mp3)
'After Dark' (mp3)
'Train From Kansas City' (mp3)

All of them you can find on a great LP called 'Shop Assistants', issued on Chrysalis in 1986.

Then Kalo wrote in, also on April 27th. My knowledge of the Spanish language (or is it Portuguese?) isn't that good (well, it's not existing, to be precise), but I think "podias subir Terry & Gerry???" (with all the question marks the other way round, I might add ... funny though) might possibly mean that he (or she?) will be delighted to hear this:

Terry & Gerry: 'Wait Until You're Older' (mp3). Taken from a 7" on Vindaloo Records from 1984 called 'Butter's On The Bread - EP'.

Finally Joe from Dublin wanted to hear more from Half Man Half Biscuit on April 28th, and of course I'm always pleased if something like this happens: the toast of Birkenhead indeed!!! Joe, this is for you:

'Albert Hammond Bootleg' (live) (mp3)
'Dickie Davis Eyes' (mp3)
'Fuckin' 'Ell, It's Fred Titmus' (live) (mp3)

Alas I don't know exactly where the live versions were recorded, 'Dickie Davis Eyes' though is from the original 1986 12" on Probe Plus Records.

Enjoy, dear people!!

All the best,

Dirk

My Peel Tapes: Part 8

Hello dear friends,

quite some time has passed since I last found the time to post something here. Blame it on the fact that the weather has improved slighty (which in my region means nothing more than a change from constant rain to rain just 5 days a week, not 7 .... nevertheless Mrs. Loser uses it as an excuse to drag me into the garden whenever she can in order to force me to dig holes here and plant little trees there and move useless heavy things around and back. Arrrrggghh !!!!)

But apparently here I am, having stolen meself away from it all, with:

(43) Eton Crop - 'Yes Please Bob' (mp3). Surely the first and most probably the last band from Holland featured in this series, with the title track from their 1986 album on Ediesta Records. Rather a nice LP back then, I recall. Perhaps later today I will listen to the whole of it again after 20 years of not doing so ....

[upon request:

Slab - 'Mars On Ice'

Billy Bragg - 'Greetings To The New Brunette'
Woodentops - 'Everyday Living'

Rote Kapelle - 'These Animals Are Dangerous'

Mighty Jungle Beasts - 'Kick In Windows]

(44) The Very Things - 'This Is Motortown' (mp3). Risen out of the ashes of The Cravats, The Very Things first came to my attention when Peel played their second single, 'The Bushes Scream While My Daddy Prunes' ('84), which I thought was an excellent title for a song. And indeed the track itself is awesome, so try to get your hands on it if you can. 'This Is Motortown' though is from 1986, a 12" on DCL Electric. You Britons might know The Shend, the singer with The Very Things, from his TV appearances in such series as Eastenders, The Bill and Torchwood.

[upon request:

Ciccone Youth - 'Burning Up'

Suicidal Tendencies - 'Institutionalized'

A Witness - 'Sharpened Sticks']

(45) The Go-Betweens - 'Lee Remick' (mp3). I always found it dead hard to decide whether this is the best that The Go-Betweens have ever done or whether it is 'People Say', the 1979-follow-up single to this 7" on the legendary Able Lable, released in 1978. Again, I only wish I had the record, but as this is not the case, I had to take it from the excellent compilation of their work, which I referred to in a previous posting. And shouldn't you have a clue who Lee Remick might possibly be, have a look here:

[upon request:

Pop Will Eat Itself - 'Oh Grebo, I Think I Love You'

We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It - 'Love Is The Slug'

Shop Assistants - 'What A Way To Die]

(46) Half Man Half Biscuit - 'Arthur's Farm'/'All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit' (mp3). From the Peel Sesion the band did on 10.11.1985. I chose to play that and not the fantastic Undertones track below mainly because I think you don't hear this particular HMHB tune all that often ('Arthur's Farm' that is, 'Dukla Prague' should be commonly known by now. If this is not the case: the last second of it - when Nigel goes 'Aaaah' - is better than sex: so listen closely!! , so it might be new to at least a few of you.

