The Michigan Daily- Weekend etc. -April 2,1992- Page 5
John Peels away the Brits' musical anomie
by Annette Petruso
To most Americans. the John Peel
Sessions is a fan's kecoio. ,nething
purchased if they w at to own
everything their favorite artist ever
recorded.
But there's more to a Peel Ses-
sion than that. They are originally
produced for John Peel's BBC radio
show, and a chance for many artists
to get their first taste of nationwide
exposure The Peel Sessions began
in the late '60s, as Peel nimself ex-
plains it on the phone from his nome
in Britain,
"It goes right back to the start of
Radio One which was in 1967," he
says. "When Radio One was intro-
duced by the BBC as a replacement
for the pirate radio ships and stations
that were closed down by law ...
"There was no sponsorship or
anything. There was no commercial
stuff at all on the station at all. There
still isn't ... Part of the conditions
that applied when the station started
- the agreement they had with the
musician's union - dictated that
they include in each program, in
some programs a very high percent-
age of what they referred to as live
music."
Live music is the key loaded
phrase here.
"Now live music could mean two
things," Peel explains "It could
mean genuinely live music or it
could mean stuff that had been pre-
recorded previously specifically for
use in that program.
"And the progtain I was given to
do in 1967 which was called Top
Gear - a pretty catchy name for a
program - we had to do a certain
amount of live music. And the pro.
ducer and I decided that what we
would do is try to use this to get
bands that probably wouldn't other-
wise get featured on the radio. Bands
that we ourselves liked ... They
weren't called Peel Sessions at the
time, the name has just evolved over
the years as short-hand."
Peel's BBC program airs at least
two nights per week, meaning a
couple thousand Peel Sessions have
been recorded. Peel says that most
Peel Sessions aren't released be-
cause many of the bands never make
it past obscurity or someone attached
to a successful band will block its
1dlease
"Obviously some of the bands
nave gone on to be quite famous,"
Peel explains. "But one of the great
beauties of working for the BBC and
having this facility, it's like being a
patron of the arts in a kind of almost
eighteenth century way, except that
you don't have to worry about the
economics of it.
"So it doesn't really matter to me
whether the bands are well-known or
riot, you know, it should be some-
thing that I like and worth featuring
on the program. Over the years the
oands that I've turned down really
would make a most impressive list. I
mean people like U2, Dire Straits,
and so on ...'
By patronage, Peel means that
some bands who appear on his show
get a life-injecting boost in their ca-
reer.
"People get quite well paid for
(the Session)," Peel says. "For bands
in this country, they get more money
for doing a Peel Session than they
would for doing a kind of gig ...
With some of the lesser known
bands, you can actually help to keep
them alive. So you're kind of using
BBC funds to keep the band alive
and help them release records on
their own labels and stuff like that."
One band Peel might have helped
achieve success is the Manchester-
based band James. Guitarist Larry
Gott's version of how a Peel Session
works is much less interactive than
Peel's. He should know - James
has done four of them.
"You just turn up at the BBC
studio in the morning, and you have
to set up some of your equipment,
and record songs as quickly as you
possibly can with this guy who
claims to be a producer, but really is
just an antagonist and a wide-up
merchant who keeps looking at his
watch, saying that he has better
things to do than record some un-
known rock band who's come into
his big posh studio," Gott says in
one breath.
"And he gets very strappy with
you, you usually have an argument,
you run out of time. He usually
walks out of the room and you end
up mixing it with a sympathetic en-
gineer. And that's usually what hap-
pens at a Peel Session."
But the bands don't hang with
Peel himself at all at a Peel Session.
"You don't meet him when you
do the Peel Session. You go in and
he's not there," Gott says, but that
situation has been rectified. "We've
met him since. And he is, he's a
lovely man. He's really, really nice.
Shmoozing as an art form
XYour fave band has just finished a life-changing performance, and
you'd do anything short of selling your kid brother to express your
undying devotion in person. The easiest way to do that is to get backstage.
Yes, the much-ballyhooed backstage. Thatplace of lore, where yourrock
'n' roll dreams would come true, if only you could cross that threshold.
So, justhow does one get beyond theno-neckMongoloid with the Harley-
Davidson eagle tattooed on his face, and into this inner sanctum? Surpris-
ingly, it's much easier than you may think. All it takes is a little imagination,
a lot of courage, and maybe a couple of simple accessories. Put that all
together and you're close to perfecting the art of Schmoozing.
