A quick reminder that this is a new series for 2025 which will feature all twenty-four of the sessions The Fall recorded for the John Peel Show between 1978 and 2004.
Each session will, going forward, be posted on the actual dates each session was first broadcast, but this one and the one which opened up the series last week, were originally broadcast in the very early days of January, and to stick fully to the plan would have involved new material while the blog was on its festive break. We’ll get fully on track next time around.
Session #7 was broadcast on 3 January 1984, having been recorded on 12 December 1983.
Another transitional session: the debut of Smith’s then-wife Brix, with the band on the cusp of signing to Beggars. While future B-side ‘Pat-Trip Dispenser’ is tentative, ‘2×4’ points to the Wonderful and Frightening rockabilly that lay ahead and Brix’s increased role within the band. ‘Words of Expectation’, all nine minutes 15 seconds of it, was originally to be featured on the last Sanctuary Peel sessions CD, but it didn’t. Now you can hear again its low-key detective music, which was an intermittent concert favourite between 83-86, with its vocal patterns predicting ‘Living Too Late’. The refrain of ‘I’m The Head Wrangler’ provides one of Smith’s classic moments, backed by some almost fretless-sounding bass. Of course, ‘C.R.E.E.P.’ divided The Fall audience when released as a single, and here it is in a early form, all bright and poppy.
DARYL EASLEA, 2005
mp3: The Fall – Pat-Trip Dispenser (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – 2×4 (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Words of Expectation (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – C.R.E.E.P. (Peel Session)
Produced by Tony Wilson, engineered by Martin Colley
Mark E Smith – vocals; Brix Smith – guitar, vocals; Craig Scanlon – guitar; Steve Hanley – bass; Paul Hanley – drums; Karl Burns – drums
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
So weird hearing better quality versions of these. For years I had fuzzy recordings from the radio! Remember kids, home recording is illegal…