Latest news with #JohnPeel
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘The army were on the streets – and we were bored': Stiff Little Fingers on making Alternative Ulster
I was approached by Gavin Martin, who ran a fanzine called Alternative Ulster. He wanted to put a flexi-disc on the cover and said: 'Can we use Suspect Device?' That was going to be Still Little Fingers' debut single so I told him he couldn't have that, but I would write him a song. It's the old adage – write about what you know. The opening line is: 'There's nothin' for us in Belfast.' It couldn't have been more teenage – 'God, I'm bored.' Then the second verse referenced the army being on the streets. But that was actually what contributed to the boredom. Because of the situation in Northern Ireland, bands wouldn't come and play. The only honourable exception, prior to punk, was Rory Gallagher, who came every year without fail. Gordon Ogilvie, our co-manager, changed a couple of lines and we were good to go. These days, I could knock it up in my home studio and let Gavin hear the rough. But to hear it back then, he had to come to our next live show. We were all excited about what we thought – well, I certainly thought – was a good song. But at the bar afterwards, he told me he thought it was crap! Things were happening fast for us because John Peel was playing Suspect Device into the ground. Island, the record label, flew us to London to record some demos. We really thought we'd hit the big time. Ed Hollis was producing – this was a man who had just had a Top 10 hit with Eddie and the Hot Rods' Do Anything You Wanna Do. But he insisted on hiring in all this equipment we weren't au fait with, so the demos weren't very representative of how the band sounded. Unsurprisingly, Island passed. We were thrown into limbo. We'd gone so far down the path with Island that we had quit our jobs. Then out of the blue, we got a phone call from Tom Robinson, who was looking for an opening act. We started to feel a bit of pressure in terms of needing something to raise our profile, and then the Rough Trade label suggested it put out Alternative Ulster. In the interim, Gordon had managed to get the demo tapes from Island. We didn't have the money to re-record it, but Rough Trade did pay for a remix. The single's cover photo was taken by Milton Haworth, who had happened to be at a disturbance somewhere. In the midst of it all, he saw the soldier crouched down by a pillar with his gun and this little kid on top of the pillar laughing. It was lightning in a bottle in terms of photography. We do an outdoor show every year in Belfast. We always finish with Alternative Ulster and it's such a unifying call. I find it so pretentious when you say stuff like this – but when you stand on the stage and watch the audience's reaction, it's humbling. John Peel playing Suspect Device was the beginning of everything. We contacted Gordon Ogilvie and started buying large quantities of it to distribute. That's how we got to know the band. Rough Trade had The Cartel [a record distribution organisation] and the idea was to bypass the existing conventional mechanisms and let the independent sector grow. I never really knew the full story of what happened with Island. We did so well distributing Suspect Device that we simply asked if we could do the next single as a Rough Trade release, a one-off. Alternative Ulster was remixed by me with the engineer, Doug Bennett, at Olympic Studios in London. I didn't do that much, but maybe made it a bit more lively. That was the first time I'd ever been in the studio. It was quite amusing. What gave me the gall to do that without experience? I guess I just knew how I wanted it to sound. That was the beginning of my producer career. It was the times, it was the whole punk ethic where you just went and did stuff. I've said this many times, but I just love Henry Cluney's rhythm guitar. The way he played, it's like a bar of steel or something. That was a big part of their sound. And Jake had that really great voice, played great guitar. He meant it – he was convincing. We were quite young ourselves. We didn't really know huge amounts about SLF's culture at that time, but we were learning. There wasn't really time to sit down for a few hours and discuss politics, discuss the future of the world, discuss aims and aspirations. We just did stuff. Alternative Ulster has been rereleased as part of Rough Trade 45s: Volume 1. Stiff Little Fingers headline their annual home town festival at Custom House Square, Belfast, on 16 August.
