I've always been a big fan of alternative rock in general, or at least the type of music that would be at least experimental in some level, there is nothing better than the enthusiasm of creating and discovering new ways of making music and sounds.
And whenever I researched about a band, or an artist that is in that spectrum of alternative music, specially of the last 40 years, when looking through the albums, compilations and singles, there was always a name that would pop out along with the YouTube videos, the fan compilations and all the material: The Peel Sessions.
Which was evidently a radio session, with bands from The Smiths to Fleetwood Mac, always recordings found through the internet. The recordings and the sessions used to show a more intimist interpretation of the bands, no stacking tracks, no complex effects, and sometimes different versions of previously hit songs.
From then on, I always used to search the Peel Sessions of my favorite bands to listen to different versions of my favorite songs. But then it begged the question: what are the Peel Sessions?
Turns out, the Peel Sessions belonged to John Peel’s BBC Radio 1 show.
John Peel was one of the most renowned and of the original BBC Radio 1 hosts, John chose to use his program to provide and outlet to new, up and coming British artists back in the day, and to many, his is responsible to make bands and artists visible enough to the point of getting record deals with labels just because of the Peel Sessions.
Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, U2, Siouxsie and The Banshees, and these are just to name a few amongst the bands and artists that are nowadays renowned and in the beginning of their career appeared in the Peel Sessions.
From discovering the bands himself, to receiving demo tapes from others, Peel had a knack for spotting talents and potential hit bands and bringing them to the show, to many he is responsible for making scenes visible to the public and giving visibility to alternative music in general.
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