''Ukrainian John Peel Sessions'' ( uk, Українські Виступи в Івана Піла, translit=Ukrainski vistupi v Ivana Pila) is a compilation album by

The Wedding Present The Wedding Present are an English indie rock group originally formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, from the ashes of The Lost Pandas. The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, ...

, originally gathering their first three

Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state langu ...

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

radio sessions. It was scheduled to be released in late 1988 by their own

record company A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

Reception Records The Wedding Present are an English indie rock group originally formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, from the ashes of The Lost Pandas. The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, ...

, but was ultimately released in February 1989 by their new

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

About the album

Origins

The Wedding Present guitarist Peter Solowka, whose father is

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

, used to play a Ukrainian

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

tune called "

Hopak Hopak ( uk, гопа́к, ) is a Ukrainian folk dance originating as a male dance among the Zaporozhian Cossacks, but later danced by couples, male soloists, and mixed groups of dancers. It is performed most often as a solitary concert dance by a ...

" to entertain his friends. When he did so during a radio session the band was recording for the

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

John Peel show, they decided to record the song for the session. The song was received well and, fired by Solowka's enthusiasm, the band decided to dedicate another Peel session to Ukrainian folk songs. Because none of them could sing Ukrainian to any acceptable degree, they decided to invite fellow

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

musician "The Legendary" Len Liggins of The Sinister Cleaners, who had read

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

at University, to sing and play various instruments. The resulting Peel session's broadcast provoked a reaction of Hang the Dance! member Roman Remeynes, himself fluent in Ukrainian, who jokingly accused the band of bastardising the music. This led to him being invited to join as well for a second Ukrainian-themed Peel session. By this time, original Wedding Present drummer Shaun Charman had been replaced with Simon Smith, coincidentally an ex-Sinister Cleaner himself.

Aborted Reception Records release

The band intended to release a compilation of the first and second Peel sessions as ''Українські Виступи в Івана Піла'' on their independent record label Reception Records, whose distribution was handled by

Red Rhino Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

, a

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

-based division of the independent UK distribution network, The Cartel. Red Rhino issued a radio promo of "Davni Chasy" and pressed a batch of the LP for release in late 1988, but went into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

before it could actually release the album. Prompted by the demise of their backers, The Wedding Present decided to fold their own record label and sign with a regular

. Of the original pressing (catalogue number REC010), a small number of copies managed to leave the warehouse; these are nowadays sought after.

RCA release

The company The Wedding Present signed with was RCA, which immediately bought up the Red Rhino batch of the album and pressed a new batch themselves. ''Українські Виступи в Івана Піла'' was released in February 1989, backed with a new pressing of the "Davni Chasy" promo. RCA pleaded with the band to have a regular release of the song, better known as " Those Were the Days My Friend", which they were sure would provide them with a Top Ten hit. The band, however, refused. ''Українські Виступи в Івана Піла'' reached #22 in the UK albums charts. After the album's release, the band went on a short British tour that was well received. Bolstered by the success, they recorded a third Ukrainian Peel session. After that, the Ukrainian phase in The Wedding Present's career was over, but Liggins, Remeynes and Solowka decided to continue playing together as

The Ukrainians The Ukrainians are a British band, which plays traditional Ukrainian music, heavily influenced by western post-punk. Career The Ukrainians were formed in 1990 by Wedding Present guitarist Peter Solowka, with singer/violinist Len Liggins an ...

. Their 1991 eponymous debut album features contributions by all Wedding Present band members.

Re-release

In 2000, independent record label Fresh Ear Records re-released ''Українські Виступи в Івана Піла'', changing its Latin-alphabet subtitle to ''Ukrainian John Peel Sessions''. The re-release also includes the third Peel session and "Hopak", the song with which it all began, and so compiles all Ukrainian-themed songs recorded by The Wedding Present.

