Orange Juice were a Scottish post-punk band founded in the Glasgow suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976. Edwyn Collins formed the Nu-Sonics (named after a cheap brand of guitar) with his school-mate Alan Duncan and was subsequently joined by James Kirk and Steven Daly, who left a band called The Machetes. The band became Orange Juice in 1979. The band released their first singles during 1980 and 1981 on the independent Postcard Records label founded by Alan Horne, along with fellow Scottish bands Josef K and Aztec Camera. These included ‘Blue Boy’ and ‘Simply Thrilled Honey’. Shortly afterwards this line-up signed to Polydor Records and recorded their first album, ‘You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever’.
Peel regularly played Orange Juice’s early singles on the Postcard label, which used the slogan “The Sound Of Young Scotland”. Peel’s introduction to the band came when he was accosted outside the BBC by Postcard boss Alan Horne, who brandished a copy of their debut 45, ‘Falling and Laughing’, and told the DJ: ”All those Manchester and Liverpool bands you play. It’s all a nice bore. You need to wise up, old man. Forget all that Bunnymen and Teardrop Explodes shit. This is the future. Get wise to it now or you’re going to look really stupid.
Peel confirmed the basic story a few days later, on 21st February 1980, when he gave airtime to the record for the first time. The DJ also saw Orange Juice live, at a John Peel Roadshow event with the Fall at Manchester Polytechnic at the start of November 1980. (John Peel: “On Monday night I met a couple of people from a band called Orange Juice who brought me a copy of their single and I played it and said I would play it on Wednesday’s programme, which I failed to do, so they probably thought, “Well, we won’t listen to him again, in which case they’ll have missed hearing the record, which is in tonight’s programme and is called ‘Falling And Laughing’.”)
Nevertheless, Orange Juice subsequently came to be seen as pioneers for a generation of indie-pop outfits played on Peel’s shows.
The complete session recorded by Orange Juice on 21st October 1980 for the John Peel show on BBC Radio 1 and broadcast on the 30th of that month.
Setlist:
1. Poor Old Soul (0:07)
2. You Old Eccentric You (2:38)
3. Falling and Laughing (4:55)
4. Lovesick (8:16)
The first track recorded for the first Peel Session Orange Juice recorded (21/10/1980) was a fierce take on ‘Falling and Laughing’, which some have called the definitive version of the song. This Peel Session was left out (unfortunately) out of the ‘Glasgow School’ compilation and originally appeared as the bonus tracks from the re-issue of ‘Ostrich Churchyard’.
The Band: Edwyn Collins (Guitar, Vocals) James Kirk (Guitar, Vocals) David Mcclymont (Bass, Backing Vocals) Steven Daly (Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals)
The complete session recorded by Orange Juice on 3rd August 1981 for the John Peel show on BBC Radio 1 and broadcast on the 10th of that month. This recording is taken from the repeat on 6th October 1981.
Setlist:
1. Three Cheers From Our Side (0:43)
2. Holiday Hymn (3:51)
3. Dying Day (6:57)
4. Blokes On 45 (10:23)
On 25th March 1981, the DJ interviewed singer Edwin Collins at length during a week of BBC shows from Scotland. Peel appeared nonplussed that Collins was already looking to aim for higher production values and commercial success. In the same interview, the Orange Juice vocalist was also forthright in his criticisms of Peel’s shows, suggesting that they should include more vintage “classic” material for the musical education of listeners. In the event, the band soon signed for major label Polydor and largely dropped off Peel’s playlists. Both of their Peel sessions were recorded before the switch.
The Fat Angel Sings 