John Peel day on BBC Radio 1 - Some LC stuff

Ali · Post by **Ali** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 2:31 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/ar ... nardcohen/

Fljotsdale · Post by **Fljotsdale** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 3:15 am

Thanks for posting that link, Ali.

I have always been rather fond of John Peel. And he did SUCH a lot for new singers and musicians. Lovely man.

linda_lakeside · Post by **linda_lakeside** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:52 am

I wish I could get a real 'fix' on this man. He seems to have been of tremendous popularity but I simply can't place him. Usually, CBC does something on British entertainers.

Geez, I'm really sad that I can't associate with him, like say Benny Hill or John Cleese.

Ha! So sad. Yes. I know. I've been turned on to so many 'new' entertainers lately. I feel as though I'm more receptive and in tune to what I'm listening to. Leonard even, had started to 'pale'. I put his cds aside, and a month later, it's *yes* - new all over again. Not all cds were put aside, but most. DH is really getting a lot of listening time. That, as they say, is all she wrote. (Off topic)

Linda

Ali · Post by **Ali** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:10 pm

Flojts and Linda, it was a sad day for the music industry when John Peel died, like you said Flojts, the man did so much for the promotion of new (and existing) talent on both sides of the atlantic through the BBC.

It also saddens me to think that the 'replacement' forum for new talent in the UK is shows such as the X Factor where new Stars showcase cover versions rather than exciting new material.

linda_lakeside · Post by **linda_lakeside** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 11:26 pm

Hi Ali,

Oh, dear. It sounds like you've been burdened with another version of "American Idol". I know there is another one over yon (across the pond) and we have one in Canada.

To hear 'original' music, we have to find a coffee-house or club. Even then it's often rehashed Top 40. We have one good show on the CBC, and it's Randy Bachman playing tunes from days gone by. He was in a group called BTO at one time. The stories he has to share about other performers, being on the road, etc. is a very nice back-drop to the music he plays. After all, he comes from the 60's and 70's when Rock was King!

I really prefer radio over TV. TV and things like "The Fear Factor" - no thanks. There's soooo much music to explore, and I don't think I have enough time in which to do it!!

Still, I don't think he'll ever attain the type of following that Peel obviously had. It seems you all lost a great entertainer. Which sometimes seem like 'friends' if you happen to be home alone. Sounds corny as hell, but it's true. The familiar voice/face can usually bring us out of a funk.

Linda.

** A nice bit on LC. Also another great photo. Did he ever take a bad picutre??? I don't think so.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 4:18 am

I really prefer radio over TV. TV and things like "The Fear Factor" - no thanks.

Exacta mundo

. [pronounced moondoh]

Yes, Ali ~ What a loss for so many reasons. I heard him mentioned recently on NPR, too

. I wasn't able to listen to the broadcast when/as I planned. I hope it'll still be accessible on Tuesday.

~ Lizzy

~greg · Post by **~greg** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 5:14 am

from Donald Clarke's "The Rise and Fall of Popular Music",
1995:

...
John Peel is a British DJ who made his name presenting bizarre
popsters, few of whom became as famous as Peel. In his review
of an appearance in London of an American group called Pussy
Galore, which plays "deeply confrontational music", six paragraphs
read like an amusing send-up of the pop-rock concert scene
and of irritating noise. But then he assures us that, although
our initial impression would have been
"of undisciplined uproar and unreasonable agression",
"a more informed listen would have revealed highly structured pieces
of some complexity, through which wildly distorted quotes were
whipped as though carried in the teeth of some mephitic gale . . .
Pussy Galore played a vicious street brawl of a set, leaving the
impression that the band pursue a musical scorched-earth policy
in the hope that the traditions on which they base their impressive
music can never be used again."

If flower power manifestly failed to solve our problems, we can
turn to feedback. ( Bass player and producer Bill Laswell: "I never
need songs . . . The most interesting thing in the last 50 years
is the sound of technology.") The frustration of these people is
understandable, but it is unclear why anyone should listen to their
music.

