OINK COMIC - ISSUE 1

Oink hit the shelves in 1986, and although the comic was aimed at youngsters, the rebellious humour of it's content soon had it become a favourite read of student types and the like. It's not surprising Oink grabbed the attention of an older crowd because it was put together by a team of UK's top comedy writers.

Some of those who contributed material were my colleagues from Private Eye, cartoonists - Banx, Clive Collins (Phil Collins brother), Tony Husband and Haldane.

Another contributor was well known BBC DJ and ex member of The Fall, Marc Riley.

TV satirist, Charlie Brooker also had a stint on the comic.

I'll refrain from mentioning them all, but one final Oink associate, Kev F Sutherland, later went on to work for the Beano.

As you can see above, the first issue of the comic had a free flexi-disc - 2 tracks, "The Oink Song" by The Oinklettes and "Oink Rap" by Uncle Pigg.

I remember John Peel was a fan of Oink and used to discuss it on his radio show. Issue 1 actually has a colour poster of "Bacon Stevens" accompanied by an interview by John Potatopeel!

Another amusing music item inside is a sexy sketch of blond bombshell, Hamantha Fox!

Unfortunately, there are no references to Dundee band, Pigs Are Cute..!!

EUROVISION - PEELY & HUTCHIE FAE DUNDEE

Another John Peel memory with a wee Dundee link I can recall, comes from the late 80's.
Peely was involved in covering the Eurovision Song Contest for radio which this particular year was the turn of Switzerland or Sweden to host.
During the programme he interviewed a guy called David Hutchison, who, although I can't remember his exact role, was one of the main organisers of the event. As the interview went on, I suddenly had the feeling that I recognised the voice, and thought it sounded like "Hutchie", a guy who used to live around the corner from me in Craigie, and who was in my class at Balerno as well as Craigie High. I remembered my mum knew his mum, so I asked her, the next time she saw Hutchie's mum, see if she could confirm it was David on the radio. It turns out it was him and he had been involved behind the scenes in the Eurovision contest for quite a while. His mum also revealed the extra info that David got paid £24 a minute for the Peel interview. A nice little earner!!
If you happen to read this, David, feel free to drop some details into the comments.

JOHN PEEL AT FAT SAMS - 1984

One of the best nights ever at Fattie's was the time John Peel paid a visit back in 1984.

There was a great buzz in the town pubs before the event, then the club itself was absolutely crammed with the clubbers fully stoked, and everybody just seemed to be in a dancing mood.

Peely's selection on the night was as diverse as the music he played on his radio show - from fresh indie to raw punk, new wave to old soul, 80's hip hop next to 60's garage, loads of reggae and African tunes, and even Status Quo got a spin!!

The friend I was with decided to go over to him to see if she could get his autograph. She came back beaming and showed me the bit of paper he had written on - it said "John Peel - the world's most boring man".

A short while later I went over and asked Peely if he could play any Ini Kamoze (this was a new reggae singer that had burst onto the music scene), he just smiled and nodded.

And yes he did play "Teenage Kicks", in fact I think that was his final record of the evening. Even back then it was a song that became his signature tune.

On his radio show a couple of days later, Fat Sam's got a mention and he said it was one of the best nights out in Scotland he's had!!

THE ASSOCIATES ON JOHN PEEL - 1982

Below is a recording taken direct from the John Peel show which was broadcast in October 1982. This is a "session" track The Associates did, it being 1 of 4 tracks played on the night.
I've always liked Billy's inventive and amusing vocals on this one, as it swerves off in unexpected tangents.
Title of the song - "A Severe Bout of Career Insecurity".
There are 2 Dundee bands mentioned here - Peely at the end of the track says that Billy was in the middle of recording an "LP" with Orbidoig. Anybody any idea if this project was completed? If it was, it must still be tucked away in the vaults of some record company, awaiting to be discovered!!