And this exactly is why I'm doing all this here: perhaps you listen to it, sit back, relax, like it as much as I do and say to yourself: 'Gosh, this Sexyloser is such a nice chap!'. "Four legs good, but no legs best, invalidity reigned supreme" is hard to beat, isn't it? And: note the quote from 'Eton Rifles' in this, Jam fans! On Strange Fruit Records, a 12" from 1986 ...

[upon request:

Undertones - 'Here Comes The Summer'

Ramones - 'Howling At The Moon'

Woodentops - 'Why'

Ciccone Youth - 'Into The Groovy'

Wedding Present - 'Felicity'

Ruts - 'Society']

(47) The Screaming Tribesmen - 'Igloo' (mp3). Done in sunny Brisbane back in 1983 and certainly one of the finest things ever to come to us all the way from Australia. There ain't very much I can tell you about it, apart from the fact that this is one of very few songs that are able to give you the feeling that you are in the middle of the story the singer tells you. Not a very nice thought to be in the Polar Zone, but there you are .... a 7" on Citadel Records and a much sought-after item by now .... nice essay upon the track: here.

[upon request:

Shop Assistants - 'After Dark'

Avengers - 'We Are The One'

Joy Division - 'Leaders Of Men]

(48) Big Stick - 'Jesus Was Born (On An Indian Reservation)' (mp3). Big Stick is comprised of two artistic and creative people, John Gill and Yanna Trance. The duo emerged in late ‘86 with their timeless classic hit titled 'Drag Racing'. The record got plenty of college airplay in the U.S. and healthy radio attention in England and parts of Europe. The duo signed with Blast First/Mute Records and enjoyed critical acclaim and success on foreign shores. On the B-Side of 'Drag Racing': 'Jesus Was Born (On An Indian Reservation)', which was originally released on a compilation cassette on Wally & The Beaver. I have an album called 'Crack 'n Drag', released in 1988 on Torso Records in the Netherlands, which also includes the track. Great stuff!

[upon request:

Pop Will Eait Itself - 'The Black County Chainstore Massacre'

Eton Crop - 'When The Bottle Gets Uncorked'

Ramones - 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker']

(49) Jane Bond & The Undercovermen - 'Hot Rod Lincoln' (mp3). One of the very first tunes I posted on Sexyloser and because I'm such a lazy guy (which reminds me of the fact that I still have to do some work for the upcoming Sloth - episode of the Contrast Podcast ... Tim: my contribution will be with you soon, promised!!): just scroll down to the bottom of the page to learn more about it. Your loss if you don't do so, the track is purely awesome!

[upon request:

Goldene Zitronen - 'Zitronenmord'

Shonen Knife - 'Makin' Plans For Bycin'

Dub Sex - 'Tripwire']

(50) Frightwig - 'Beverly' (mp3). Frightwig was an all-women band from San Francisco who pioneered the riot grrrl movement and were very influential to its development. They were known for inviting a male audience member on stage to "dance" during the song "A Man's Gotta Do What a Man's Gotta Do" and thereby publicly ridiculing him. Frightwig was composed of Cecilia Lynch, Deanna Ashley, Mia Levin, Susan Miller, Megan Page and Rebecca Tucker. 'Beverly' is taken from their 'Faster, Frightwig, Kill! Kill!' album on Caroline Records from Canada in 1986.

[upon request:

Shonen Knife - 'I Wanna Eat Chocolate Bars'

Shop Assistants - 'Train To Kansas City'

Smiths - 'Shoplifters Of The World Unite']

I hope you had fun, nice people. Place requests and I'll link to the tunes you want to hear.