Closing his review, Peel makes a gratuitous remark (typical of
a British critic) about the "clodhoppery that infests most of
American music".

Meanwhile, not only are the clodhoppers and shit-kickers in America
making some of the best music, but their fans, far from being rock critics
and DJs, are people who have the same old trouble making a living
as Carl Perkins had when he worked in a bakery.

"I think a lot of the stuff I'm playing now is crap," Peel said recently.

He is suffering from syndromes that can be overcome with liberal
doses of happy music; he ought to try some British clodhoppers,
like the Famous Potatoes, an octet of melodeon, accordion, trombone,
clarinet, fiddle and rhythm, who first called themselves the Folk Pistols,
and who, instead of destroying their roots, play them all.
They had made six albums by 1992, but most of them are already
out of print, partly because people like Peel make a career
of not having a good time.

He could take a cue from Wolfman Jack, one of the great DJs
of early rock'n'roll, who played a lovely cameo role in the film
American Graffiti (1973), which was set in 1962. (It is curious
how much nostalgia there is among baby-hoomers for the period just
before they became a counterculture.) In 1989 the Wolf was working
on Nashville Network Radio via satellite, and he told a Florida
newspaper that he plays a lot of country music these, days.
"It's old-fashioned rock'n'roll, man."
...

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 5:47 am

He sure knew how to write a great review

!

Within the rest of the article:

(It is curious how much nostalgia there is among baby-hoomers for the period just before they became a counterculture.)

I like this insight. What if you feel nostalgia for both?

~ Lizzy

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 12:04 pm

So the BBC will actually air Leonard's live performances from unreleased John Peel sessions of 1968? Wow. Finally we get the name of the venue. And we have the setlist confirmed. The funny thing is that even BBC don't know who was in backing band

All of this four songs were recorded from BBC's airing in 1990s and included on some bootlegs (The Golden Voice i.e.) - maybe someone of our UK friends could catch this airing on new, digital equipment so we can have the upgraded versions?

See about existing copy at http://www.leonardcohenlive.com/concert ... -08-11.htm

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 12:21 pm

I didn't find Leonard's songs at Tracklisting for Peels Day, but they said you can listen it online at the site, http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/se ... nardcohen/
I must say I can't find the link for listening

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 4:43 pm

I must say I can't find the link for listening

This sure isn't good news for me, come tomorrow

~ the queen of electronic ignorance

!

~ Lizzy

constantsorrow · Post by **constantsorrow** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 2:07 am

Tom Sakic wrote:So the BBC will actually air Leonard's live performances from unreleased John Peel sessions of 1968? Wow. Finally we get the name of the venue. And we have the setlist confirmed. The funny thing is that even BBC don't know who was in backing band

All of this four songs were recorded from BBC's airing in 1990s and included on some bootlegs (The Golden Voice i.e.) - maybe someone of our UK friends could catch this airing on new, digital equipment so we can have the upgraded versions?

See about existing copy at http://www.leonardcohenlive.com/concert ... -08-11.htm

An upgrade tape circulates since earlier this year. It was Bittorrented as being from BBC master tapes > DAT > CDR and includes the 4 songs (but no "So Long Marianne").

Tracks ( 17:15.58 )

01. (John Peel comment)
02. Leonard Cohen & The Tony Gilbert Group: You Know Who I Am
03. (John Peel comment)
04. (John Peel comment)
05. Leonard Cohen & The Tony Gilbert Group: Like A Bird On A Wire
06. (John Peel comment)
07. (John Peel comment)
08. Leonard Cohen & The Tony Gilbert Group: Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
09. (John Peel comment)
10. (John Peel comment)
11. Leonard Cohen & The Tony Gilbert Group: Dress Rehearsal Rag
12. (John Peel comment)

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 10:03 am

Wow, again. Well, I'll have to ask you for that recording...

"The Tony Gilbert Group"?