John Peel's Top Gear, September 1975 (final show)

Peelie presents the final "Top Gear" show, before moving to the night time show the following week. There's session tracks from the various acts to have graced the show over the eight years it's been on the air, and plenty of Peel memories, reminiscences and regrets. (Fortunately, Peel turned out to be wrong about the Bonzos and Pink Floyd sessions being lost, as they're now very much out there.)

Weighing in at about 54½ minutes, this is a longer version than the MP3 that's been doing the rounds, and I think, slightly better quality. It's a new encode, from a tape supplied by Colin Ellis, that I put together last week. Colin's C90 had about 45 minutes of the show, and I've spliced in the 9 minutes or so from the previous MP3 that were not on the tape. You'll notice the join a couple of times, where the sound quality goes from tinny (tape) to muddy (the old MP3) and back again.

In this version, you get to find out what the first record ever played on Top Gear was, as Peel reprises it at the end of the show. You'll have heard him announce that on the previous version, but you never got to find it out as the recording ran out too soon. Oh, and I've no idea whether that intro was just something left on the tape or what, but I've left it on as I quite like it!

There should be more to come on the Karavan this weekend, including a repost of the '83 Festive 50 (by request).

Play/Download (50Mb, 128K MP3, 54:35)

Tracklisting

• [WTF?]
• Peel Intro
• Led Zeppelin - Communication Breakdown
• Tyrannosaurus Rex - Ride a White Swan
• Joe Cocker - Delta Lady
• Peel recalls the history of Top Gear and looks forward to his new nighttime show
• Pink Floyd - Daybreak
• Randy Newman - Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear
• Peel bemoans the BBC's wiping policy and has a rant about Gardeners' Question Time (!)
  
• Bonzo Dog Band - Monster Mash
• Fairport Convention - Percy's Song
• Jethro Tull - Bouree
• Maggie Bell/Stone the Crows - Hollis Brown
• Led Zeppelin - Traveling Riverside Blues '69
• Technical problems
  
• Brief Snippet of Tyrannosaurus Rex
• Bonzo Dog Band - Tent
• Bob Marley & the Wailers - Concrete Jungle
• Fairport Convention - Si Tu Dois Partir (AKA "If You Gotta Go, Go Now")
• Peel thanks everyone and divulges the first record ever played on Top Gear.
• [That first record, which I won't spoil]
• Peel signoff
• Keith Emerson and the Nice - Top Gear Theme
• Pips