Stay tuned until next time,

Dirk

My Peel Tapes: Part 7

Hello dear friends,

without losing any time at all today:

(35) The Weather Prophets - 'Almost Prayed' (mp3). When I heard they were no longer The Loft, but now The Weather Prophets, I thought at the time: it's always a bad sign when a superb band breaks up (and The Loft's break-up was nothing but sensational: live onstage at the end of a gig at The Hammersmith Palais ... you don't see that every day, right?) and then transforms into another one with a new name: normally the new stuff never is quite as good as what they did in their original line-up. But the debut release from The Weather Prophets proved me wrong: 'Almost Prayed' - at least in form of the 12", from which the above is taken - was purely awesome. The Velvet Underground-style piano blows me off every time I hear the track and the other three tunes are also very fine ('Like Frankie Lymon' in particular). On Creation Records, 1986. Nice discography over here.

[upon request:

Brilliant Corners - 'Meet Me On Tuesday'

Chin Chin - 'Why Am I So Lonely'

Yeah Yeah Noh - 'Blood Soup'

Primitives - 'She Don't Need You'

Primal Scream - 'Velocity Girl']

(36) The Primitives - 'Thru The Flowers' (mp3). Again, a debut release and again a 12", this time on Lazy Records, the tracks on it were recorded both in 1985 and 1986. I think that at the time The Primitives perhaps were my favourite band of those which later were to be squashed into the C86-genre, certainly my favourite one of those who had a female lead singer. To be absolutely frank to you: my plans to have children with Clare Grogan out of Altered Images cooled down a bit when Tracy Tracy of The Primitives hit the scene ... what a blast that girl was, oh boy! And, by the way, from a comment to a previous post (the comment highly recommended to be read again here) by JC aka The Vinyl Villain, we learnt that Clare Grogan was a slut anyway! Tracy: where are you now that we need you?

[upon request:

Foot And Mouth - 'Seymour (The Room's A Mess!)'

We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It - 'Console Me'

McCarthy - 'Celestial City'

Wedding Present - 'This Boy Can Wait (A Bit Longer)'

Bogshed - 'Run To The Temple'

Big Stick - 'Hell On Earth']

(37) The Screaming Blue Messiahs - 'Let's Go Down To The Woods And Pray' (mp3). Rockabilly from Hell from this Peel Session 12" on Strange Fruit Records from 1986, albeit the session itself was already recorded/broadcast in 1984. Nearly every track from the excellent 'Gun Shy' album was played by Peel at the time and I'll put them all up upon request. The Screaming Blue Messiahs were formerly known as Motor Boys Motor and their stuff is worth tracking down as well ....

[upon request:

Screaming Blue Messiahs - 'Wild Blue Yonder']

(38) Tender Lugers - 'That's Really Something' (mp3). Again I have to wonder if anyone on earth knows this combo apart from me. I have this one on a 6-track Mini-LP called 'Johnny Orgy', the first release on Kick! Recorded in 1986. I know they made a Peel Session later that year, but apart from that I know nothing about them at all. You just might like this tune if your mind is equally deseased as mine ...

[upon request:

Jesus & Mary Chain - 'Some Candy Talking]

(39) Another gem, not from 1986 though, but from 1983: 10.000 Maniacs and 'The Death Of Manolete' (mp3). From their debut full-length album 'Secrets Of The I-Ching' and I wish I could tell you that I owe the orginal US-pressing on Christian Burial Music ... if this was true, I'd probably be typing this on my laptop from the deck of my yacht loacated off the coast of Port Antonio, Jamaica. Alas I just have the German pressing on Normal Records and therefore am writing to you from my lunchbreak at work. Bugger!

[upon request:

Wedding Present - 'You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends'

10.000 Maniacs - 'Back O' The Moon'

Joy Division - 'Sound Of Music'

Fall - 'Spoilt Victorian Child']

(40) Pop Will Eat Itself - 'There's A Psychopath In My Soup' (mp3). Only one out of several fine tunes from their 'Poppiecock' 12"-EP/Mini-LP/LP or whatever you want to call a record that has 10 tracks on it and runs at 45 rpm. I must admit I lost interest in the band more or less immediately after this release from 1986 on Chapter 22 Records. This although I know they were rather influental on all sort of bands in their later career. But there you are .....

