A Curry With John Peel: The City Walls Story by Richard Williams

A Curry With John Peel is the account of what happened when some Southampton students tried to get an album of local bands made and played on the John Peel Show in 1980. Their efforts lurched from avoiding one car crash to another.

In 1980 Southampton had a burgeoning independent music scene with a variety of bands spanning the spectrum from post punk through to experimental via the post-industrial ‘Factory’ style output. Following the release of an independent LP emerging down the M27 in Portsmouth a small group of students decided they could do it just as well for Southampton.

What transpired was an attempt to put out an album that swerved from avoiding one car crash to another, with the simple, but seemingly impossible goal of getting the music played by John Peel on Radio 1. This is the story of White Elephant Records, and their album, ‘City Walls.’