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 #19 was broadcast on this day, 22 December 1995, having been recorded on 17 December 1995.
A gem of a session from the revitalised ‘The Light User Syndrome’ line-up, now fully established, rocking a three-girl and three-boy vibe. A mid-90s Guys and Dolls it is not. Not content with giving us the prog-opera of ‘Chillinist’, we have Brix’s banshee-like wail towards the end of ‘Oleano’ and the sway of ‘He Pep!’. The session’s real curiosity was occasional vocalist Lucy Rimmer’s Smith-less version of Nancy Sinatra’s ‘The City Never Sleeps’. This most American of numbers takes on an English madrigal quality, with her plaintive tones underpinned by the group’s light-as-a-feather backing.
DARYL EASLEA, 2005
mp3: The Fall – He-Pep! (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Oleano (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – Chillinist (Peel Session)
mp3: The Fall – The City Never Sleeps (Peel Session)
Production details unknown
Mark E Smith – vocals; Brix Smith – guitar, vocals; Steve Hanley – bass; Julia Nagle – keyboards; Simon Wolstencroft – drums; Karl Burns – drums; Lucy Rimmer – vocals
And with that, all 24 sessions have now featured on the blog.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 