[upon request:

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - 'All Tomorrow's Parties'

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix'

Whipcrackaway - 'Horses' Tale']

(41) Hüsker Dü - 'Sorry Somehow' (mp3). As you will be able to tell from all the 'upon request' - listings in the posts below, 'Candy Apple Grey' was played by Peel almost in its' entirety. The reason that I didn't link to any of the songs though is this track, which, so I think, is the best song on a mighty album. Grant Hart singing the 'Id give you everything in the world just to get it out of the way' - bit is one of the finest moments in recording history, as far as I'm concerned. Released on WEA Records in 1986 and still easily available almost everywhere: so go and pick it up. Also you should try to get hold of Grant Hart's solo recordings. There are very few musicians who carry on on their own after they left a good band, who are able to record stuff that's any good at all: Grant really is an exception to this, I'd think.

[upon request:

Echo & The Bunnymen - 'Rescue'

The Stars Of Heaven - 'Sacred Heart Hotel'

Damned - 'Fanclub'

Half Man Half Biscuit - 'The Bastard Son Of Dean Friedman']

(42) Wild Swans - 'Revolutionary Spirit' (mp3). A 12" from 1982 on Zoo Records from the people who would later transform into The Lotus Eaters - and a much sought after item ever since: as JC is able to tell, if you have a look at his post from today here on The Vinyl Villain. Sorry, JC: it's really purely coincidental that we both posted the same track on the same day. Ah, and also sorry for this little picture, mate ... and for that one as well .... but I just couldn't resist *smile*!! Perhaps I'm nearer on the way to my yacht than I thought I'd be ... with the withdrawn 'Lament for Icarus' sleeve, ey ...?

[upon request:

Half Man Half Biscuit - 'Dickie Davis Eyes'

Triffids - 'Everybody Has To Eat'

Shop Assistants - 'I Don't Wanna Be Friends With You'

Mighty Lemon Drops - 'Happy Head']

I hope you enjoyed today's episode, folks. Have a nice weekend .... and J.C.: I'm sorry!

Peace.

Dirk

My Peel Tapes: Part 6

Dear friends,

first thing today: thank you!!

There have been quite a few comments to the 'My Peel Tapes' - series, which shows me a) that some people are indeed reading this blog and b) that the tracks can't be that bad. Thanks a lot (!!) to everyone who left a comment. Also I want to recommend to you (especially) the latest two episodes of the Contrast Podcast, which are all about our fantastic CD - swap: and what a pleasure it was to participate! Also our friend FiL from Pogo A Go-Go was delighted about the CD he received, as you can tell if you have a look here *smile* .....

Enough of that, more of my Peel Tapes need to be checked out:

(29) Dinosaur - 'Repulsion' (mp3). And yes, you youngsters, I know that you think I forgot the 'Jr.' behind Dinosaur. But they really were called 'Dinosaur' at the time of this release, their debut 7" on Homestead Records from 1985 and only became Dinosaur Jr. a little bit later. I remember Peel reading out a press release for this record from the band, in which Dinosaur reported about some French scientists, who - in the 1960's - apparently wanted to find out up to which volume music could be played to the human body until first damages occur. In order to do so, those scientist built up a huge PA in some desert and were killed whilst doing the test. Whether all of this is true or not, I don't know, but it shows the intention behind Dinosaur's music ... and probably also what a nice chap J. Mascis is ... either way: turn it up good and loud!

[upon request:

Half Man Half Biscuit - 'Architecture, Morality, Ted & Alice'

Quads - 'You've Got To Jive'

Half Man Half Biscuit - 'Albert Hammond Bootleg'

Chin Chin - 'Never Surrender'

Cure - 'Caterpillar'

Half Man Half Biscuit - 'The Trumpton Riots'

Limespiders - 'Out Of Control']

(30) Another 'oldie', I'm afraid. Well, to tell the truth, I'm not afraid at all: I like this stuff up to no degree and I do think it's important to make it available to you. You don't hear these records all that often nowadays and if only one of you tracks it down, listens to it and says 'well, that's pretty neat indeed' ... then I'm more than satisfied! So here's 'To You' by The Smirks (mp3), about whom I can tell you nothing at all. A 7" on Smirksongs from 1979 and it reads on the back of the sleeve: 'Making up for lost time'. What more could I possibly add? The Smirks' website can be found here.

