Live Ledge #75: Peel Sessions (Pt. 1)

While it may be a shameless tie-in, Live Ledge is nothing but England-centric shows until the Olympics are over. Unfortunately, I have no idea when that is as I have yet to watch a second of the festivities.
No matter. If England is my theme, then it's no shock that I have decided to do a show focusing on John Peel Sessions. To those who are without a clue, John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (6/30/39 - 10/25/04) is the greatest radio host of all time. He got his start on American radio in the mid-60's as a tie-in to the British Invasion. You know, if he's British he must know the Beatles! He returned to England in 1967 to work on a pirate radio station (Radio London), and joined the BBC later that year after authorities cracked down on these illegal stations. Over the years, he had a number of different shows and timeslots, but is mainly known for the Peel Sessions, which were generally four songs recorded by an artist in the BBC studios. Given the brevity of time in this studio, quite often the results were punchier and more exciting than the original version!
The success of these shows also led to the BBC understanding that there is indeed a market for live radio recordings, and in the mid-80's they started releasing a number of these shows. Many are included in tonight's broadcast, along with quite a few "forgotten" performances that continue to circulate among hardcore fans of either Peel or the band!
Tonight is part one of a two-part series, and focuses primarily on British acts from the late 70's to mid-80's. Next week there will be more American acts included, and the selected artists are a bit louder than what you get in this episode. This is a show worthy of hearing either via The Ledge app, Stitcher, or

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1. The Undertones, Family Entertainment
2. Joy Division, Love Will Tear Us Apart
3. The Smiths, What Difference Does It Make
4. The Housemartins, Happy Hour
5. Echo & The Bunnymen, Read It In Books
6. Elvis Costello, Red Shoes
7. Joe Jackson, I'm The Man
8. Billy Bragg, Greetings To The New Brunette
9. Gary Numan, Cars
10. J. Mascis, Freakscene
11. Jim & William Reid, You Trip Me Up
12. The Jesus & Mary Chain, Some Candy Talking
13. The Boomtown Rats, Looking After Number One
14. The Slits, Love Und Romance
15. X-Ray Spex, I Am a Poseur
16. Bow Wow Wow, Radio G-String
17. Crass, Shaved Women
18. The Selector, Street Feeling
19. The English Beat, Tears Of A Clown
20. Magazine, I Love You You Big Dummy
21. Gang of Four, Return The Gift
22. The Jam, Artschool
23. The Only Ones, Another Girl Another Planet
24. Wire, I Am the Fly
25. 999, Homicide
26. The Stranglers, Hangin' Around
27. The Rezillos, Top of The Pops
28. Killing Joke, Nuclear Boy
29. Moondogs, Schoolgirl's Crush
30. The Lurkers, Pills
31. Skids, Walk On The Wild Side
32. The Drones, Be My Baby
33. Thin Lizzy, Cowboy Song