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘The army were on the streets – and we were bored': Stiff Little Fingers on making Alternative Ulster
I was approached by Gavin Martin, who ran a fanzine called Alternative Ulster. He wanted to put a flexi-disc on the cover and said: 'Can we use Suspect Device?' That was going to be Still Little Fingers' debut single so I told him he couldn't have that, but I would write him a song. It's the old adage – write about what you know. The opening line is: 'There's nothin' for us in Belfast.' It couldn't have been more teenage – 'God, I'm bored.' Then the second verse referenced the army being on the streets. But that was actually what contributed to the boredom. Because of the situation in Northern Ireland, bands wouldn't come and play. The only honourable exception, prior to punk, was Rory Gallagher, who came every year without fail. Gordon Ogilvie, our co-manager, changed a couple of lines and we were good to go. These days, I could knock it up in my home studio and let Gavin hear the rough. But to hear it back then, he had to come to our next live show. We were all excited about what we thought – well, I certainly thought – was a good song. But at the bar afterwards, he told me he thought it was crap! Things were happening fast for us because John Peel was playing Suspect Device into the ground. Island, the record label, flew us to London to record some demos. We really thought we'd hit the big time. Ed Hollis was producing – this was a man who had just had a Top 10 hit with Eddie and the Hot Rods' Do Anything You Wanna Do. But he insisted on hiring in all this equipment we weren't au fait with, so the demos weren't very representative of how the band sounded. Unsurprisingly, Island passed. We were thrown into limbo. We'd gone so far down the path with Island that we had quit our jobs. Then out of the blue, we got a phone call from Tom Robinson, who was looking for an opening act. We started to feel a bit of pressure in terms of needing something to raise our profile, and then the Rough Trade label suggested it put out Alternative Ulster. In the interim, Gordon had managed to get the demo tapes from Island. We didn't have the money to re-record it, but Rough Trade did pay for a remix. The single's cover photo was taken by Milton Haworth, who had happened to be at a disturbance somewhere. In the midst of it all, he saw the soldier crouched down by a pillar with his gun and this little kid on top of the pillar laughing. It was lightning in a bottle in terms of photography. We do an outdoor show every year in Belfast. We always finish with Alternative Ulster and it's such a unifying call. I find it so pretentious when you say stuff like this – but when you stand on the stage and watch the audience's reaction, it's humbling. John Peel playing Suspect Device was the beginning of everything. We contacted Gordon Ogilvie and started buying large quantities of it to distribute. That's how we got to know the band. Rough Trade had The Cartel [a record distribution organisation] and the idea was to bypass the existing conventional mechanisms and let the independent sector grow. I never really knew the full story of what happened with Island. We did so well distributing Suspect Device that we simply asked if we could do the next single as a Rough Trade release, a one-off. Alternative Ulster was remixed by me with the engineer, Doug Bennett, at Olympic Studios in London. I didn't do that much, but maybe made it a bit more lively. That was the first time I'd ever been in the studio. It was quite amusing. What gave me the gall to do that without experience? I guess I just knew how I wanted it to sound. That was the beginning of my producer career. It was the times, it was the whole punk ethic where you just went and did stuff. I've said this many times, but I just love Henry Cluney's rhythm guitar. The way he played, it's like a bar of steel or something. That was a big part of their sound. And Jake had that really great voice, played great guitar. He meant it – he was convincing. We were quite young ourselves. We didn't really know huge amounts about SLF's culture at that time, but we were learning. There wasn't really time to sit down for a few hours and discuss politics, discuss the future of the world, discuss aims and aspirations. We just did stuff. Alternative Ulster has been rereleased as part of Rough Trade 45s: Volume 1. Stiff Little Fingers headline their annual home town festival at Custom House Square, Belfast, on 16 August.
Perth Now
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Sir Michael Palin gets musical memories from John Peel
Sir Michael Palin learned about music from late DJ John Peel. The Monty Python comic and the legendary broadcaster used to attend Shrewsbury School, and although they were in different year groups, Michael always tried to "hang around" to hear what John was listening to and certain tracks had a particular impact on him. Asked his favourite piece of music, he told The Times newspaper: "Springsteen or Sibelius. I went to the same boarding school as John Peel and though I was in my first term and he was in his last I always tried to hang around when he played his music. "He was the housemaster's favourite and allowed to play his music very loudly. And to hear Sibelius's Karelia Suite at full volume was not something you ever forget. "Springsteen's music was big too. I was making the Ripping Yarns series in Yorkshire, and to go from being a man with two shovels to a man driving over the Pennines with Thunder Road at full pitch was all I wanted to live for." The 82-year-old star wishes he'd written songs by Pulp and Billy Joel. He said: "The lyric I wish I'd written [is] Billy Joel's haunting New York State of Mind. It's not a blaster, but it's thoughtful and a little melancholic and echoes my nostalgia for a city I used to know so well. Jarvis Cocker's Common People would run it a close second." However, Michael admitted his own musical talents have always been very limited. He said: "At school I played the triangle, so I think if I were part of a band I'd probably be a roadie." Asked the instrument he wished he had learned, he said: "I love the saxophones in a big band, but can't imagine myself ever sorting out where to put my fingers." If he is feeling down, Michael knows the music of pianist Jools Holland can always uplift him for a while. Asked the music which cheers him up, he said: "Anything played by Jools Holland. As soon as he sits at the piano I know I'm going to enjoy life for at least the next three minutes."
