Saturday, December 06, 2008

Countdown to Christmas Post #9



Well, y'know, it's been at least a week since I posted any Fall stuff here (!), so this is a special Saturday post.

The first track here was first heard on their second John Peel session, broadcast on December 6, 1978 (thirty years ago!!). 'No Xmas For John Quays' is a somewhat amusing gag (for goodness sake, say it out aloud), and the track was later recorded for their debut LP, Live At The Witch Trials. I present both versions for you here.

Fast forward, umm sixteen years, and yours truly is glued to John Peel, taping the shows when possible (and often struggling to stay awake until it's over). The Christmas shows that year were great (why did I not keep them intact?!?!), and the Fall's eighteenth Peel session, broadcast on December 17, 1994 contained covers of both 'Jingle Bell Rock' and 'Hark The Herald Angels Sing.'

In December 2003 they released a four track EP entitled 'We Wish You A Protein Christmas.' I always wanted to buy it, but as it was usually retailing for about a fiver, it seemed a lot for a new single. Now of course, I kick myself. Ah well...

The Fall -'No Christmas For John Quays (Peel session 1978).' mp3

The Fall -'No Christmas For John Quays.' mp3

The Fall -'Jingle Bell Rock (Peel session 1994).' mp3

The Fall -'Hark The Herald Angels Sing (Peel session 1994).' mp3

The Fall -'(We Wish You) A Protein Christmas.' mp3

Enjoy your weekend!

P.S. There are obviously loads of blogs out there doing Christmas related stuff, two of my favourites are I Correct Myself, I Mean All The Time and I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. The latter is also written by Steve who writes my favourite mp3 blog of all, Teenage Kicks
. The I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday blog has been highlighted in the Guardian. Congratulations, Steve!

8 comments:

Terrapin said...

There was also "Christmastide", on the bonus disc with "Levitate" which Wikipedia tells me was a version of a 1990 B side called "Xmas With Simon" (Wolstencroft, presumably). So far from being the "bah humbug" type you might expect, old MES is possibly Christmassier than Santa Noddy Holder.

Best wishes
Terrapin

Ed said...

Wow...I'd forgotten about Xmas with Simon...will investigate...Ed

Anonymous said...

Nothing better than a bit of the Fall at Christmas with a pint of sherry.
Drew

Ed said...

Well, I don't drink, but yeah, The fall at Christmas would be great...

So It Goes said...

Gee, thanks Eduardo, I could almost forgive you for nicking all the stuff I was going to put in my next post...but then how could you possibly know that? ;-))
I only found out about the Grauniad thing by checking the referrals on my Sitemeter...which drew me back to here!!! I'm chuffed at the mention, but your approbation is more important to me than all that, and I really mean it.

Ed said...

Ach, you're welcome as ever! You posted the St. Etienne track which I was going to feature, your pair of blogs continue to inspire and delight as always.

Ed

Anonymous said...

Jeeze I'm all tingly with gratitude for being mentioned here, thanks darlin' xoxoxo!

Ed said...

No worries, tart!