Vivian Stanshall
There is nothing in broadcasting history quite like the collection of Peel Sessions recorded by the late Vivian Stanshall for John Peel between 1975 and 1990. These stories of Sir Henry Rawlinson and the cast of grotesques that inhabit Rawlinson End, all rendered in Stanshall’s lavish prose with his rich fruity voice have been, like a lot of things, all but forgotten since the deaths of Stanshall in 1991 and Peel in 2004.
Lines like “A pale Sun poked impudent marmalade fingers through the grizzled lattice glass and sent the shadows scurrying, like convent girls menaced by a tramp…”
deserve to be disinterred from the dank, unloved corners of the internet and broadcast across the Aire Valley into the welcoming earholes of our avid audience of 4 people, some of whom I’m actually not related to.
And so they were, or one of them was, from 1977, on When Big Joan Sets Up this week alongside raggedly distorted Roy Orbsion covers, frenzied Dancehall about chickens and a raft of rude words.
Now read on dot dot dot.
Ty Seagall – “Pretty Woman” – (v/a LP – “Our Boy Roy”) (Telephone Explosion)
Cameo Werewolf Band – “Problem Child” (v/a LP – “Our Boy Roy”) (Telephone Explosion)
Triola – “Schildergasse” (v/a LP- “Pop Ambient 2010”) (Kompakt)
Sambassadeur – “Stranded” (LP- “Europe”) (Labrador)
Zardonic feat Brainpan – “Fucking Up the Programme” (12″)(Mindsaw)
Sizzla – “Argriculture and Education” (LP – “Crucial Times”) (Greensleeves)
Vivian Stanshall – “The Road To Unreason” (John Peel Session)
Pangea – “Why” (EP – “Pangea”) (Hessle Audio)
Osteoferocious – “Ryan Wakes Up with a Skeleton in his Bed” (7″) (Flannelgraph)
Lazy Flow – “Afro Maniok” (EP – “Radioclit presents Saga Africa”) (Ghettopop)
Madd Dogg – “Curry Chicken” (12″) (ZJ Sparks)
Suma Bay – “Twanger” (LP – “The Troubles”) (download from Sumabay.com)
I’m not kidding you; that was the most enjoyable show I’ve heard on BCB in 2010, and I’ve only heard 2/3 so far! Was Vivian Stanshall’s voice supposed to suddenly cut out at the end of his session after “stamping in the…”? The rest of the show (up to that point) was equally marvellous.
And the genius of dedicating a song to yourself as the only likely listener was made all the more ironic due to the quality of this particular show! 😀
we both played something by Sizzla by the way, how odd.
Aww bless – cheers mate and no, his voice wasn’t supposed to cut out it was my shit llive editing of the various bits of the session toagther !
Oh, so that wasn’t just one long piece? In which case, your shit llive (sic) editing was pretty good! From where can I acquire this session for myself?
Most of the Viv Stanshall Peel sessions and a lot of other rather fine unavailable stuff by similarly eccentric artists can be found at http://weirdtownstuff.blogspot.com/ – enjoy!
I’ve really managed to “get” the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. I just think, “yeah alright, enough pissing about now, run along”. Perhaps you need to guest on Selection Box and convince me. Or we could just drink beer and play The Jackson Sisters like we did at that charity do.
Sorry, that should’ve read `not really managed to “get”‘…
I like the second idea best !
Beer it is!
When do you want to come on?