Stiff Little Fingers, Peel Session Tape

Cassette tape release of a BBC Radio 1 Peel Session by Stiff Little Fingers, issued by Strange Fruit in 1986.

Category: Curated

File under: #Punk, #JohnPeelSessions, #BBC, #1980sAlternative, #BroadcastMedia

Description

Cassette tape documenting a Peel Session recorded by Stiff Little Fingers for BBC Radio 1 and released by the Strange Fruit label in 1986. The recording captures performances of “Barbed Wire Love” and “Suspect Device,” originally broadcast as part of the BBC’s ongoing Peel Sessions program.

Formed in Belfast in the late 1970s, Stiff Little Fingers emerged from the specific political conditions of Northern Ireland, bringing local unrest and anti-sectarian critique into the broader punk movement. Their early recordings are closely associated with a direct, unembellished approach to songwriting and address themes of conflict, authority, and daily life under tension.

The Peel Sessions format functioned as a standardized mode of documentation: bands recorded live in-studio under fixed technical conditions, producing recordings intended for broadcast rather than commercial release. These sessions preserved performances in a stripped, time-bound form, shaped by radio infrastructure as much as by the musicians themselves.

This copy entered circulation through secondhand exchange and remains intact and playable. As a physical object, it reflects a moment when punk music moved through institutional channels while retaining its association with urgency and dissent.