Peel Archive X, Y and Z

Whilst Q only boasted 69 records on Peel's shelves, X is even more unpopular, as there are only 38 Xs here.

Of these the most familiar (and probably best) is XTC, though as I've always had goth tendencies I have to mention Xmal Deutschland, a band who will always be associated with the Peel programme. It was the first and last place that I ever heard of them.

Xmal Deutschland 'Incubus Succubus II'


I struggled with the Y selections, there are a lot of bands that you either love or hate (Yello, Yes). I can't really pick out a favourite from the selection, so I'm just going to link to the clip that made me think that Yes may have something going for them after all. It's the part from Vincent Gallo's Buffalo 66 that uses 'Heart of the Sunrise', and I haven't embedded it as it is very NSFW.

Z could only be for ZZ Top in my house, I grew out of Frank Zappa in my late teens though 'Hot Rats', included here, is still worthy of your time. Again, in common with the other American hard rock choices, the ZZ Top albums included here are from the 1970s, before they got huge and MTV-friendly. If I had to pick one tune away from the obvious ones such as 'Just Got Paid', 'Tush' or 'Cheap Sunglasses', I'd pick 'El Diablo' from Tejas.



I have one final post to come to wrap up this series, and it will include a mix of some of the tunes I have discovered during this trawl through the John Peel Archive. Happily, I have only skimmed the surface, and there is a lot more still to explore.