Peter Solowka Peter Solowka or Solovka ( uk, Петро Соловка, , born late 1959 in Oldham) is a musician of Ukrainians, Ukrainian and Yugoslavian descent. He has been involved in music since 1985, most notably as guitarist with The Wedding Present from ...

went on to play these and other songs in his new group,

Track listing

All tracks

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestra ...

by David Gedge, except as noted.

Original release

Side A

#"Давні Часи / Davni Chasy" ( "Those Were the Days") – 2:56 #" Їхав Козак за Дунай / Yikhav Kozak za Dunai" – 2:23 #"Тютюнник / Tiutiunyk" – 1:20 #"Задумав Дідочок / Zadumav Didochok" – 2:06 #"Світить Місяць / Svitit Misyats" – 2:29

Side B

# Катруся / Katrusya – 2:32 # Вася – Васильок / Vasya Vasyl'ok 2:49 # Гуде Дніпро Гуде / Hude Dnipro Hude – 2:23 (Mikhailo Kuziw) # Верховино / Verkhovyno – 7:17

Re-release

# Давні Часи / Davni Chasy – 2:56 # Через Річку Через Гай / Cherez Richku Cherez Hai – 3:17 (Liggins, Remeynes, Solowka) # Світить Місяць / Svitit Misyats – 2:29 # Тютюнник / Tiutiunyk – 1:20 # Задумав Дідочок / Zadumav Didochok – 2:06 # Їхав Козак за Дунай / Yikhav Kozak za Dunai – 2:23 # Гуде Дніпро Гуде / Hude Dnipro Hude – 2:23 (Mikhailo Kuziw) # Катруся / Katrusya – 2:32 # Вася – Васильок / Vasya Vasyl'ok 2:49 # Серцем і Душею / Sertsem i Dusheyu – 1:56 (Liggins, Remeynes, Solowka) # Завтра / Zavtra – 3:21 (Liggins, Remeynes, Solowka) # Гопак / Hopak – 1:27 # Верховино / Verkhovyno – 7:17

Personnel

;The Wedding Present *

–

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

;

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

on "Hopak" *

David Gedge David Lewis Gedge (born 23 April 1960, in Bramley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England) is an English musician and songwriter. Early life Gedge grew up in Middleton, Greater Manchester, in the area known as Top of Hebers. He attended Hollin High S ...

–

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, backing vocals * Keith Gregory –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Shaun Charman –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(3-4, 6-8, 12) * Simon Smith – drums (1-2, 5, 9-11, 13) ;Additional musicians *

Len Liggins Len or LEN may refer to: People and fictional characters * Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lén, a character from Irish mythology * Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player * Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ * L ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

balalaika The balalaika (russian: link=no, балала́йка, ) is a Russian stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck and three strings. Two strings are usually tuned to the same note and the thir ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

(1-11, 13) * Roman Remeynes – vocals, mandolin (1-2, 5, 9-11, 13) ;Technical staff *

Dale Griffin Terence Dale "Buffin" Griffin (24 October 1948 – 17 January 2016) was an English drummer and a founding member of 1970s rock band Mott the Hoople. Later, he worked as a producer, and produced many of the BBC Radio 1 John Peel sessions from 19 ...

–

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

* Mike Engels –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

(12) * Miti Adhikari – engineer (12) *

Mike Robinson Michael or Mike Robinson may refer to: Arts and humanities * Michael Robinson (Canadian artist) (1948–2010), poet and printmaker * Michael F. Robinson (born 1933), English composer and musicologist * Michael Massey Robinson (1744–1826), poet ...

– engineer (1-11, 13) * Fred Kay – engineer (3-4, 6-8)

Sources

* Peter Solowka, liner notes to the original release and updated version for the Fresh Ear re-release * Mark Hodkinson, ''Thank Yer, Very Glad'', 1990 ()

External links

Scopitones, home of The Wedding Present

The Ukrainians
{{Authority control The Wedding Present albums Peel Sessions recordings 1989 live albums 1989 compilation albums RCA Records compilation albums RCA Records live albums