"I Prefer The Session Version..." (Part 3)
The 'Session vs Official' League
After part one and part two, we find ourselves halfway through The Fall's record-breaking set of 24 Peel sessions. There have been one or two minor hiccups with the scoring, but at this point things stand at:
PEEL 21 - 25 OFFICIAL
We resume with session #13, which saw Brix gone and Martin Bramah (briefly) returned...
Chicago, Now!
Peel 1/1/90 vs Extricate
There's not a huge amount to choose between the two versions of this darkly atmospheric track. The Art of Noise-style synth stabs on the Peel recording detract just a little from its sinister menace, so the vote narrowly goes to Extricate.
PEEL 21 - 26 OFFICIAL
Black Monk Theme Part 1
Peel 1/1/90 vs Extricate
The stand-out track from the session. There's nothing wrong with the album take, but - despite the fact that the keyboards suffer the same 'recorded next door' fate as the backing vocals on the Peel 'Eat Y'self Fitter') - the Peel recording is a cracker. Wolstencroft adds an infectious glam-rock rumble to the track that's especially appealing, and Kenny Brady is on top form too.
PEEL 22 - 26 OFFICIAL
Hilary
Peel 1/1/90 vs Extricate
Another where there's not much to choose, but the Peel recording has a bit more pep and vigour in comparison to the album version.
PEEL 23 - 26 OFFICIAL
Whizz Bang / Butterflies 4 Brains
Peel 1/1/90 vs Popcorn Double Feature single
'Whizz Bang' was the only Peel recording - other than 'Job Search', session #24 - not to be broadcast as part of the original session. This was because MES failed to sneak a profanity (‘shiny c*nt’, at 1:23) past the BBC. The reworked 'Butterflies' has a woozy, psychedelic charm, but 'Whizz Bang' is more assertive, more varied in tempo and features a lovely touch of banjo plus a prominent violin part from Brady that gives a bit of extra edge to the track. Both are worth owning, but the points go to Peel again.
PEEL 24 - 26 OFFICIAL
The War Against Intelligence
Peel 23/3/91 vs Shift-Work
Following Bramah and Schofield’s dismissal in the summer of 1990, session #14 saw The Fall as a slimmed-down four-piece, augmented once again by Kenny Brady’s violin. This is another close call, but the rather intrusive backing vocals on the Peel recording give a slight edge to the album version.
PEEL 24 - 27 OFFICIAL
Idiot Joy Showland
Peel 23/3/91 vs Shift-Work
Smith's withering put-down of the Madchester scene ('shapeless kecks flapping up a storm') is pretty much equally well served by the Peel and album versions. However, there's an abrasive edge to the Peel recording that suits the tone of the song well.
PEEL 25 - 27 OFFICIAL
A Lot Of Wind
Peel 23/3/91 vs Shift-Work
Smith's musings about the inanity of daytime TV do not, I must confess, make for one of my favourite Fall moments. Whilst the album version is rather plodding and obvious, it is still preferable to the Peel recording, which, despite Kenny Brady and Steve Hanley's best efforts, is distinctly overstretched at five and a half minutes.
PEEL 25 - 28 OFFICIAL
The Mixer
Peel 23/3/91 vs Shift-Work
Whilst the other session #14 tracks were largely very similar to their album counterparts, the two versions of 'The Mixer' were notably different; that difference was down to the presence of Dave Bush. Whilst he wouldn't be promoted to full membership of the group until four months after the album was recorded, his footprint was all over Shift-Work. These two versions of this track capture the nature of his influence perfectly. Whether you prefer the abrasive megaphone-vocal Peel version or the more laid-back trance-rave album track is very much a matter of personal taste. A friend of mine maintains that the Shift-Work version was the last 'quality' song that The Fall ever produced (I know...); for me, a decent enough tune is swamped by the cheap and tinny drum machine, cheesy handclaps and castanets.
PEEL 26 - 28 OFFICIAL
Free Range
Peel 15/2/92 vs Code: Selfish
Session #15 saw the beginning of an unprecedented run where the same line-up (MES / Scanlon / S. Hanley / Bush / Wolstencroft) recorded three sessions in a row. 'Free Range' was the group's best single of the 90s; it reached number 40 in the UK charts, the highest-placing of any Fall original. The Peel recording has a ragged vitality, but it doesn't quite match the taut ferocity of the album/single version.
PEEL 26 - 29 OFFICIAL
Kimble
Peel 15/2/92
A (loose) cover of a Trojan reggae tune by Lee Perry, released in 1968 under the name The Creators. It features a snippet of ‘Sinister Waltz’, plus what sounds like someone clearing away last night’s wine glasses, before ambling into four minutes of entertaining if aimless reggae. The group didn't record it again, although they did play it at their two May 1997 gigs at Manchester's Jilly's Rockworld.
Immortality
Peel 15/2/92 vs Code: Selfish
A passable if slightly dreary trudge that MES seems to have tired of pretty quickly - during the first of its three live performances (captured on the live album Nottingham '92) he remarks, ‘I’m already fed up with this, it sounds like Italian disco, let’s wrap it up’. The Peel version has a little more gusto than its Code: Selfish equivalent, but neither are especially inspiring.
