A series for 2025 in which this blog will dedicate a day to each of the twenty-four of the sessions The Fall recorded for the John Peel Show between 1978 and 2004.
Session #18 was broadcast on this day, 17 December 1994; the recording date had been 20 November 1994.
The eighteenth session from December 1994 found the group in full, festive mood and marked the return of two old stalwarts; Karl Burns (last heard on Session nine in 1985) and, remarkably, Brix Smith (last heard on Session 12 in 1988). However, it was to be Craig Scanlon’s last appearance with the group. ‘Cerebral Caustic’ standout ‘Felling Numb’ (or ‘Numb At The Lodge’ as it was then known) steals the show, with its anaesthetised talk of ‘post-festivities’. The Christmas theme is writ even larger with ‘Hark The Herald Angels Sing’, ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ and a revisit of ‘Glam Racket’, which became a favourite in the rejoined Brix era.
DARYL EASLEA, 2005
mp3: The Fall – Glam Racket – Star (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Jingle Bell Rock (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Hark The Herald Angels Sing (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Numb At The Lodge (Peel Session)
Produced details unknown
Mark E Smith – vocals; Brix Smith – guitar, vocals; Craig Scanlon – guitar; Steve Hanley – bass; Dave Bush – keyboards; Simon Wolstencroft – drums; Karl Burns – drums
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 