John's First Big Weekend

[ken garner]

in Glasgow. I discovered these tapes unlabelled a few weeks ago while undertaking an 
enforced clear out of my university office (to facilitate space for window repairs), where I 
moved part of my tape archive in the mid-90s, for what reason now escapes me. I had 
forgotten I had taped complete the two consecutive shows Peel had done live in October 
1994 from BBC Scotland's old studios in Queen Margaret Drive as part of the Glasgow City 
Council backed `Ten Day Weekend" music festival. So this week's downpod from me is six 
hours of Glasgow-focussed musical entertainment, the highlights being perhaps Nectarine 
No 9's session and the squeaky BBC Scotland chair (Friday), and the football match reports 
from the Glasgow Herald's David Belcher, and John Williamson (Saturday). The Saturday 
show is clearly the better and more eventful of the two, with more interviews and jokes, 
though both are great musically, with the Frank Black and Teenage Fanclub session 
getting a deserved repeat, and a spin of the H Foundation. There is also a brief mention of 
me.

Listening to these over the past few evenings for the first time since that weekend, the 
social whirl of those 3 days all came back to me. Peel, Hawkes and Alison arrived on 
Thursday afternoon and after a meal in Long Fung we all went down to see Uresei Yatsura 
at the original 13th Note basement café venue at the top of Glassford Street. We all teased 
Hawkes for declaring without irony that he "really liked the chick on bass". On Friday 
afternoon, I introduced and interviewed Peel at a packed GFT chat show, at which several 
old pals of his showed up and an unknown woman presented him with a tray of pot plants. 
On Saturday we went for lunch in Gandolfi's in Albion Street (Peel had the Finnan 
haddock, still, I was pleased to note on a recent visit, a staple of the menu), and then a 
crowd of us went to the BBC studio for the show, where, as Peel rightly credits, only the 
BBC Scotland engineer Andrew stayed calm amid the mad onslaught of special guests and 
features. Afterwards we trooped down to Mother India for a curry, then saw AC Acoustics 
and Shriek at Nice N Sleazy's. I will never forget Hawkes' and Alison's blank faced 
astonishment at emerging up the stairs onto Sauchiehall Street at midnight and, 
confronted by the sea of humanity, noise, ambulances, taxis and activity all over the 
street, asking "what's going on? Has there been some incident", and me and Stewart from 
the BBC saying,  no, just a normal Saturday night in Glasgow, it's ok. John was somewhat 
less surprised, I think.

peel 1994-10-07a
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8K9A6KPB
peel 1994-10-07b
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JFNYRL5L
peel 1994-10-07c
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=B7SE55UC
peel 1994-10-07d
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JYYZHOS0

peel 1994-10-08a
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RB28RM6R
peel 1994-10-08b
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=94LEZJ79
peel 1994-10-08c
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=594W92AV
peel 1994-10-08d
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=11I5CT7Q



k