John Peel's ABC of British Underground Bands (1968) 

The sheer number of great British bands in that time frame is astounding.

For me John Peel is one of the greatest contributors to music without being a performing musician.

So pleased that FAMILY (1967-1973) were mentioned here. John Peel loved and championed the criminally underrated Family. They were regulars on his BBC radio show Top Gear. It's a pity that, unlike other British groups of this era, they never "ended up in the grip of the Americans". I saw them several times between 1968 and 1970 and those early Family gigs were unforgettable. Great memories.

Led Zeppelin - 'could be very good indeed'...

Peel was the best promoter of progressive music ever! He really hit full stride in the late 70's/80's when groups were far more sophisticated, sounds more diverse and music and lyrics really dug into a whole spectrum of social issues, especially in Britain. John Peel was a godsend for picking and choosing the era's most credible, heavy hitting messengers.

A 00:56 The Action 1:04 The Alan Bown 1:10 Al Stewart 1:15 Andromeda 1:21 The Crazy world of Arthur Brown 1:26 Aynsley Dunbar B 1:32 Bakerloo line 1:38 Barclay James harvest 1:43 The Beatles 1:47 Bee Gees 1:54 Blonde on blonde 1:58 Blossom toes 2:07 Bonzo dog doo-dah band 2:16 Brian Auger trinity & Julie Driscoll 2:22 Bridget St. John C 2:29 Caravan 2:38 Cat Stevens 2:43 Chicken shack 2:47 Cream D 2:53 Deep Purple 2:58 Deviants 3:08 Donovan 3:19 Duncan Browne 3:26 Duster Bennet E 3:30 East of Eden 3:37 Eclection 3:44 Elmer Gantry's velvet opera 3:50 Eric Burdon & the Animals 3:57 Eyes of blue F 4:02 Fairport convention 4:09 Family 4:16 Fleetwood Mac 4:25 Free G 4:30 Giles, Giles & Fripp 4:35 Gillbert O'Sullivan 4:42 The Gods 4:54 Gordon Smith 5:04 Gun H 5:11 Harsh reality 5:15 The Hollies 5:20 Honeybus I 5:22 Idle race 5:29 Incredible string band J 5:34 Jackie Lomax 5:38 Jeff Beck group 5:44 Jethro tull 5:59 Jimi Hendrix experience 6:05 John Mayall's bluesbreakers 6:13 John Dummer blues band 6:22 John Martyn 6:29 The Johnstons 6:34 John Hiseman's colloseum 6:37 July K 6:41 Kinks L 6:47 Led Zeppelin 6:56 Lesley Duncan 6:59 Liverpool scene 7:07 Love sculpture M 7:14 Manfred Mann 7:19 Moody blues N 7:25 The Nice 7:33 Nirvana P 7:39 Pentangle 7:46 Pink Floyd 7:58 The Pretty things 8:08 Procol Harum 8:14 Pete Brown's battered ornaments R 8:20 Ralph McTell 8:24 The Rolling Stones 8:32 Roy Harper S 8:42 Sallyangie 8:52 Savoy Brown 8:57 The Scaffold 9:07 Skip Bifferty 9:15 Small faces 9:23 Soft machine 9:29 Spooky tooth 9:36 Strawbs T 9:42 Taste 9:50 Ten years after 9:56 Third ear band 10:03 Tim Hollier 10:08 Traffic 10:13 Tyrannosaurus Rex V 10:20 Van der Graaf generator W 10:33 The Who 10:40 The writing on the wall Y 10:48 Yes Z 10:53 The Zombies 11:12 Some other bands John mentioned, but i couldn't hear them all properly.

Peel never changed in his quest for new music to listen to. His tastes changed, but he didn’t. And he was still to discover his favorite band - The Fall

When I was 14 yrs old (1977) John Peel introduced me to a world of music most people didn't know about or care about. He cared about it though and that came over the airwaves and into my impressionable young mind. I met a woman ten years my senior and she had also been enlightened by Peel when she was around 14 (1967/8)..My mind is still in that state of openness ready to discover new things. In part this is due to the influence of John Peel.

John Peel is one of my heroes in the realm of music. His shows brought new music & constant joy, whether from Pirate Radio or the BBC.

I seen some of these bands in old London Town in 1968-69, glad to hear a mention of great Bands like east of Eden and Caravan as they often played in the Lyceum in London, a place that was basically an Acid House back in those days.

It must have been so cool to get a shout out from John Peel!

My hero among DJs despite never having heard a show of his until many, many years after the fact in recordings found across the pond here in America.

Holy Holy! This is just a new wad of bands to look into. It just never ends. The amount of artists making great music in the late 60's never ceases to amaze me!

"The Stones are still full of good things and will continue to surprise you for years" - how prophetic!

We here in southern California (San Bernardino to be exact) were familiar with John Peel in his John Ravenscroft the DJ persona on AM radio. He showcased some damn good tunes and bands we hadn't heard before.

Peel's single fault was the urge to be a bit kind to everyone, but that slight blemish aside, he was huge and important. What a lot of British talent on tap in '68...

