Wednesday 8 February 2017

Various Artists Kats Karavan The History Of John Peel On The Radio



Get It At Discogs
Kats Karavan is a splendid 4-CD set charting the history of John Peel’s iconoclastic shows spanning 5 decades from the late 1960s until his sad and untimely death in 2004. Champion of the obscure and unheard, he introduced whole Generations of teenagers to new music and gave hundreds of bands their first mainstream broadcasts. Incredibly, 5 years have already passed since John’s death and a whole new generation is already growing up without knowing what it’s like to listen to a DJ who would play Bloc Party, followed by Ivor Cutler, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, then Bong-Ra, Linton Kwesi Johnson followed by The Misunderstood. Universal Music, with the full approval of John’s family, has undertaken the unenviable task of trying to recreate one of John’s shows on this 4 cd Box set. It has been a mammoth and difficult challenge. How could anyone fit generations of listeners’ favourite sessions, singles or anecdotes onto 4 discs? There is no Undertones, no Joy Division, no Chameleons, to name but three Peel favourites who don’t appear here but all have already appeared extensively on previous Peel compilations. So wide-reaching and eclectic was John’s passion for music that this compilation could have been made ten times over without even touching the sides of his shows. Drawing material right up until John’s last ever Festive Fifty, Kats Karavan includes big players, one-hit wonders, chart toppers and those who stayed at the lower reaches. It includes tracks from the likes of Small Faces, Thin Lizzy, Aswad, The Damned, Medicine Head, The Jam, The Slits, Funboy Five, The Cure, Linton Kwesi Johnson, That Petrol Emotion, Extreme Noise Terror, Ivor Cutler, Mercury Rev, Milo, Bloc Party and many, many more. The set also includes some rarities and curiosities. The Free track, Walk In My Shadow, was considered ‘lost’ by the BBC until it was recently discovered on some old reel to reel tapes. This is the first time it has ever been available and the first time it’s been heard since the original broadcast. There is also track from The Misunderstood, the only band that John ever managed and who performed one of John’s all-time favourite gigs: “If I had to list the ten great performances I’ve seen in my life, one would be The Misunderstood at Pandora’s Box, Hollywood, 1966. My god, they were a great band!” (John Peel) John supplies backing vocals on the Altered Images track, their cover of Neil Diamond’s Song Sung Blue, his only appearance on record. [This is slightly incorrect, as I've let them know. It's almost certainly Peelie's only singing performance on record, mind.] To further recreate the spirit and mood of one of John’s shows, some clips of John’s own links appear from time to time. None of his ‘chat’ has been kept by the BBC so the record label used extracts of the best of what they were able to find on old cassette tapes, cleaning them up for the CD set, where they work to great effect. Kats Karavan comes complete with artwork featuring rare and unseen photographs alongside personal recollections from many of the featured artists, who were only too delighted to contribute and be involved in this homage to the late, great John Peel.

12 comments:

Chemical Brotha said...

What a nice surprise! I was shocked to see him put out Extreme Noise Terror and other Grindcore bands in a time when Radio didn't even play standard Thrash Metal or Hardcore Punk. So, I was immediately hooked and started collecting JOHN PEEL SESSIONS EPS, especially if I could find them in the first edition Bronze stencil cover. I still think somebody should start a john peel blog to collect all of his EPs. It would be quite a collection of nothing but the finest Indie gems of all time!

thank you for this nice share!

Aid00 said...

Hello Chemical Brotha Here's A Blog Worth A Look

https://keepingitpeel.wordpress.com/

Anonymous said...

also check out http://theperfumedgarden.blogspot.com/ they post an original Peel show a day Monday through Thursday - usually

Anonymous said...

Agreed. The Perfume Garden is great for the actual shows (digitalised from tapes). Fond memories of Peel. I first heard him back in the early 80s and never stopped listening to him until I left the UK in 1999.
Sorely missed; never to be replaced. But I'll have to admit I didn't know about this one - in Japan we get very little focus on 'foreign' music (unless its pop scream crap). Anyway, all the best and let's celebrate Peel with a pint or two down the pub.
jbinjapan

Chemical Brotha said...

GREAT STUFF!!! Thank you for sharing these great links!

Dokka said...

Pleasantly surprised to see The Cuban Boys on there. They were a personal favourite of his in the final years and are often overlooked in these sorts of compilations.

VaRocker said...

Sadly the link is down

Aid00 said...

Hello VaRocker New Link Up & Running

VaRocker said...

Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Hi, Any chance of a new link?

Aid00 said...

Hello Anonymous New Link Up & Running

Anonymous said...

Thanks

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