Levellers 5 were a British indie-rock band from Darwen, Lancashire, based around the talents of John Donaldson (writer/guitar/vocals). They renamed themselves Calvin Party following the success of The Levellers.
Links To Peel[]
As Levellers 5, the band recorded three sessions for Peel’s show, before a further five as Calvin Party. Levellers 5 released two albums, Springtime (1990) and Clatter (1991). Peel immediately dubbed the first of these a contender for LP of the year and played two tracks from it on the same show (10 May 1990).
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- None
Sessions[]
Three sessions. Official releases:
- #1 released as The Peel Sessions (12”, 1990, Strange Fruit)
- ‘Home’ from #1 also available on New Season - The Peel Sessions (CD, 1991, Strange Fruit)
1.Recorded: 1990-04-19. First broadcast: 16 May 1990. Repeated: 25 June 1990, 29 December 1990.
- Warning Shadows / Mister Tell Me / Home / Shell
2.Recorded: 1990-09-11. First broadcast: 06 October 1990. Repeated: 15 December 1990.
- Somewhere / What's The Matter / Clatter / Love Thing Ha
3. Recorded: 1992-04-12. First broadcast: 23 May 1992. Repeated: 25 July 1992.
- Pressure Drop / Messelina / Mass / Everyone For Themselves
Other Shows Played[]
(The following list was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive. Please add more information if known.)
- 1990
- 10 May 1990: (JP: ""LP of the year? ... And here's another contender as a matter of fact. And for about I suppose a couple of months now I've had some tapes in the car by the Merseyside band Levellers 5. And when I first heard them I wasn't that impressed, to be honest, but I kept playing them and kept coming back to them you know, because there was something about them which was intriguing. And the LP arrived today and I put it on this afternoon and it really is terrific, there's some really good tracks on it. And coincidentally they are in session next Wednesday, the 16th of May. And from the LP, this is 'Next Big Thing' - and they may be that. In a sense I hope they are not, you know, because the next big things don't tend to last for very long, but at the same time this is excellent.")
Next Big Thing (album - Springtime) Probe Plus PROBE 26 - 10 May 1990: What's My Name (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus
- 15 May 1990: Hypo Man (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus
- 19 May 1990 (BFBS) (Peel 148 (BFBS)): Next Big Thing (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus (JP: 'Well clearly I don't know whether they are going to be the next big thing, and frankly I don't care a great deal, but I think they're wonderful....the fact that they come from Liverpool is entirely coincidental.')
- 22 May 1990: Next Big Thing (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus (JP: 'I'm not entirely sure that hasn't become my favourite track of the year so far.')
- 23 May 1990: Hypo Man (LP - Springtime) Probe Plus
- 24 May 1990: Morning Till Midnight (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus (JP: 'Levellers 5 were praised on Kaleidoscope on Radio 4 this afternoon, which is a bit of a breakthrough.')
- 26 May 1990 (BFBS): Hypo Man (LP - Springtime) Probe Plus
- 29 May 1990: Next Big Thing (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus
- 30 May 1990: Walking On Fire (LP - Springtime) Probe Plus
- 31 May 1990: Be Happy (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus (also appears on a recording of the 15 June 1987 show)
- 02 June 1990 (BFBS): Walking On Fire (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus
- 09 June 1990 (BFBS) (Peel 147 (BFBS)): Hypo Man (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus
- 09 June 1990 (BFBS): Next Big Thing (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus
- 09 June 1990 (BFBS): Springtime (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus
- 11 June 1990: Morning Till Midnight (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus
- 16 June 1990 (BFBS) (Peel 149 (BFBS)): Heaven (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus
- 20 June 1990: Next Big Thing (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus
- 23 June 1990 (BFBS): Hypo Man (LP - Springtime) Probe Plus
- 06 July 1990 (BFBS): Heaven (LP - Springtime) Probe Plus
- 17 September 1990: 'Big Friday (7")' (Probe Plus)
- 26 September 1990: Big Friday (7") Probe Plus
- 30 September 1990: Big Friday (12") Probe Plus
- 06 October 1990 (BFBS) (Peel 159 (BFBS)): 'Big Friday (7")' (Probe Plus)
- 28 October 1990: Big Friday (7")' (Probe Plus)
- 30 November 1990 (BFBS): Walking On Fire (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus
- 1991
- 26 January 1991: Eleanor Rigby (Compilation LP-Through The Looking Glass: 1966) Imaginary
- 08 February 1991 (BFBS): Big Friday (single) Probe Plus
- 10 February 1991: What's The Matter? (LP-Clatter) Probe Plus PROBE 29
- 17 February 1991: Sticks (LP-Clatter) Probe Plus
- 23 February 1991 (BFBS) (Peel 171 (BFBS)): What's The Matter? (LP-Clatter) Probe Plus
- 23 February 1991 (BFBS) (Peel 172 (BFBS)): Don't Matter At All (LP-Clatter) Probe Plus
- 24 February 1991: Love Thing Ha! (LP-Clatter) Probe Plus
- 02 March 1991 (BFBS) (Peel 173 (BFBS)): 'Warning Shadows (LP-Clatter)' (Probe Plus) (JP: 'Repetitive, you might argue, but repetitive is one of the things that I like, of course. Hey Jude was repetitive.')
- 09 March 1991: What's The Matter? (LP-Clatter) Probe Plus
- 16 March 1991: Warning Shadows (LP-Clatter) Probe Plus
- 16 March 1991 (BFBS) (Peel 176 (BFBS)): 'Love Thing Ha! (LP-Clatter)' (Probe Plus)
- 22 March 1991 (BFBS): Don't Matter At All (LP-Clatter) Probe Plus
- 31 March 1991: What's The Matter? (LP-Clatter) Probe Plus
- 26 May 1991: Warning Shadows (LP-Clatter) Probe Plus
- 13 July 1991: Eleanor Rigby (Compilation CD-Through The Looking Glass: 1966) Imaginary
- 12 August 1991 (Radio Bremen): Mister Tell Me (12"-The Peel Sessions) Strange Fruit
- 2000
- 12 September 2000: Next Big Thing (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus
- 14 September 2000 (Radio Eins): Next Big Thing (LP-Springtime) Probe Plus