[upon request:

We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It - 'XX Sex'

Members - 'Solitary Confinement'

We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It - 'Rules And Regulations'

Pogues - 'The Body Of An American'

Honululu Mountain Daffodils - 'The Electrified Sons Of Randy Alvey']

(31) Although the tape is from 1985, luckily Peel played this one from 1983 again: I'm Spartacus and 'Donna Is Distressed' (mp3). A bit of a collector's item these days and I remember that even back then I had quite some trouble in getting hold of a copy of the 7" on Decade Records from Australia. I'm Spartacus were Nick Cecire on drums, Gino Palmieri on guitar and John Marr (!)on bass and vocals. A shame really it's no longer April 1st, otherwise I would have made up a nice little story about how this John Marr became bass player in a band called The Smiths ....

[upon request:

Primevals - 'Saint Jack'

Half Man Half Biscuit - '1966 And All That'

Hüsker Dü - 'Dead Set On Destruction'

Primevals - 'Spiritual']

(32) The Jasmine Minks' 'Forces Network' (mp3), From the follow-up to their 1984-debut Mini-LP, from their self-titled album from 1985. Which also includes the bloody fantastic 'Cold Heart'. On Creation Records, CRE LP 007 in fact. I think this tune might perhaps find the approval of the mighty JC over at The Vinyl Villain .... let's wait what he thinks!

[upon request:

Half Man Half Biscuit - 'All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit'

Hüsker Dü - 'I Don't Know For Sure]

(33) 'Take The Skinheads Bowling' by Camper Van Beethoven (mp3) (a 12" EP on Pitch A Tent from 1986). I assume you all know this song. If you don't, well: venerate me utterly for having given you the opportunity to brighten your life! Quite cleary there's a Jonathan Richman influence in it, but do you really bother?!

[upon request:

Cocteau Twins - 'Oomingmak'

Cocteau Twins - 'Little Spacey'

Pete Wylie - 'Sinful']

(34) The Soup Dragons - 'Whole Wide World' (mp3). Now, this is the record with which, at least for me, began, what would later be described as 'C86'. Quite a lot of 'those shambling bands' will be featured in the episodes to come, but The Soup Dragons started it all for me, along with The Wedding Present perhaps. Then the NME released the C86 - cassette ... and the rest is history. A 12" on the Subway Organization Label from March 1986.

[upon request:

Cure - 'Boys Don't Cry'

Screaming Blue Messiahs - 'Smash The Market Place'

Screaming Blue Messiahs - 'Holiday Head'

Screaming Blue Messiahs - 'Talking Doll']

Have fun, people: leave comments, leave requests. But most of all: enjoy!

Dirk

My Peel Tapes: Part 5

Hello my beauties,

first of all: thanks to the nice people who left comments. Please let me remind you that you're more than welcome to let me know about your requests for the tracks which I didn't link to (see further below). Again: they're worth listening to, I'd think ....

(23) John Cooper-Clarke - 'Suspended Sentence' (mp3). A legendary track from 1977, which I have on a very fine compilation called 'Martin: The Work Of Record Producer Martin Hannett', released on Factory in 1991. I always cared quite a lot for this 'poetry' stuff from people like John Cooper-Clarke, Ted Chippington and Attila The Stockbroker, although - due to my limited knowledge of the English language - it is not always terribly easy for me to understand exactly what they're going on about. Highly recommended stuff nevertheless!