PEEL 27 - 29 OFFICIAL
Return
Peel 15/2/92 vs Code: Selfish
Like 'Immortality', a not unpleasant but rather unedifying track. The grinding riff is a little monotonous and it has a rather casually tossed-off feel. Smith sounds a bit more engaged on the Peel recording, which thankfully lacks the over-fussy percussion of the album version.
PEEL 28 - 29 OFFICIAL
Ladybird (Green Grass)
Peel 13/3/93 vs The Infotainment Scan
Infotainment Scan's first track - which deals with that familiar rock 'n' roll topic, the Thirty Years War - is a punchy opener. The 'scuffed-up' Peel version just about wins out, but it's another close-run thing.
PEEL 29 - 29 OFFICIAL
Strychnine
Peel 13/3/93
A cover of a 1965 track by The Sonics. An engagingly no-nonsense garage-punk rocker, the group would never record it again, although they played it live well over a hundred times.
Service
Peel 13/3/93 vs The Infotainment Scan
A rather listless and soporific track. Perhaps the most interesting thing about it is that it's one of the five Fall songs that make reference to wolverines. The Peel recording is even more sluggish than the album version.
PEEL 29 - 30 OFFICIAL
Paranoia Man In Cheap Sh*t Room
Peel 13/3/93 vs The Infotainment Scan
This urgent, oppressive depiction of the male mid-life crisis is one of those 90s moments where the group found that perfect balance between Dave Bush's electronica and traditional indie-rock approaches. It's one of several Fall songs inspired by The Twilight Zone (in this case Nervous Man in a 4 Dollar Room) and also one of the three tracks on Infotainment that reference spangles.
Yet another where it's a close call, but as excellent as the album version is, there's both an intensity to Smith's delivery and a more unhinged tone to the electronics that gives the Peel recording the point.
PEEL 30 -30 OFFICIAL
M5 / M5#1
Peel 12/1/94 vs Middle Class Revolt
One of Smith's occasional diatribes about rural life, the Peel version is distinctly sharper and more focused than its album counterpart.
PEEL 31 -30 OFFICIAL
Behind The Counter
Peel 12/1/94 vs Middle Class Revolt
There are quite a few versions of this song available (all of which are very good), but I'm sticking to my rule of using the first appearance on a studio album as the 'official' version. This is another close call: the Peel recording is a nicely slurred take, but the MCR version has a bit of sharpness about it that just about wins the day.
PEEL 31 -31 OFFICIAL
(The) Reckoning
Peel 12/1/94 vs Middle Class Revolt
Not such a close call this time: the Peel recording is distinctly flat and listless in comparison to the album version.
PEEL 31 -32 OFFICIAL
Hey! Student
Peel 12/1/94 vs Middle Class Revolt
There's a pleasingly rickety energy about both the album and Peel versions. The latter wins out due to the more abandoned guitar work and the startling ‘masturbating with your Shaun Ryder face’ line.
PEEL 32 -32 OFFICIAL
Glam Racket (Star)
Peel 17/12/94 vs The Infotainment Scan
Craig Scanlon's 16th and final Peel session appearance began with a lively romp through an album track from the previous year. Both are essential, but the Peel version wins out because of Brix's added 'Star' section:
‘You say that you're a star but I don't give a f*ck
I watch your head expanding as you're running out of luck.’
Although she - understandably - ducks out of the swear word (as I've just done), she delivered it with some vehemence on several live performances.
PEEL 33 -32 OFFICIAL
Jingle Bell Rock / Hark The Herald Angels Sing
Peel 17/12/94
The group elected to take a festive approach on session #18, with less than happy results. 'Jingle Bell Rock' (a 1957 hit for Bobby Helms) is a bit of a shambles; Steve Hanley's account of its recording is more entertaining than the song itself:
‘It's my job to go into town and hunt down a copy of the original vinyl for us to work from, but I can only find a Chet Atkins version. When it's played in the studio, we realise I've gone and bought an instrumental. There's no lyrics at all except for the chorus, which is why Mark ends up singing that three times in a row. Somehow he manages to lace it with different nuances of meaning every time, until the last ten seconds when he can take no more and is forced into improvising lyrics about Brussels sprouts and green carrier bags on Oxford Street.’
‘Hark The Herald Angels Sing’ starts off promisingly enough, with a laid-back REM/Teenage Fanclub strum and Smith’s entertainingly terse delivery. However, the chorus (sung by Lucy Rimmer in deliberately over the top operatic style), although hilarious the first time you hear it, is enough to set anyone’s teeth on edge. Neither was ever recorded again, so they don't trouble the score.
Feeling Numb / Numb At The Lodge
Peel 17/12/94 vs Cerebral Caustic
This solid, uncomplicated rocker from Cerebral Caustic is better served by the Peel version, which is brighter and more energetic.
PEEL 34 -32 OFFICIAL
So, three-quarters of the way through, the Peel sessions have taken a two-point lead. Here's the graph...
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