Shmoozing is actually more than an art form, it's an attitude. It's knowing
whose butt to kiss, who you should avoid at all costs and who you should
pretend you are, to reach your final destination of backstage.
Finding someone with a laminated pass is usually a good place to start.
These people always wield some sort of influence. Make fast friends with
them. Play it cool, like meeting the band is the last thing on your mind. If all
goes well, you may soon find yourself eating pizza with Pearl Jam or getting
sauced with Lush.
Shmoozing up to the opening band, cash bribes, and blatant begging are
also good ways to slide backstage. Claiming to be a "rock journalist,"
however, seems to work the best. A phony ID can be whipped up with a
photocopier and some laminating paper. Flash this little number and an-
nounce that you're from the local alternateen rag, and watch the backstage
door tumble like the walls of Jericho.
Once you've reached the promised land, the rest is up to you. Be bold.
This is probably your only opportunity to wax philosophically with your
hero, so don't blow it.
Women: Do not, repeat, DO NOT resort to the "Voluptuous Video
Vixen" technique. That too tight/too little dress and come-hither look only
spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E. It far too often results in very unfortunate incidents
with the aforementioned no-neck at the backstage door, and any other sleaze
that will promise you access to your hero.
-Scott Sterling
Peel
He's one of the nicest people in ra-
dio that I ever met."
At 52, one might think Peel
would grow tired of dealing within
the youth-oriented world of popular
music.
"It is one of the those things that
come up, you know," he says. "I al-
ways realize when I go to see bands
play that there aren't many other
fifty-two-year-old blokes in there,
you know, unless they've come to
feel people's bottoms and stuff ...
"I know that pop music is sup-
posed to be kind of a youth thing,
but the kind of youth end of it does-
n't interest me much. You know
what goes on in the charts and New
Kids on the Block ...
"But with the kind of music I
like, I don't think there's any kind of
age limit. Obviously the time may
come when I actually may not like
any of this stuff, you know, and at
that point, I close up shop and be-
come a museum. But I hope that
doesn't happen for a while yet. It's
not showing any signs of happening
because there's always so much in-
teresting new stuff to listen to."
Win front row tickets to They Might be Giants, Sunday
April 12 at The Michigan Theater.
SIMPLY ANSWER THIS EASY QUESTION:
What band did MTV (and the Michigan Daily) incorrectly claim that
They Might. Be Giants roadied before their salad days as a
successful duo? (Hint: TMBG wrote a song about the band which
appeared as a B-side of tOond Let's 5farf.)
Drop off or send your answer to:
Michigan Daily Weekend Etc. TMBG Giveaway, 420
Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Entry deadline: April 10, 1992. (The winner will be called that day.)
I
FINLEY'
Continued from page 1
too. I'm intorevenge.Wejust want to
pretend that good things come from
bad situations, but that's wrong."
Finley's ordeal with the NEA con-
troversy is a classic example of good
things not coming from bad situa-
tions. Unable to work because of the
public battering she received, Finley
mulled over some alternatives. For
one, there was consideration of mov-
ing overseas to concentrate on her art.
"The response is a lot more open
in Europe than in America, because
they're not so hung up about sex.
They don't really care about what
you're doing with your hole or your
dick, or if you show a tit. My work is
taken seriously. But because I'm su-
ing the NEA, and I have a lot of
support, I feel that I have a responsi-
bility to stay here."
It is at this point that Karen Finley
begins to open up, speaking bluntly
and being brutally honest.
"All of this controversy has made
me bitter. The situation has taken the
joy out of life. I resent everything
from interviews like this, where I have
,to be constantly defending my work.
I have the intellectual ability to, but I
resent the fact that I have to use it like
I'm on trial."
"I mean, the first thing you asked
me was about the fact that everyone
knows my name because of the con-
troversy. Hearing that with every in-
terview makes you feel like shit. Hey,
there's boy artists that don't have to
go through this."
Karen Finley does recognize that
she is not alone in this constant perse-
cution from the media and society
alike. One person that she feels re-
ceives the same constant public cruci-
fixion is Spike Lee.
"I see him as a person that has to
constantly defend his work. It gets me
so mad. He's my hero. You don't see
people like Steven Spielberg get put
through the ringer like that. David
Lynch did Obsession ads, so why
can't he do a Nike ad? They just want
the Black man to stay humble, and
that's a crock of shit.
