"'Favourite clothes - the cheap ones'... I'm all for that."

 

So speaks John Peel at the culmination of Trousercide, from BOB's first Peel Session.The Great British Broadcasting Corporation often comes under fire from politicians of a certain leaning. But for fans of BOB, it often served to provide hope and entertainment in between the sporadic release of BOB singles and promises of albums 'next time'...

 

It wasn't just the patronage of John Peel either. Although, to be fair, it was largelythe patronage of John Peel, whose initial championing of the band undoubtedly helped them along the way to gaining the deal with Sombrero. When that came to an unfortunate end, and the band returned to self-release, radio play on Peel's show helped the next single 'Convenience' register commendably within that year's Festive Fifty. However, we must not forget also the contributions made by Simon Mayo's radio show, nor that of BBC Humberside, to the promotion of BOB in the early days.

 

BOB recorded four sessions for the national BBC at the legendary Maida Vale studios: one for Mayo, three for Peel. All bar one were recorded by the line-up of Richard Blackborow, Simon Armstrong, Jem Morris and Dean Leggett, the exception being the debut session for Peel which featured instead Gary Connors on drums. The joy of these sessions lay not only in the opportunity to hear BOB on the radio; many of the tracks recorded did not see light of day in any other format during the band's heyday. 

 

Here are Simon’s recollections of the whole BBC experience:

 

“We loved the fact that we’d been asked to do the PEEL Sessions; I suppose the first one would have been the most thrilling. We were called in at short notice after another band had pulled out (I don’t think we ever knew who or why) on the strength of a few plays of our flexi-disc, which was basically designed to do nothing more than maybe get those few plays. So for a while, it looked like all was going well… ​

 

By the time of the first session we’d have known what our first couple of EPs would have on them; so - a simpler version of the 2nd A-side, a re-jigged flexi song, our hot new live favourite (Trousercide), and an early song that we could be fairly sure of getting right quickly (Esmeralda B). All from the live set of the time, with a bit of mucking about on the BBC piano thrown in; though I can’t remember if we’d planned that in advance or not. The first session went out in January – by that spring, we were off in the transit, touring like mad. This was a direct consequence, and it continued for as long as Peel had us on. And a bit after.

 

The later sessions were a bit different: I think we went for tunes that were a bit less likely to go on a record, but were still interesting. The BBC studios were the best we’d used, by a long chalk; and insanely glamorous... The dim lighting, the smell of the wood floors, the instruments and mikes everywhere, the canteen, and even the BBC paper cups ... Also, you were left in no doubt as to who was in charge; and it wasn’t you. You were being processed by an efficient and workmanlike team, which in some ways felt reassuring, but could leave you feeling a bit unimpressive.

 

The amount we were selling (not much) meant that anything we did at Maida Vale would be as well known as any of our stuff. A lot of those tunes we hardly played live at all, sometimes to the chagrin of those with the more active pause button fingers. Above all, these were Peel Sessions. JOHN PEEL... The band wouldn’t have existed without him. The British music scene still needs him, and every night I miss being able to listen to his show, and then nod off when Radio 2 takes over... Here’s to the day when the BBC calls in all our old cassettes to create an online archive of his programmes. I’ve got loads. Bin-liners full.”

 

Sessionography:

18 Jan 1988 Peel Session: Esmerelda Brooklyn/Kirsty/Trousercide/Brain Wilson's Bed (recorded 07 January 1988)

 

29 Mar 1988 Simon Mayo Session: Times Like These/Smelly Summer/Just Like You/It Was Kevin... (recorded 02 March 1988)

 

15 Feb 1989 Peel Session: Who You Are/Scarecrow/So Far, So Good/It Was Kevin... (recorded 05 February 1989)

 

25 Sep 1989 Peel Session: Extension 'BOB' Please/Throw Away The Key/Bloodline/Wild West Nine (recorded 03 September 1989)

 

16 Oct 1989 BBC Radio Humberside: Convenience/Demons/Uphill Down/Scarecrow (live session)