The Flying Pickets are a British a cappella vocal group, whose cover of Yazoo's "Only You" was a number one hit on the UK singles chart in late 1983, retaining the top spot to achieve the coveted Christmas number one. The band of six was founded by Brian Hibbard in 1982 from a group of actors who had been active with him in John McGrath's 7:84 theatre group, a fringe theatre organisation who had sung a cappella in their production of the 1981 play One Big Blow. The group chose the name The Flying Pickets as band members had played a part in the UK miners' strikes of 1972 and 1974. (read more on wikipedia)
Links to Peel[]
Peel was attracted to the group's a cappella vocal style and perhaps looked upon them favourably for their socialist links to the UK miners strike. They were invited to record a session for his show in early 1983. Later in the same year the group released their debut single, 'Only You', which climbed the UK singles chart and ultimately reached number 1 in December 1983, staying there for five weeks. It is not known whether Peel played their hit single on his BBC Radio One shows, as many playlists from late 1983 are not complete on this site. However, Peel never played their material on his BFBS shows throughout 1983. Although he did introduce them on Top Of The Pops, he never admitted to any kind of responsibility for their success.
Sessions[]
The Flying Pickets - Peel Session 1983
1. Recorded: 1983-03-30. Broadcast: 06 April 1983. Repeated: 26 April 1983
- Get Off My Cloud / Psycho Killer / Disco Down / Factory
Other Shows Played[]
- 03 March 1983: The Girl Of My Best Friend (album - Live At The Albany Empire!) AVM AVM LP 0001
- 10 March 1983: Heard It Through The Grapevine (album - Live At The Albany Empire!) AVM AVM LP 0001
- 30 March 1983: Walk Like A Man (album - Live At The Albany Empire!) AVM AVM LP 0001
Top Of The Pops[]
- 22 December 1983 (TOTP): Only You #01
- 05 January 1984 (TOTP): Only You #01
- 10 May 1984 (TOTP): When You’re Young & In Love #07