The Herald Scotland
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
When time finally ran out for the Glasgow Apollo, forty years ago
The venue's peak came during the Seventies and for those of us who were there then, it, and the countless gigs we saw there, remain among the defining images of that decade. Alongside, perhaps, the Old Grey Whistle Test, John Peel's cult radio shows, and enthusiastic reading of the music weeklies – Sounds, NME, Melody Maker for news of the latest vinyl and tour dates. Not to mention, of course, the music of the time, whether it was punk and new wave, the Eagles, the Rolling Stones (below), prog, glam, reggae, heavy metal or soul. The Apollo memories are quite imperishable. The Rolling Stones were one of the biggest acts at the Apollo Many of the bands that played the venue are, like the Apollo itself, no more, having broken up for one reason or another: 'musical differences', frustration over a lack of success, a desire to follow individual dreams. But a gratifying number of groups are still thriving today: Neil Young, the Stones, the Cure, Status Quo, Rod Stewart, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Robert Plant, the Rezillos, Robin Trower, AC/DC, Rod Stewart, Alice Cooper, Eric Clapton, Hawkwind, Jethro Tull, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison. Santana, too. Led by Carlos Santana, who turns 78 next month, they entertained the OVO Hydro just a few nights ago, nearly half a century after their last appearance in Renfield Street. And then there's Paul Weller, of course; it was his old band, The Style Council, who brought the curtain down on the Apollo on Sunday, June 16, 1985. Time has been busy catching up with other Apollo acts. Black Sabbath, who played Green's Playhouse, the Apollo's forerunner, as long ago as 1970, are bowing out with a huge farewell gig at Birmingham's Villa Park on July 5. That same night, a few miles away elsewhere in the city, Jeff Lynne's ELO will play the first of five last-ever concerts – two in Birmingham, two in Manchester, and one in London's Hyde Park. Elkie Brooks, who experienced the Apollo on a handful of occasions in the latter years of its existence, is on a Long Farewell Tour. In August, The Who will embark on their North America Farewell Tour. To look through the comprehensive gig listings curated by the people behind the excellent Glasgow Apollo website is to be reminded the astonishing wealth of gigs that took place there, across so many genres. Read more: The names of some of the acts – Renaissance, Rare Bird, drummer Ginger Baker's group Baker-Gurvitz Army, the all-female US rockers Fanny, Gentle Giant, Kokomo, Glencoe, Golden ('Radar Love') Earring, the Groundhogs, Traffic, Japan's Sadistic Mika Group – are familiar to fans of a certain vintage today. Less familiar, possibly, are Tea, who supported Baker Gurvitz Army in 1975; Dave and the Mistakes, who opened for Elvis Costello and the Attractions in 1981; and Sandii & the Sunsetz, another Japanese group, who were the support act for (of course) Japan in 1982. It's interesting to look back at the music weeklies and see what they made of certain concerts. Here's a small but vibrant selection: * 'Heat, dust, smoke, lasers and Genesis combined to turn the Glasgow Apollo into a replica of Dante's Inferno when the band descended on the city on Friday night' – Melody Maker, July 1976. * 'Rory G[allagher] made it however, and played an undeniably proficient over two-hour set to the most rapturous reception I've seen in ages. The audience was crazy, drunken, happy, and collectively about as intelligent as the average tree-stump: in short, all the jolly working-class virtues that made me leave Glasgow in the first place' – Sounds, April 1978. * 'Fred Turner [of Bachman Turner Overdrive] is a real sweathog of a bass player. Whether he's hungrily engulfing chip sandwiches in a Glasgow hotel under the lights of a documentary film crew, or bouncing all over the Apollo stage until the lighting towers begin to develop major instabilities, you gotta admit the dude is, like, heavy, man. He ought to do a seesaw act with Leslie West' – NME, May 1975. Lynyrd Skynyrd were a hugely popular attraction at the venue (Image: Unknown) * 'As a unit [Lynyrd Skynyrd, above] peaked with 'Tuesday's Gone', which took on a church atmosphere – in Glasgow the audience even started the Terrace Sway.... In Glasgow, the entire audience sang 'Free Bird' in its entirety. That's freaky (good-freaky), 3,000 people singing homage to a guitarist [Duane Allman] they've never seen' – Sounds, February 1976. * 'Backstage at the Apollo the theatre photographer is taking a group shot of the Rolling Stones receiving their trophies earned by selling out the three shows there. 