"This is all really about power.
Takeyou, forexample. You're aBlack
man writing for the paper, people
read your words, and they're very
fearful of that. Eventually, in the me-
dia, things are going to be even, or in
our favor. They're very afraid of our
voice."
The words "our" and "we" are
used a lot in this conversation, be-
cause Finley is a strong proponent of
the unity of oppression, and feels that
minoritiesof all sorts, women, Blacks,
homosexuals, et al, need to come to-
gether and assume a single voice.
This is emphasized in her poem, "The
Black Sheep," which celebrates those
that "Always speak our mind, appre-
ciate differences in culture, believe in
sexual preference, believe in no rac-
ism, no sexism;no religionism."
"I think that the people in power
purposely instigate tensions between
minorities to keep us separate, so
there's less numbers."
These are just some of the injus-
tices that make Ms. Finley mad, and
motivate her to further her message
via her work. Other than performance
and poetry she also does music, painet
ings, theater (the upcoming "Lamb
Of God Hotel"), and her latest me-
COPE ES
3 _
REG. COPIES
20# White, 8.5x11 U
M
dium, installation art. These are works
ofart asan environmentwhere people
actually walk through them and be-
come a part of the piece.
"I'm creating installations which
are about certain issues, like AIDS
and pro-choice. I'm doing my own
town, with my own bars in it. you
walk down a street, and I'll have like
the sexist pig pub, and the interna-
tional spit bar, which will have flags
from all over the world, and people
can spit on their favorite flag with
little glasses of wine. I'd like to get
people to realize that art can be more
than a proscenium situation, like just
looking at a painting on a wall."
Karen Finley is a woman with
much to say. Despite the many ob-
stacles that have been put in front of
her, she continues her guerilla tactics
to open, and ultimately change, minds.
Never call her a victim. This is a
woman wno defines strength and per-
severance. As long as people like
Karen Finley and Spike Lee continue
to fly in the stoic face of colonized
narrow-mindedness, there's still hope
for the rest of us black sheep.
LEE
Continued from page 1
ously racist Bensonhurst area. When
Flipper Purify (Wesley Snipes), a
Black architect from Harlem, meets
Angie Tucci (Annabella Sciorra), a
sexy white secretary from
Bensonhurst, sparks fly in more ways
than one.
After all of Harlem and
Bensonhurst hear of their torrid af-
fair, Angie's over-protective Italian
father literally kicks her out of the
house. Flipper's beautiful wife throws
his clothes down the balcony, calling
him names that aren't even in the
book.
Flipperblames theaffairon "jungle
fever," explaining to Angie that they
were only together because "you were
curious about B lack and I was curious
about white." Lee's politics make us
think about the ramifications of inter-
racial relationships, as well as the
problems of racism, crime and drugs
in a community. We get the message,
whether we like it or not.
As can be expected, Lee practices
what he preaches. In his 1983 film'
school production Joe's Bed-Stuy
Barbershop - We Cut Heads, Lee's
character acknowledges that Black
people are the biggest consumers but
produce very little. "We've got to
start grooming people to own busi-
nesses," Lee told Esquire's Peter
Hamill in a recent interview. "Keep
the Money in the community. Provide
jobs for the people."
In keeping with that philosophy,
Lee actively seeks African-American
costume people and make-up artists
for his films. He also incorporates his
friends and family into his work life.
His long-time friend ErnestDickerson
(director of Juice), the other Black
student from Lee's NYU class, is of-
ficial cinematographer for all of Lee's
films. His sister, Joie, has been in all
his movies, his brother David does all
the still photography for his sets, and
his father Bill plays a good part of the
music.
Lee stands by his commitrent to
community and criticizes other 1lack
members of the industry for not doing
the same. He may never gross Eddie
Murphy's salary, buthealso will never
allow his ideas to be pulled by
Paramount's enormous purse strings.
Spike Lee is still the man that
people either love or love to hate.
From the Bed-Stuy barbershop to the
streets of Bensonhurst, his call to ac-
tion is heard at the highest decibel. If
you want entertainment, Lee can de-
liver wit faster than Mookie can de-
liver pizza. But beware: Spike Lee is
dangerous. He won't offer solutions.
He'll make you think.
~---
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