Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle (+JP DL)

Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle

• The Format That Dare Not Speak It’s Name. Welcome Back To Adult Television.

I’ve only just got around to watching the first episode of Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle and it’s extremely rare these days I can empathise wholeheartedly with anything delivered via a sanctimonious mainstream media, but this was a wonderful exception.

For those that feel the merest hint of an insightful or intellectual thought made in public these days is likely to invoke a scene reminiscent of the threatening mob from Don Siegel’s 1956 classic allegory, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, switch your television to BBC2 at 10 O’clock on Mondays.

Armando Iannucci is Executive Producer. How much convincing do you need?

• John Peel Footnote
But that’s not all! Upon visiting Mr. Lee’s website I found a John Peel Show file for download. “16 October 1996 – Richard Herring and Stewart Lee appear on the John Peel show, a teenage dream”. You’ll find it in the archives section. I’ve not listened to it yet so I can’t advise on how it compares with the version/s already circulating. See also “John Peel stands in for Mark Radcliffe and Rich & Stew guest”

stewartlee.co.uk
Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle BBC2

• Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle is on Mondays at 10pm on BBC2

DVD & Music Update

Nice mash.

Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle is due out on DVD in September so no more posting links once it’s commercially available please. Once it’s released the links here will have to come down. What do you want, ‘The moon on a stick’? Actually while we’re on the subject, if you liked this series then seek out the two DVDs of him performing live. His comedy works even better in longer form.

“What’s that tune in Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle?”

The server logs reveal that quite a few people are arriving here as a result of searching for the theme music used over the opening titles of Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle. Well it’s Tom Hark by Elias & His Zig Zag Jive Flutes, from that ‘golden year’ 1958. It appears onJohn Peel and Sheila, The Pig’s Big 78′s – A Beginner’s Guide, and is available from Trikont Records, Klang, their UK distributor, or any one of these fine indie retailers. Also, via YouTube, the ’58 original, plus Brighton band The Piranhas’ 1980 vocal version on Top of the Pops.

John Peel – BBC4 Monday

BBC4′s Liverpool on the Box season features three programmes with our John providing the voice over duties. Two of which you will no doubt have seen before and probably already have archived, but the first, Chambré Hardman and the Lost City of Liverpool, is a new one on me. Looks good!

Monday 18th August 19.30-20.00
Chambré Hardman and the Lost City of Liverpool
“The life and career of Liverpool photographer Edward Chambre Hardman, whose work captured the people and city of Liverpool during its pre-war heyday.”

Monday 18th August 01:25-02.15
Rock Family Trees: The Mersey Sound
“The rise and fall of the Mersey Beat scene during the 60s, including a look at the Beatles, the Searchers, Gerry and the Pacemaker and Billy J Kramer.”

Monday 18th August 02:15-03.05
Rock Family Trees: The New Mersey Beat
“A look at the next generation of bands after Mersey Beat to emerge from Liverpool including Echo and the Bunnymen, the Teardrop Explodes, OMD and the Lightning Seeds.”

| BBC4
| Chambré Hardman (National Trust Print Collection)
| E. Chambré Hardman Archive
| Chambré Hardman Photographs
| Peter Frame’s Rock Family Trees
| 1999 Pete Frame interview

John Peel: Radio Week on the Beeb

BBC 4 Television are running a themed series of programming under the banner of ‘Radio Week’. Here are some of the highlights…

Sunday 30 September 11:40 pm
Arena: Today Carshalton Beeches…Tomorrow Croydon (1981)
This programme looks at John Peel‘s role in the rock world and that of his radio show producer, John Walters.

Sunday 30 September 12:20 am
Arena: Caroline 199 – A Pirate’s Tale
Radio Caroline, founded in 1964 by Ronan O’Rahilly, gave many DJs their first break. Arena traces the origins of this broadcasting phenomenon.

Tuesday 02 October 10:30 pm
Belgrade’s Radio Warriors: Storyville
In 1989, radio station B-92 started in Belgrade and became a symbol of resistance to Serbian Nationalism. In this film, the workers give an account of life in Belgrade throughout the years of war.

Tuesday 02 October 11:40 pm
Arena: Desert Island Discs
This 1982 episode of Arena marks 40 years of the radio institution that is Desert Island Discs.

Also in this weeks Radio Times there is a picture of our John (p142) in reference to the following programme, however I doubt he’ll figure large in this.

Friday 28 September 2007 7:00 pm
BBC Radio 2 – 60s Season – Documentaries
Don’t Start Me Talking 2 – About Radio
This episode of Don’t Start Me Talking… gives a voice to the most important person in the radio equation – the listener. This is the story of the last days of the BBC’s Light Programme & the birth of Radio 2 told entirely in the words of the great British public. If you were there, it’s how you remember it. If you weren’t – this is how it was!

Let me know if you spot something I haven’t listed here.