"Sallyangie", 20 year old Sally Oldfield and her younger brother Michael... :-) Play their 'Children of the Sun'. The crazy Mike, still a kid, even then had a Tubullar Bell moment in the background.

Quite a list! Quite a year! Many of them spawned so much great music in the next few years ... if not the next few decades.

So fun to revisit this era. 1968 an iconic year for music - believe there is a book entitled 1968 endorsing it as such! Loved the archival photos! Thank you!

So so many Kevin Ayres, Soft machine, Gentle Giant and all the regulars like Stray and Plato great times I was 18 in 1970 and beginning to think that it probably is better to burn out than fade away ( in the process of fading away as we speak) ✌

Peel was quite accurate in his critical analysis of the present and future.

I've just come across your channel and subscribed. What a brilliant idea and format you have ... I'm fascinated by old music magazines. You get a different perspective on music when you read the contemporary musings of journalists. Sometimes they get it right; sometimes they get it wrong; sometimes they get it right but we still haven't come round to their way of thinking. In this list of the British Underground Bands of 1968, John Peel does all of this.

John Peel!!! Defined the era!! Loved his contribution to our music back then!! Killer job

I read this article when it was first printed. shaped my taste in many important ways....

The dude had GREAT taste in music. And even before a band had a record out he booked them and they killed it in the BBC 1 session (talking primarily about punk bands here)

I found it interesting that J Peel had not heard Third Ear Band at this point. He certainly made up for that in 1969 as they seemed to be on Top Gear every episode.

Loved hearing a bit of the Deviants playing in the background. Mick Farren was a genius

I love John Peel's optimistic hopes for a band called Led Zeppelin! And, amazingly he foresees great things for so many bands that were soon to become absolutely huge. Britain's greatest ever DJ.

missing John's succint wisdom, even in the form of these snippets.

I love learning about these bands. So many I never heard of. Thank you!

So much good music in the 1960s, I would love to have been there

Slowly catching up to what I've missed as a late arrival, YP, and finally getting to this one. I've often said that the greatest times in music history was when there were bands on the outer edges pushing everyone else to do better. Charts full of one hit wonders is indicative of a healthy music scene. But this list! So much magic and such a varied number of styles! ♥

This video, and the content! Oh, My, Gawd. I was just thinking of how to get my father to start liking RU-vid. Now I have one more card up my sleeve!

the most important person in music history. John Peel was The King, not some bloke from Memphis.

Spot on about Fairport Convention "Undoubtedly one of the best groups anywhere. There are very few groups I would rather go and hear" and (Peter Green's) Fleetwood Mac "Also getting better all the time...few more entertaining groups on stage" and Free "All very young and very good. They should have recorded by now though. Some crazy, long forgotten names on that list as well

Another interesting band, that had sadly split up by 1968 was called John's Children, based in Leatherhead in Surrey. Their main claims to fame were that their guitarist for 6 months was a certain Marc Bolan, the BBC banned their single Desdemona for supposedly obscene lyrics and they were thrown off a tour of Germany for out-Whoing The Who. One final piece of trivia is that one of their singles Midsummer Night's Scene is one of the rarest ever records released. The last copy that went up for sale many years ago sold for £6,500.

I know Peel came to champion Soft Machine and Robert Wyatt. I watched this to see what he initially said. He didn't say much, but he soon after became a huge fan.

If I was ever marooned on a desert island, a record-player, generator and fuel for it and a release from each of these artists would see me clear, even though the intervening years have seen great excellence too. Anyone who ever doubted his ability to discern great music should remember that most of these were unheard of at the time.

He spotted mike oldfield 5 years before Tubbular bells !!! . In 68, he saw the future of most of the artists who were about to be big in the 70s, floyd, zeppelin, Jeff lynne, fleetwood mac etc..

So this is you - reading an old newspaper and adding avaiiable music clips that are just under the limit for prosecution - nice one

Wow, that sent me down a few rabbit holes - 271 full albums later...................!

Top Gear was essential listening. A huge breath of fresh air.

The real Fleetwood Mac ✌

Fairport convention when they started to play "folk-rock" I discovered in the late 1970 early 1980, as well as Pentangle...

They don’t make legends like this anymore cue Teenage Kicks

Love and peace to you John

Magical and Wonderful memories, when this Beautiful World was free from lunacy.

If there was a higher power for quality music if would be John Peel. If it wasn't for him I would get into this music world AT ALL.

Where did all the great music go? .... I turn on the radio and instantly turn it off . So very lucky to see real bands . I met the stars. What a fantastic era to be alive. I jumped in a bit later than this. But I was surrounded by musicians' from a young age.

Putting all the noticeable (and not so noticeable) acts altogether here really shows how England was far out in front of all other countries combined, US included. It's hard to figure how it happened but glad it did.

I like that he called Led Zeppelin "Remnants of The Yardbirds". He got the Hollies right. "We already know what they can do. Sometimes they don't do it though". Interesting that a couple members of Eclection ended up in Fairport Convention and Sandy Denny's band Fotheringay. Also interesting how he jumps from very obscure buzz bands to The Beatles, Stones, Kinks and The Who. One of the albums I really regret selling was Giles, Giles and Fripp.