'More ANIMATION pleeeze,' Jagger shouts good naturedly to the nervous photographer. 'When the Faces played here they could only afford one trophy', Woody [Ron Wood] informs the gathering, 'so we gave it to Tetsu [Yamauchi] to make him feel wanted'. Tonight each band member gets their own special souvenir. Just another memory. Keith gives his to Marlon [his son]' – Sounds, April 1976. * 'For Scotland, the Pretender changed tactics. Wearing a tartan wool scarf, he concentrated on rock 'n' roll. It was such good rock that it made me think maybe the Eagles aren't the best American rock 'n' roll band. Maybe the best American rock 'n' roll band is Jackson Browne ... Browne's initial self-centred introspection gently fades away. The Glasgow Apollo was cold, and Jackson Browne wanted to warm the place up with some powerfully generated rock. I almost thought he'd do 'Whole Lotta Shakin'' – Sounds, December 1976. The Apollo was noted, then, for many things: for its unassailable place on the Scottish gig circuit, for the rampant fervour with which many groups were greeted, for the less-than-salubrious nature of its backstage facilities. It all added up to a brilliant, authentic venue. The Apollo was living on borrowed time 40 years ago, however. The outcry that had greeted an earlier closure date, in 1978, when the venue's operators were granted a licence to turn it into a bingo hall, was decidedly more muted in the run-up to the Style Council farewell in 1985. As to why, David Belcher, the Herald's music writer, had this to say: 'The answer on everyone's lips is the Scottish Exhibition Centre, which has been bruited as having the ability to stage five to 10 10,000-seater per year along with up to 40 annual 2,000-seater shows'. Belcher also noted that the Apollo was damp and crumbling and that its fabric had deteriorated alarmingly over the last five years – not surprisingly, perhaps, given that the place had opened, as Green's Playhouse, back in 1927. The Apollo's time was up, then. But who could possibly have guessed in 1985 that its absence would be mourned, four decades later?
The Herald Scotland
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
When time ran out for the Glasgow Apollo
The venue's peak came during the Seventies and for those of us who were there then, it, and the many gigs we saw there, remain among the defining images of that decade. Alongside, perhaps, the Old Grey Whistle Test, John Peel's cult radio shows, and enthusiastic reading of the music weeklies – Sounds, NME, Melody Maker for news of the latest vinyl and tour dates. Not to mention, of course, the music of the time, whether it was punk and new wave, the Eagles, the Stones, prog, glam, heavy metal or soul. The Apollo memories are imperishable. Many of the bands that played the venue are, like the Apollo itself, no more, having broken up for one reason or another: 'musical differences', frustration over a lack of success, a desire to follow individual dreams. But a gratifying number of groups are still thriving today: Neil Young, the Stones, the Cure, Status Quo, Rod Stewart, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Robert Plant, the Rezillos, Robin Trower, AC/DC, Rod Stewart, Alice Cooper, Eric Clapton, Hawkwind, Jethro Tull, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison. Santana, too. Led by Carlos Santana, who turns 78 next month, they entertained the OVO Hydro just a few nights ago, nearly half a century after their last appearance in Renfield Street. And then there's Paul Weller, of course; it was his old band, The Style Council, who brought the curtain down on the Apollo on Sunday, June 16, 1985. Time has been busy catching up with other Apollo acts. Black Sabbath are bowing out with a huge farewell gig at Birmingham's Villa Park on July 5. That same night, a few miles away elsewhere in the city, Jeff Lynne's ELO will play the first of five last-ever concerts – two in Birmingham, two in Manchester, and one in London's Hyde Park. Elkie Brooks, who experienced the Apollo on a handful of occasions in the latter years of its existence, is on a Long Farewell Tour. In August, The Who will embark on their North America Farewell Tour, To look