Swan Arcade

Swan Arcade were a British folk music vocal group formed in Bradford in 1970. "A leading light of the British folk revival" they sang a wide variety of songs, including blues, pop and rock and roll, as well as traditional folk music, mostly performed a cappella. Swan Arcade also performed with The Watersons as the Boggle Hole Chorale, and The Watersons and Martin Carthy as Blue Murder. They finally disbanded in 1988, but one of their members, Jim Boyes, still performs as part of Coope Boyes and Simpson.
The group was formed in Yorkshire in 1970 by Dave Brady, his wife, Heather Brady and bass vocalist Jim Boyes...Despite having lost an arm in a motorcycle accident, Dave Brady also played concertina, by holding it between his knees, and also played synthesiser and bass. Heather Brady played dulcimer and cello, whilst Boyes occasionally played guitar. The trio were well-matched vocalists, and the band became known for its close harmony, "a cappella" singing, and the use of a wide variety of influences
(Read more at Wikipedia) 
== Links to Peel ==
Peel was a fan of the group in the 1970s, before the emergence of punk. At that time he was featuring plenty of traditional folk music in his playlists and one of the first traditional acts to be in session on his shows was the Young Tradition, After that group split up, one of its members, Royston Wood, became part of Swan Arcade; like the YT, they specialised in traditional material, mostly sung unaccompanied. Peel may also have been influenced by the fact that, like his wife Sheila, they came from Yorkshire, a county which seemed to produce many Peel session artsits of the early 1970s, from fellow folk acts like Tony Capstick and Robin & Barry Dransfield to Be Bop Deluxe and Back Door. 
By the time the 80's arrived, JP was playing much less folk music on his programmes and seemed to have lost interest in Swan Arcade, who had split up in 1978. allthough they reformed in 1983. However, he did revisit their 1973 session on one of his Peel's Pleasures shows in 1982. His colleague Andy Kershaw played tracks from the band on his programmes, and had Coope Boyes and Simpson in session in 1999 and 2000..
The Bradys were also known for their campaigning for the Labour Party, and Heather Brady is one of the few Peel session artists to have held political office, having been made Mayor of Carlisle, Cumbria (others include Rose Simpson of the Incredible String Band, who served as Lady Mayoress of Aberystwyth).
== Sessions ==
thumb|330x330px
1. Recorded: 1973-02-13. Broadcast: 27 February 1973. Repeated: 01 May 1973, 17 July 1982
*Let Bucks A-Hunting Go / Babylon / Last Valentine's Day / He'll Have To Go/Lunatic Asylum / Salmon Tales
2. Recorded: 1974-03-25. Broadcast: 09 April 1974. Repeated: 28 May 1974
*A Long Time Ago / Deliverance Will Come / Go From My Window / Peat Bog Soldiers
3. Recorded: 1974-09-23. Broadcast: 08 October 1974. Repeated: 03 December 1974
*The Weary Whaling Grounds / Down In The Valley To Pray / Foster's Mill / The Battle Of Sowerby Bridge
== Other Shows Played ==
thumb|330x330px
;1986
*22 October 1986: Black Seam (LP - Diving For Pearls) Fellside (Kershaw sits in for Peel) 
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
Category:Artists