Pete Shelley sharing his philosophy with Tony Wilson in Woolworths cafe, Oldham Street, Manchester in 1978. Recorded for the Granada TV documentary B’dum B’dum.
Read all about Pete Shelley in Paul Hanley’s book Sixteen Again: How Pete Shelley & Buzzcocks Changed Manchester Music (and me).
Paul Hanley in conversation with John Robb at Louder Than Words Festival in Manchester, 11th November 2023. Paul is discussing his book Sixteen Again: How Pete Shelley & Buzzcocks Changed Manchester Music (and me).
Footage of The Fall recording their final session for John Peel at Maida Vale Studios, London, 4th August 2004.
For full context of The Fall’s Peel Sessions read Steve Pringle’s You Must Get Them All.
The entry for this session in the Peel Sessions Index reads:
Session 24 Recorded: 4th August 2004 Broadcast: 12th August 2004 (Job Search broadcast on 31st August 2004) Mark E Smith – vocals; Ben Pritchard – guitar; Jim Watts – guitar, bass; Steve Trafford – bass; Spencer Birtwistle – drums; Eleni Poulou – keyboards; Ed Blaney – guitar, vocals Clasp Hands / Blindness / What About Us? / Wrong Place, Right Time – I Can Hear The Grass Grow.
Recorded less than three months before Peel’s death, the final session includes a magnificent ‘Blindness’ that a majority of fans consider the definitive version. The group recorded a fifth track, ‘Job Search’, that was pressed as a one-off acetate and presented to John Peel for his 65th birthday. There’s further context in the main body of the book.
A series of videos recorded at Plainsong’s evening show at The CAT Club, Pontefract, 11th December 2022. The concert was part of a 50th anniversary celebration tour of the first Plainsong incarnation, featuring the two surviving members: Iain Matthews and Andy Roberts.
The first four songs are from Plainsong’s classic album In Search of Amelia Earhart: ‘Raider, ‘Louise’, ‘Amelia Earhart’s Last Flight’ and ‘Side Roads’. Andy and Iain had planned to reinvent the whole album to record and release with Ian Clayton’s book In Search of Plainsong but the Covid pandemic lockdown made that project logistically too difficult to complete. Some of the demos they made feature on the Cherry Red Plainsong box set Following Amelia.
Following these four songs are two songs that Plainsong played in 1972: Richard Fariña’s ‘House Un-American Blues Activity Dream’ and Danny Whitten’s ‘I Don’t Want To Talk About It’.
For the full story of Plainsong’s rise and fall, read Ian Clayton’s book In Search of Plainsong. Click here for details.
Paul Hanley recalls The Fall’s trip to Iceland in September 1981, where they spent the day in a recording studio built into a cave. They recorded three songs, including two which were included on the album Hex Enduction Hour: ‘Hip Priest’ and ‘Iceland’. Paul is talking to Ben Cottam for a BBC Radio 3 documentary, Cave Life For Beginners.
For Paul’s full account of the trip to Iceland and the making of the album, read his book Have A Bleedin Guess: The Story of Hex Enduction Hour. Click here for details.
Helen O’Hara in conversation with Chris Madden about Dexys Midnight Runners’ masterpiece album Don’t Stand Me Down at The CAT Club (Classic Album Thursdays).
Read all about it in Helen’s memoir What’s She Like. Click here for details.
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