[upon request:
Buzzcocks - 'Autonomy'
Johnny Thunders - 'Alone In A Crowd']

(24) Cassandra Complex - 'Moscow Idaho' (mp3). Believe it or not, I used to go out drinking at the time with the guys out of Cassandra Complex fairly frequently. Originally from Leeds, they lived in my hometown Aachen then for quite a while and I'll never forget Rodney Orpheus' pointing at me every fucking time when I entered the bar, shouting "Dirk Wears White Sox!!". Which I never (!) did, of course! A 12" on Rouska from 1985 ... then again: perhaps I looked a bit like Adam Ant back in those days? Who knows ....

[upon request:
Half Man Half Biscuit: '99% Of Gargoyles Look Like Bob Todd']

(25) There ain't that many LP's which are good throughout in it's entirety, you know, the ones where you can't find a single bad track after several hearings. The ones which you keep coming back to forever and forever. Most definetely The Feelies' 'Crazy Rhythms' is one of these albums. Released on Stiff Records back in 1980 and from it, very short into the point but wonderful: 'Fa Cè-La' (mp3).

[upon request:
New Order - 'Everything's Gone Green'
Standells - 'Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White'
A Witness - 'Lucky In London'
Wolfgang Press - 'Heart Of Stone']

(26) The Quads - 'There Must Be Thousands' (mp3). A very fine 7" on Big Bear Records from 1979. Use this when you're DJ-ing and I guarantee you that people will storm the dancefloor ... providing they have taste and have had a bit too much of alcohol ...

[upon request:
Talking Heads - 'Love Goes To A Building On Fire'
Half Man Half Biscuit - 'I Hate Nerys Hughes (From The Heart)'
Jesus & Mary Chain - 'You Trip Me Up']

(27) From the debut album by the mighty Half Man Half Biscuit (the toast of Birkenhead!!): 'Sealclubbing' (mp3). The album, 'Back In The D.H.S.S.' was released on Probe Plus Records from Liverpool in 1985 and posting this gives me the opportunity to draw your attention to this very useful site: a must for everyone who considers HMHB as being the best thing since sliced bread!

[upon request:
Minor Threat - 'Small Man, Big Mouth'
Jesus & Mary Chain - 'Some Candy Talking'
Wedding Present - 'Once More']

(28) I think this album rather might be a much sought after item and it could be quite valuable nowadays. Rightly so, because it's a stunning work and I still like to listen to it after all the years. From their 1982 LP 'The Greatest Hit (Money Mountain)' on Rough Trade Records, here's 'Hanging Man' by The Blue Orchids (mp3). Enjoy!

[upon request:
Go-Betweens - 'Spring Rain'
Front 242 - 'No Shuffle'
Wipers - 'Mystery']

Enough for today, pop-pickers. There's much more to come. Let me know about possible requests and I'll do the necessary.

Cheers,

Dirk

I'm Sorry ....

Dearest friends,

JC aka The Vinyl Villain asked me to re-post the Dawn Chorus track further below. So I had a look in order to find out what happened to the link and to my great horror I recognised that NONE (!) of the links in 'My Peel Tapes 2 & 3' are working: this has been corrected by now and all I can do is apologise. So here's for you (from 1981):

The Inflatable Boy Clams - 'I'm Sorry' (mp3).

Cheers,

Dirk

My Peel Tapes: IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR PARTS 1 - 4!!

Dear friends,

with every tape I get in my hands, the decision which track to play and which ones not to becomes more and more difficult. Therefore I decided to edit the 4 posts below, you will now find [in brackets] the tracks on the specific tape which I went out to buy after I heard them, but did NOT post here in favour of other ones. They are all available though, mostly on original vinyl, in my collection: so if you're interested to hear one of them, get up and write a comment instead of just sucking the ones I did post. I promise to do an 'Upon Request - post' on a regular basis, in which, obviously, the requested tracks will crop up. Believe me, it's your loss if you don't write/comment and request, because they're all good. If not brilliant.

Just do it!

Dirk

My Peel Tapes: Part 4

More stuff here for you to enjoy, dearest friends, and I don't want to bore you with a long introduction, so here we go:

(17) Another oldie, and another good one, so good actually that it became an all-time favourite for me: Elvis Costello & The Attractions' 'Oliver's Army' (mp3), a 7" on Radar records from 1979. After having heard this one I bought every LP by Elvis Costello that I could get hold of ... and so should you!

