The Lurkers – in session for John Peel – January 24, 1979 – BBC Radio 1 –
The Lurkers tonight – one of the first Punk bands to appear on the scene and the very first band to be signed by the then-fledgling Beggars Banquet Records.
Formed in 1976 and playing their very first gig in December of that year, to an audience of 10, The Lurkers had no where else to go but up. And they rose rather quickly. Appearing some 4 times in session for John Peel, they were perennial favorites and it was Peel who did a lot to boost their career.
In 1977 they scored a number of hits and their debut album in 1978, Fulham Fallout reached Number 57 on the British album charts and was critically singled out as one of the best Punk albums of the year. They were also featured on a compilation album via Polydor, which featured tracks by more prominent bands, such as The Jam, and it did wonders to further their reputation with the audience.
In 1979 they released their fifth single, Just Thirteen and has been singled out by Mojo as one of the best Punk Rock singles of all time.
But things happen and their second album wasn’t well received and did poorly in sales and it proved to be a bitter discouragement to the band. So much so, that they called it quits for a few years – reforming in 1982.
Tonight’s session is their fourth and it captures the band on a high – recorded on January 24, 1979. Sadly, it would be their last session for Peel and the band would break up later on in the year.
The Lurkers were primarily popular in the UK. The U.S. was slowly catching up and was preoccupied with digesting the bigger bands like The Jam and The Clash at the time, and getting exposure to homegrown acts. The lesser known bands got lost in the shuffle, unless you were haunting the import bins and your record store was hip to what was going on. Still, if you kept your ears to the ground you could make a lot of interesting discoveries – as there was a lot to dig through every week.
It was an open-minded listeners paradise.