BBC 4 Schedule
Radio 2 Schedule

Peel Video And Request

There’s another ‘make-over’ planned for this site in the new year. I just love to tinker. However, behind the itchy fingers lie the twin desires of original content and building up the amount of Peel files available at any time.

I’ve just added a new video file courtesy of Numpty to http://rapidshare.com/users/HB8PVU/. UKNova folk probably need not apply. Screenshots here.

SUGGESTIONS PLEASE:
So what would you like to see – or not see? What’s good or bad about the site right now?

I’d really like to know what you think!

Thanks in advance :->
Gary
AKA domestic empire

John Peel’s Festive Fifty 1990

Probably the final post of the year and I’ll keep it short because I’m a miserable cunt and if I had my way I’d be off somewhere they don’t indulge in this intolerably churlish festive facade. Don’t get me started.

Couple of downloads for you then. We’ll kick off with a message from Uphallman.

Turn That Racket Down
I’ve upped ‘Turn That Racket Down’ on to a couple of torrent sites I use cos 1 is a members site and they are generally very good at seeding. The response has been amazing. I put it on at the weekend and it’s been downloaded 75 times in those few days. There are 11 seeders (plus me and I’ll leave it on inevitably) and six people are downloading at the mo. Found that no matter what happens with the length of time it takes to download on the Digitaldistractions site, once they’ve downloaded it they just bugger off!

Turn That Racket Down – P2P: BitTorrent
Demonoid (members site) 687.49 MB (720,886,168 bytes)
Torrentportal 687.49 MB (720,886,168 bytes)

Yes I agree, Demonoid is pretty good. Thanks for your contribution Uphallman.

John Peel’s Festive Fifty 1990
We miss Peelie every single day of the year right – we’re all agreed on that? But there was always something special about the Festive Fifty. John always took great pride in putting the thing together. He would always confide how nervous he was of making a mistake – as if we ever minded. We loved him for it. It’s what made him ‘one of us’ a ‘regular guy’. How many tracks would the Fall/Wedding Present/HMHB, etc have in the chart this year? Would the tracks I voted for make an appearance – yes but always pretty low down! Would John have sniffed out another feeble attempt at vote rigging? Would it all fit comfortably on our newly unwrapped C90′s. I can’t have been the only one shining a torch inside the rapid unwinding cassette praying that I don’t see the leader tape for just a minute or two longer, followed inevitably by the ceremonial panic that was the manic tape flip. Happy days :-)

So here, from 1990, is the Festive Fifty as broadcast on BBC Radio 1. This is partly filling a request from Chris and maybe it’s one Eddie wanted too, I forget off hand (and we WILL sort out those dvd’s I promise – 2007 good for you?).

Further notes and full track listings are contained in the file which may be aquired with one of the following options. Make sure you share around the file freely and have a toast to John and the Ravenscroft family. Oh, and a merry fucking Christmas from me. Foul mouthed bastard.

Domestic Empire

Festive Fifty 1990 – P2P: BitTorrent
294 MB (308,875,374 bytes)

Festive Fifty 1990 – HTTP: Rapidshare
Part 1 76.2 MB (80,000,000 bytes)
Part 2 76.2 MB (80,000,000 bytes)
Part 3 76.2 MB (80,000,000 bytes)
Part 4 67.2 MB (70,558,763 bytes)

The rapidshare Peel folder – as listed in the top left corner – contains all these files and more.

Peel Favourites: Tonight’s TV

Looks Like A Good Night For Music On The Telly (if you’re not off down the pub – or out again with that tart I saw you with. Has she got a mate then or what?):

BBC4 9:00pm
Ivor Cutler: Looking for Truth with a Pin.
“Friends, fans and fellow performers pay tribute to the Glasgow-born musician, poet, painter and humorist who died earlier this month. Some strong language.”
Fri 24 Mar, 21:00-22:00 60mins Stereo Widescreen

BBC2 11:40pm
Loudon Wainwright III at the BBC
“American singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III has been performing at BBC studios over the last three decades – this programme is dedicated to those shows.

To compliment the BBC Four sessions Loudon Wainwright III at the BBC consists of carefully selected highlights that include performances from Later…with Jools Holland, The Old Grey Whistle Test, Wogan and The Late Show. Classics such as Swimming Song and Rufus is a Tit Man are contrasted alongside other revered moments that include Unhappy Anniversary and Hitting Her.

This compilation confirms Loudon’s witty, self-mocking style, and an engaging stage persona made that him a cult figure and concert favourite.”
Fri 24 Mar, 11:40 pm – 12:40 am 60mins BBC2

BBC3 – or THREE as they prefer!
12:00 midnight
The Colin and Edith Show
Hmmm, ok perhaps somewhat less promising this but even the worst music shows sometimes fluke. Perhaps one to video and review later then

“Colin Murray and Edith Bowman of Radio 1 fame present a new show of live music, comedy guests and general larking about.