(18) Oh boy .... things are really getting complicated now, because at the time I taped this cassette The Cure released 'The Head On The Door' and The Jesus & Mary Chain released 'Psychocandy': you can imagine that both records were frequently featured by Peel at the time of their releases. You won't get nothing out of it though, instead here's the fabulous Marc Riley & The Creepers' 'Snipe' (mp3). Marc Riley was in The Fall and although I never could fully share John Peel's sheer enthusiasm for them, this fact alone should make you listen to the tune. Pretty neat stuff. The B-Side of the 'Shadow Figure' - 12" on In Tape Records from 1984.

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[upon request:
Ramones - 'Daytime Dilemma (Dangers Of Love)'
Shop Assistants - 'All That Ever Mattered'
Cure - 'Just One Kiss'
Cure - 'The Blood'
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - 'Spinning Round'
Cure - 'The Baby Screams'
Marc Riley & The Creepers - 'Shadow Figure']
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(19) I found The Cure and JAMC on here again. And I'm tempted to post one of theirs now. But also on this side of the tape there is a real corker, which perhaps you don't know, because it was 'just' a B-Side. I think there aren't that many B-Sides which are better than the A-Side, but this a good example: from the 'Bring On The Dancing Horses' - 7" on Korova, here are Echo & The Bunnymen and 'Over Your Shoulder' (mp3) from 1985 (mp3). Enjoy!

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[upon request:
Cure - 'Push'
Joy Division - 'Isolation'
Alan Vega - 'Outlaw'
Jesus & Mary Chain - 'Taste Of Cindy'
Artery - 'The Death Of Peter X.' (Into The Garden)
Nirvana Devils - 'Secret Agent Girl']
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(20) On my 17th birthday (11th June 1985) John and Damian O'Neill out of the (then defunct) finest band on earth recorded their first Peel Session, which was later issued on Strange Fruit Records as a 12". From it, here's 'V2' by That Petrol Emotion (mp3).

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[upon request:
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - 'In The Ghetto'
Nomads - 'She Pays The Rent']
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(21) I know nothing about this band, I'm ashamed to say. I better should, because the track is fantastic: July 14th - 'Me And My Gun' (mp3). A 7" (1984) on Greasy Pop Records from sunny Adelaide, Australia.

btw.: rumour has it that the both latter tracks were thundering away in the background during Max Mosley's recent Nazi-Sex orgy ('Me And My Gun' for the lyrics and 'V2' for the title ... you get Max' intention, right?) .... I don't believe that for a minute!

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[upon request:
Screaming Blue Messiahs - 'Twin Cadillac Valentine'
Half Man Half Biscuit - 'Time Flies By (When You're The Driver Of A Train)'
Cabaret Voltaire - 'Golden Halos']
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Okay. I'm getting hungry and before I can stumble into the kitchen, I have to upload all the songs above, I'm afraid. This means this might be the last chance for you to hear something from The Jesus & Mary Chain's fantastic 'Psychocandy' - album. Then again we have this on the tape:


(22-1) The Brilliant Corners - 'One Of These Days' (mp3): from the 'Growing Up Absurd' - Mini-LP on SS20 Records from 1985. And I know this will please dearest Fil out of 'Pogo A GoGo' (a site you should visit every day if you want to make your life happier, by the way!)


And also (finally):


(22-2) The Jesus & Mary Chain - 'The Hardest Walk' (mp3). As I said, from 'Psychocandy' on Blanco Y Negro Records, 1985 ...

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[upon request:
Jesus & Mary Chain - 'Taste The Floor'
Jesus & Mary Chain- 'Cut Dead'
Midnight Choir - 'Walking In Darkness'
Magazine - 'Rhythm Of Cruelty']
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Enjoy your meal, folks - I will certainly do so: see you next time!


Dirk