Minny Pops – in session for John Peel – November 12, 1980 – BBC Radio 1 –
Dutch Post-Punk/Art-Punk/New Wave band Minny Pops in session for John Peel tonight. Broadcast on November 12, 1980, Minny Pops were the first Dutch band to do a Peel session and this is the first, and only session the band did for Peel.
With two studio albums to their credit, Minny Pops tenure didn’t last all that long (7 years, which is an eternity to some), but they did become associated with the Ultra-Post-Punk movement in The Netherlands and generally had a good following in Britain and the Continent.
They were opening band for Joy Division during their European tour in January 1980, which brought them to the attention of Factory Records and a label deal. Strongly reminiscent of The Normal (who gave the world Warm Leatherette and TV o.d.), they were primarily electronic and also toured with Scritti Politti, Au Pairs and Comstat Angels. They did a brief seven city tour of the U.S. – and generally got positive reviews, even though America was having a hard time digesting Punk before it had to dive into Post-Punk, they went over well.
By the end of 1981, the band stopped touring, doing their final live performance in December of 1981, but they still continued to record. Their follow up album, Sparks In A Dark Room was released in May of 1982. It was not a commercial success, and it got tepid reviews at first. But over the years it’s been revisited and has lately been considered a lost classic.
Although they toured the U.S. once, and got very little airplay here, aside from underground/college FM, they are most likely a band you’re not familiar with. With a blend of cold detachment and clinical sound they may not have registered high on many playlists. But it’s important to note that Minny Pops have gone on to achieve cult status, being cited by several as the ground floor to Industrial Dance Music and Dark Wave.
Have a listen.
