The American by Simple Minds 7” version - which he loved the guitar work on
Anything by Misty in Roots
Siouxsie and the Banshees of course
John Peel is Not Enough by CLSM

posted 4th August 2017

You Suffer by Napalm Death. Short, to the point, unlikely to be too adversely affected by the possibility of Peel playing the vinyl edition at the wrong speed (and commenting "that's never happened to me before").

Plus, there's definitely this band called The Fall, who might just need to be in there!

posted 4th August 2017

I would suggest Futures and Pasts, the first track on the first Fall Peel session, as they did 20 odd further sessions with him and his love of The mighty ( copyright John Peel) Fall became an ever present theme of his musical life. Cheers Steve

posted 4th August 2017

Age of Consent - New Order. I remember delaying leaving the house for a night out to listern it all the way through (which John Peel always did)

posted 4th August 2017

Some Peel faves that were on heavy rotation, as I recall:
The Misunderstood: I Can Take You To The Sun
Tomorrow: My White Bicycle
Fatal Microbes: Violence Grows

posted 4th August 2017

Something by The Bhundu Boys or Tge Four Brothers.
On The Trail of the Lonesome Pine by Laurel & Hardy - think he was responsible for that being a surprise hit in the 70s

posted 4th August 2017

His Desert Island Discs in 1990 were: Zadok the Priest, 'It's Over' by Roy Orbison, 'Too Much' by Jimmy Reed, 'Man Kind' by Misty in Roots, aforementioned Undertones track (also the one he'd save from the waves), Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor by Rachmaninov, 'Eat Y'self Fitter' by The Fall and 'The Four Brothers' by Pasi Pano Pane Zviedzo.

posted 4th August 2017

Goodness, so much to choose from! I agree with there has to be some from The Fall and Bhundu Boys; he played a lot of esoteric songs, but I also remember him playing "Planet Earth" by Duran Duran before it was a hit.

One that I would have to include would be This Flame by The Associates (from their 2nd Peel session I think) which is only recording of the song.

Oh and some Sly and Robbie - one of the many types of music John Peel introduced me to was dub reggae....

posted 4th August 2017

I'd say you definitely should include something by Viv Stanshall and/or the Bonzos as John loved them. If you check the track listing from the Bonzos' Complete BBC Recordings, much of it is from John's Top Gear show.

posted 4th August 2017

Bloody by the Golinsky Brothers was always a Peel favourite of the 16 year old version of me

posted 4th August 2017

Arthur Alexander's 'You Better Move On' was important to him - part of his 40th birthday celebration programmes. He was a passionate fan of Kevin Coyne too so almost anything by him - say 'Having A Party' from "Millionaires and Teddy Bears"

posted 4th August 2017

Comsat Angels "Independence Day".

posted 4th August 2017

Grinderswitch - Pickin the Blues ..

Peels signature theme..Don't know if this was a peel favourite but remember hearing this every time the peel show in the 80s

posted 4th August 2017

Playing teenage kicks twice in a row

posted 4th August 2017

Every now an then he'd play Delta5 "Mind your own Business", for no apparent reason. Don't forget Sheena Easton's "9-5", everything by The Fall, Captain Beefheart, Melt Banana, and my favourites - Melys! And Ball Boy. And Pulp. Also really long dub records with the word 'Jah' in them. Better not put much Joy Division, as he got a bit wary of the really, really miserable stuff he was being sent in tribute. 1994's FF hit Laika by H-Foundation, he owned one of only 100 copies before it was censored by some film music guy. And deffo no Peter Sarstedt nor Jethro Tull ... But anyways, good luck with the CD - looking forward to it! ~andyc~

posted 4th August 2017

Something at the wrong speed!

posted 4th August 2017

Don't want to repeat what others have said, but he also had a love of the Wedding Present, would add in My Favourite Dress

posted 4th August 2017

I'd nominate Lonely Saturday Night by Don French. He used to play it every few months on the show and it was one of his and Sheila's favourites to sing along to.

posted 5th August 2017

'Say Kids, What Time Is It?' by Coldcut; still have my cassette recording of him playing that somewhere.

posted 5th August 2017

And yes, 'Crackpot at the End of the Rainbow' by Viv Stanshall... I jumped out of a hot bath to grab a cassette and record it when Peel repeated it, probably around 1988 or so. Sublime.

posted 5th August 2017

Beach Baby by First Class

posted 5th August 2017

Bands I may never have heard if not for JP: Unsane, Clint Eastwood and General Saint, UT, Moonshake, King of the Slums, Electro-hippies, Bhundu Boys, Carcass, Frank Chickens, Stretcheads, Ivor Cutler, Vivian Stanshall (Sir Henry).
Also, the Wedding Present who I hated but grew to love thanks to Peel.
And what about the time he played Sidewalking by Jesus & Mary Chain twice in a row because he liked it so much.

posted 5th August 2017

Rose of Cimarron by Poco was an old Peel favourite.
Dead Pop Stars by Altered Images was another of his top tunes.

posted 7th August 2017

In the Peel Sessions music Facebook page .The Only Ones - Another Girl Another Planet (Peel Session 1978) gets consistent high amounts of likes in popularity . It must be significant .

posted 9th August 2017

It's not very well known that John absolutely loved an interesting instrumentals band called, Aqua Vista, who were in session on more than one occasion. John Peel in fact regularly used the remarkable Aqua Vista version of The Model (originally by Kraftwerk) as a bed to vocal links on his radio show. I could try to source a Peel session version of 'The Model' for you (I think it's possibly available to stream over on guitarist Rapido T Lusso's Reverbnation Page). In the mean time here's a fantastic Aqua Vista track called 25 Gallons of Paranoia in session with Peely.

https://youtu.be/JMJdhTDOXUY

posted 19th August 2017

Song Song Blue by Altered Images is a must because he appears on it.

posted 23rd August 2017