In early October 1984, Peel chose all the bands for an ICA Rock Week[1] event at the Institute Of Contemporary Arts in central London, with all the performances recorded for broadcast on his or Janice Long's programmes. The advance publicity for the event proclaimed, "John Peel is putting the fun back into being pretentious" - this echoing a line from the 1984 Festive Fifty track, 'Bias Binding' by Yeah Yeah Noh, one of Peel's favourite new bands, who played the opening show. ("Gonna put the fun back into being pretentious/ Yeah Yeah Noh, so full of ourselves...")
One of the more notorious sets during the week was SPK's, which ended in a riot (see NME report). Peel had apparently already left when the trouble started.
Lineup[]
(from 20 September 1984 show)
- Oct 2: Yip Yip Coyote, Yeah Yeah Noh, Pink Peg Slax
- Oct 3: Perfect Vision, (presumably Chinese Gangster Element, see below), Hard Corps
- Oct 4: Shoot! Dispute, Big Flame, SPK
- Oct 5: Terry And Gerry, Woodentops, Nightingales (Peel unable to attend as had been booked for gig in Middlesborough [2])
- Oct 6: Men They Couldn't Hang, Very Things, Helen & The Horns
- Oct 7: Ellery Bop, Ut, Marc Riley & The Creepers
Peel show broadcasts[]
(Dates from Garner p. 227)
- 02 October 1984: Yip Yip Coyote (live broadcast)
- 19 November 1984: Big Flame, SPK, Terry And Gerry (see John Peel Terry & Gerry 1984)
- 26 November 1984: Chinese Gangster Element, Hard Corps, Shoot! Dispute, Perfect Vision
- 03 December 1984: Pink Peg Slax, Marc Riley & The Creepers, Woodentops
- 10 December 1984: Yeah Yeah Noh, The Very Things, Helen & The Horns, Ellery Bop
- 17 December 1984: Men They Couldn't Hang, Ut, Nightingales
Releases[]
- On Helen And The Horns LP, 1985 (Rockin' Ray Records RRR 1)