Starring (in order of appearance) The Zutons, Kate Bush, Radiohead, The Stone Roses, Dave Gorman, We Are Scientists, Green-ish Day, Status Quo, The Ramones & Chas ‘n’ Dave. This programme contains strong language.”
Their fuckin’ words, not mine. Ooops there I go again
Sat 25 Mar, 12:00 am – 12:55 am 55mins

Ivor Cutler Radio & TV Tribute Dates & Times

I don’t think John would mind at all that we are giving over such space to Ivor at the moment. A quintessential Peel artist if there ever was one.

BBC Radio 3
Andy Kershaw
Sunday 12th March 2006
22:15-00:00
“In tribute to the late Ivor Cutler, Andy repeats a classic session from February 1979, together with tracks from Ali Farka Toure, who also died this week.”

BBC Four Television
Ivor Cutler: Looking for Truth With a Pin
Friday 24th March 2006
21:00 – 22:00
“A celebration of the man Billy Connolly described as “the best kept secret in Britain”, despite five decades of work in radio, television, records and books.

Cutler is probably best known for his starring role in the Beatles’ film, Magical Mystery Tour. But behind the name is the story of a man with 20 sessions for John Peel at Radio One to his name, signings to all major record labels, and who once had his own portrait in the National Portrait Gallery under Great British Poets.”

With thanks to yahoo group: ivor-list for bringing these dates to my attention.

“We wanted to make a series about British eccentrics but ended up making one programme about Ivor Cutler.” Read about the making of this documentary here.

Tribute To John Peel – Turn That Racket Down

BBCtv Documentary

With contributions from John Walters, Billy Bragg, Jarvis Cocker and others, this documentary was originally screened during the August Bank Holiday back in 1999. Broadcast as part of John’s 60th Birthday celebrations – even getting on the cover of the Radio Times no-less, this revised version was shown in tribute following his death in 2004.

Torrent Link: Turn That Racket Down

Torrential Peel

BitTorrent & media round-up from the John Peel Archives.

Reasons To Be Cheerful Part 3:
Something I should have featured ages ago is the sterling work being undertaken by Finnish Phil, as I privately refer to him. Featuring programmes John Peel made for various European radio stations. There are currently three torrents available with the promise of more to come.

John Peel shows from Finnish radio pt. 3 [449MB]
John Peel shows from Finnish radio pt. 2 [645MB]
John Peel shows from Finnish radio pt. 1 [748MB]
Euro Peel links

Singles Club:
The John Peel Record Box torrent: mp3 versions of the 7” vinyl collection. An incomplete but on-going project passionately sourced by some very nice folk over at the I Love Music forum, where current torrent links are posted – help with the project if you can. The tracks are also to be found using slsk.

John Peel’s Record Box TV Documentary:
The previous mentioned channel 4 television programme at the wonderfully eclectic and my personal tracker of choice, Secret Cinema, is still available.
John Peel’s Record Box

JPtv:
Many more John Peel television programmes are to come including BBC2′s John Peel Night, Travels With My Camera, DJ Heaven, Snapshots and This Is Your Life, though I’m slightly worried not to have located this one along with the others, but it should hopefully materialise with a bit more searching. A pc is currently being put together for the sole purpose of capping and seeding these.

New to BitTorrent?
I recommend these free clients:
1/ utorrent (No installation required. No fuss. Perfect for beginners.)
2/ ABC (More features. Open Source.)
3/ Azureus (Not tried this but comes highly recommended. Requires Java.)

BitTorrent guide and much more useful info.

As with all file sharing formats, once you have the completed file please continue to share so that all may benefit. It also encourages those responsible to post again.

Please note we don’t link to or promote anything that is commercially available. If it’s in the shops, buy it. Indie bands more than anybody need to recoup their advance. This site is for fans of John Peel and for people who want to discover more about the man.

DO NOT GIVE MONEY TO THE EB*Y VULTURES

Tonight’s The Night…

John Peel’s Record Box…

…Tonight | CH4 | 11:10pm

At last after all the conjecture and tracking down of, er tracks, and torrenting and downloading and…..we can finally get a closer look inside ‘that’ box. Of particular interest to those compiling a digital version of John Peel’s collection will be the opportunity to scrutinise the sleeves to iron out out some of the finer details. I hope Elton doesn’t go on too much, he’s fine but really a two hour programme just looking at the sleeves and watching the records go round would suit me.

I’ve uploaded a couple of hi-res photographs (acquired from the lovely ch@nnel 4 press dept.) of said box sitting at Peel Acres which make fantastic desktop backgrounds.

Between you, me and the gatepost, I have it on good authority the programme will be ‘upped’ by Tuesday night

John Peel’s Record Box: image 1 | image 2

Direct link, thus: click to view or right click/save as