Free were brilliant, and just teenagers. They could be a household name today if not for the rock and roll toll.

I love that I’ve never heard of a lot of these groups. 👍

This is a groovy channel. Subbed!

That was pretty cool. Thanks. Cheers!

The pretty things should have been huge, great band

John Peel was a big fan of Jeff Lynne's band The Idle Race.

09:20 What was that comment about the Small Faces "support for violence" mean?

John Peel's programme was how i kept up to date with what was happening outside of London in the 1960's I would have liked to hear his country accent reading this.

Prémonitoire! La plupart de ces artistes deviendront des stars absolues!

Beatles and Bee Gees as underground bands

i wish i was writing songs when John Peel was alive and i could feel the feeling of hope, alas i am writing now and all hope is gone

The BBC had one position which obviously meant that the winner would be famous like it or not. He was expected to be fair and eclectic (part of the job). He was of course and humble (as if there were something not to like). It was fantastic luck and you knew that he definitely knew what he had and that he’d be around for a long time.

The problem with John Peel's recommendations were that he recommended so many bands that it was impossible for all of them to make it big. Many did,and many bands he recommended had musicians who went on to star in other bands or fronted their own successful ones

In 1968 John Peel is full of praise for Jethro Tull but he would soon fall out with Ian Anderson.

Did the American band from Detroit called SRC ever sell records in Britain? Their first record in particular was a masterpiece.

Peel's comments were ok but too brief to provide any real assessment. Best part of this vid were the ultra cool photos (many new to me!) and the uncredited backing music. Let's hear it for the Deviants, Accent, Skip Bifferty and Gods!!

*John PeeL* .....always trustworthy .....agreed for 90 % with this summation of which most I bought . Apart from the single "My Baby's Rich" ......pre Uriah Heep , the Gods were pretentious dross . Love Peel's advertisement of The Nice first LP ,which was included as a bonus track on a recent Nice compilation. 1968 was too early for The Edgar Broughton Band to be included , while Mick Farren's Deviants apparently were already around at the time , they didn't fulfil their promise though. Even though Mick Farren's 1977 "Vampires Stole My Lunch Money" is a buried treasure.

They've all brought him joy at some point? Would that include all the bands he admitted he'd not heard yet, I wonder, lol? Got to love him, this would be the period before he became northern.

He mentioned "Eyes of Blue", cool.

bonzo dog was the late great neil innes' first band anyone who is bashing this isnt paying attention...peel was doing twitter before twitter

About quarter of new bands in the list survived.

2:44 The blonde woman in Chicken Shack was Christine Perfect later known as Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac.

Remarkable how much of the music of a period falls away into obscurity.

Anyone know where his comment on The Small Faces and support for violence comes from???🙄 Never heard of anything like that.

Was john peel on the band of gypies puppet sleeve cover album.?

He was right about the moody blues!

A lot of the choices disappeared interestingly into obscurity

Please do a documentary on art wood . Ronnie wood s brother .

I don't think a lot of viewers would recognise Nirvana that John Peel recommends . Blossom toes was a good group.All in al a pantheon of sixties groups.

Not sure where to write this..... Band's Missing ???? Downliner's Sect = Country Sect LP. SAHB well worth looking into. Ditto: Edgar Broughton Band. Babe Ruth {First Base}.

The Alan Bown Set were a great live band 😊

Family great band

Bee gees….. underground, wow man

Idle Race and Nirvana are amazing groups.

Any idea who or what the song at 8:15 and again at 9:14 is?

Funny thinking today that when Zep started they were seen as Jimmy Page's underground band. Once Whole Lotta Love came out as a single that was all she wrote. I thinketh Jimmy and boys doth protest too much about not liking or wanting singles. Without Whole Lotta Love the incredible climb to the top may have taken another year or more.

The Who and Fairport Convention..plus their individual stuff, also love the unmentioned Steeleye Span, some great Music in that ABC....grew up listening from the 50s to present day, What a Journey so far....

Honeybus, "She flies like a bird through the sk-y-y-ay". (the Nimble ad) Can't Let Maggie Go.

that list, which may not even be half of the british bands in 1968 worth listening to, is more than any given bands from germany in the last 60 years, included the ones not worth listen to :D. just to put it in perspective if one starts to talk about the deutsches kulturvolk...

Hey can you credit the music that plays in the background while you're going through the ABC list? Some of that s**t sounds tight.

ELMER GANTRY'S VELVET OPERA >>> Great Album

Should have made the soundtrack to 2001, yes that would have been great

Jeff Beck Group “ neurotic”? Rory Gallagher “lunatic“? Any guesses as to the identity of the guitarist Peel recommend to The Nice, to replace O’List?

Great. What album is playing in the background? Someone below says it is the Deviants? Sounds great.

What song in the background?????

NIRVANA: I can't understand why they aren't more popular

Most of the groups in this list didn't become successful. Lot of funny names. Wonder what ever happened to that one called the Led Zeppelin. Peel says they could have been "very good indeed".

Love!

Peel found most young bands ''promising'' irrespective to musical merit. Zeppelin a good example, mind numbing noise!