through the comprehensive gig listings curated by the people behind the excellent Glasgow Apollo website is to be reminded the astonishing wealth of gigs that took place there, across so many genres. The names of some of the acts – Renaissance, Rare Bird, drummer Ginger Baker's group Baker-Gurvitz Army, the all-female US rockers Fanny, Gentle Giant, Kokomo, Glencoe, Golden ('Radar Love') Earring, the Groundhogs, Traffic, Japan's Sadistic Mika Group – are familiar to fans of a certain vintage today. Less familiar, possibly, are Tea, who supported Baker Gurvitz Army in 1975; Dave and the Mistakes, who opened for Elvis Costello and the Attractions in 1981; and Sandii & the Sunsetz, another Japanese group, who were the support act for (of course) Japan in 1982. It's interesting to look back at the music weeklies and see what they made of certain concerts. Here's a small selection: * 'Heat, dust, smoke, lasers and Genesis combined to turn the Glasgow Apollo into a replica of Dante's Inferno when the band descended on the city on Friday night' – Melody Maker, July 1976. * 'Rory G[allagher] made it however, and played an undeniably proficient over two-hour set to the most rapturous reception I've seen in ages. The audience was crazy, drunken, happy, and collectively about as intelligent as the average tree-stump: in short, all the jolly working-class virtues that made me leave Glasgow in the first place' – Sounds, April 1978. * 'Fred Turner [of Bachman Turner Overdrive] is a real sweathog of a bass player. Whether he's hungrily engulfing chip sandwiches in a Glasgow hotel under the lights of a documentary film crew, or bouncing all over the Apollo stage until the lighting towers begin to develop major instabilities, you gotta admit the dude is, like, heavy, man. He ought to do a seesaw act with Leslie West' – NME, May 1975. * 'As a unit [Lynyrd Skynyrd] peaked with 'Tuesday's Gone', which took on a church atmosphere – in Glasgow the audience even started the Terrace Sway.... In Glasgow, the entire audience sang 'Free Bird' in its entirety. That's freaky (good-freaky), 3,000 people singing homage to a guitarist [Duane Allman] they've never seen' – Sounds, February 1976. * 'Backstage at the Apollo the theatre photographer is taking a group shot of the Rolling Stones receiving their trophies earned by selling out the three shows there. 'More ANIMATION pleeeze,' Jagger shouts good naturedly to the nervous photographer. 'When the Faces played here they could only afford one trophy', Woody [Ron Wood] informs the gathering, 'so we gave it to Tetsu [Yamauchi] to make him feel wanted'. Tonight each band member gets their own special souvenir. Just another memory. Keith gives his to Marlon [his son]' – Sounds, April 1976. * 'For Scotland, the Pretender changed tactics. Wearing a tartan wool scarf, he concentrated on rock 'n' roll. It was such good rock that it made me think maybe the Eagles aren't the best American rock 'n' roll band. Maybe the best American rock 'n' roll band is Jackson Browne ... Browne's initial self-centred introspection gently fades away. The Glasgow Apollo was cold, and Jackson Browne wanted to warm the place up with some powerfully generated rock. I almost thought he'd do 'Whole Lotta Shakin'' – Sounds, December 1976. The Apollo was noted, then, for many things: for its unassailable place on the Scottish gig circuit, for the rampant fervour with which many groups were greeted, for the less-than-salubrious nature of its backstage facilities. It all added up to a brilliant, authentic venue. The Apollo was living on borrowed time 40 years ago, however. The outcry that had greeted an earlier closure date, in 1978, when the venue's operators were granted a licence to turn it into a bingo hall, was decidedly more muted in the run-up to the Style Council farewell in 1985. As to why, David Belcher, the Herald's music writer, had this to say: 'The answer on everyone's lips is the Scottish Exhibition Centre, which has been bruited as having the ability to stage five to 10 10,000-seater per year along with up to 40 annual 2,000-seater shows'. Belcher also noted that the Apollo was damp and crumbling and that its fabric had deteriorated alarmingly over the last five years – not surprisingly, perhaps, given that the place had opened, as Green's Playhouse, back in 1927. The Apollo's time was up, then. But who could possibly have guessed in 1985 that its absence would be mourned, four decades later? RUSSELL LEADBETTER
