Q – I really enjoyed the BBC discs that came out a while back but I was surprised to see that none of the sessions were recorded for the John Peel show.
You posted a brief comment on Peel’s death saying that you wouldn’t be into music were it not for him, so were you disappointed not to record a session for him?
Was it the record company pushing you as an “evening session” type act rather than Peel actively not liking your music? Compared to, say, The Smiths I’d say there was a huge shared audience at the time, so strange that Peel championed them so heavily but not The Commotions.
I was recently transferring an old tape of a Peel Show from 1984 and he played a track from Rattlesnakes so you were obviously deemed “worthy” to some degree!
A – Peel made it quite clear that he didn’t rate us. Which was slightly saddening, but that’s all. I’m not sure if he ever heard any of my solo stuff. He memorably compared the Commotions to Leicester City – a team in the first division, but one was never quite sure how they had got there, as they seemed more of a division two outfit at best.