sound of the suburbs

To illustrate the importance of the Peel sessions we can use the example of Siouxsie and the Banshees. The band, as everyone knows, was formed by members of the so called Bromley Contingent, who were amongst the Sex Pistols first fans. Their very first gig was at London's 100 club in 1976 supporting their mentors, at this period Sid Vicious filled the drum seat. For reasons that I still fail to see the band had trouble finding a deal, while all around them lesser bands were being signed up. It was in many ways John Peel who came the the rescue as the band recorded their first two sessions for him in December 1977 and February 1978, these sessions were aired well before the band signed to Polydor, thus letting a wider public know what all the fuss was about. At this period I spent a lot of my free time in Camden Town, which was a place where you could easily pick up bootlegs and I was more than happy to part with my money in exchange for a cassette of these first two session. These very two sessions were to see an official release some twenty years later on the American Dutch East India Trading label, rather a shame they they couldn't have spent more effort on the album cover. These eight songs capture a band kicking against the odds while refining their songs to the dense sound that would become their 1978 classic debut album 'The Scream'. 'Metal Postcard' was recorded for the first session and would later appear on 'The Scream' and 'Hong Kong Garden' is from the second and was the song chosen as their debut single, originally not on the album.