Dreadzone

Dreadzone are a British band whose music is an eclectic fusion of dub, reggae, techno, folk and rock. Dreadzone formed in Portsmouth in 1993 when ex-Big Audio Dynamite drummer, Greg Roberts, teamed up with Tim Bran, who had previously worked as a musician and sound engineer for Julian Cope. The name Dreadzone was suggested to Roberts and Bran by Don Letts. Bran and Roberts were soon joined by bassist Leo Williams and keyboardist Dan Donovan, also formerly of Big Audio Dynamite. The band signed to Creation Records in 1993 and released their first album 360°. The following year the band signed to Virgin Records and released their second studio album Second Light. In the meantime, Dreadzone had become a favourite festival act and in June that year opened the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival ... (read more at Wikipedia)
== Links to Peel ==
Dreadzone recorded three sessions for Kat's Karavan, with a fourth for Keeping It Peel night featuring a solo DJ mix from Tim Bran. The second was taped during the Second Light sessions and featured a live favourite, Maximum, that the band claimed was performed in a single take (in The Peel Sessions, Ken Garner highlights this set as a Classic Session on p. 146).
The band had six Festive Fifty entries, all in the same chart, and had it not been for Pulp would have dominated the chart that year: Mark Whitby claims that the album all those tracks came from, Second Light, "must rank as one of he most significant of all albums in Festive Fifty terms, if only because of its achievement of helping to bring so much diversity to the 1995 chart, and showcasing the variety of musical possibilities that fed out from the pulsing heart of dub reggae" The Festive Fifty, Nevin Publishing, 2005, p. 161). Peel labelled it a masterpiece and one of his all-time favourites Peel provided a list of his 20 favourite LPs to the Guardian in 1997, and this one was at number 12 . Whitby also notes that Zion Youth was the most successful reggae-based track in the chart's history, and it was subsequently chosen for the Peelenium 1995. In January of the following year, Little Britain became the band's only UK chart entry, reaching number 20.
Drummer Greg Roberts said of Peel in a 2013 interview:
"He was a down-to-earth character – you could talk to him really easily, you didn’t feel star stuck around him – with a genuine interest in music, all kinds of music. He was an antidote to all the cheesy Smashie and Nicey types in there and he played an important role and he’s been missed ever since – everything you wouldn’t usually hear on the radio is given an airing....he shone a light on us." 
== Festive Fifty Entries ==
*1995 Festive Fifty: Zion Youth #05Number nine in the 1995 Festive Fifty.|right|335 px
*1995 Festive Fifty: Maximum #09
*1995 Festive Fifty: Fight The Power #16
*1995 Festive Fifty: Little Britain #23
*1995 Festive Fifty: Captain Dread #35
*1995 Festive Fifty: Life, Love And Unity #48
== Peelenium ==
*Peelenium 1995: Zion Youth
== Sessions ==
Three sessions. Wikipedia claims there were six (but does not provide a list to substantiate this), and Radio 1's Keeping It Peel page for the band claims that they recorded seven (however, two of these were their Glastonbury appearances, one their Sound City recording, and the other their 1997 ICA set). In The Peel Sessions, Ken Garner notes a DJ mix, featuring Tim Bran only, broadcast on Radio One’s Keep It Peel night on 16 December 2004. All tracks from sessions #1 and #2 except ‘Cave Of Angels’ from #1 were released on The Radio One Sessions (Strange Fruit, CD, 2001).
1. Recorded 1993-11-29. First broadcast 07 January 1994. No repeats.
*Sound Man / Cave Of Angels / Highway To The Hidden Valley / Out Of The East
2. Recorded 1994-08-21. First broadcast: 24 September 1994. Repeated: 12 August 1995. (JP: 'I've been looking forward to both of our sessions, but one of them in particular, since a morning, I was going to say a chill morning but that would be exaggerating I think, and romanticising slightly, but at the Glastonbury Festival earlier this year, when I stood on stage along with Kershaw and we watched Dreadzone. Not a great number of people there in the front of the stage, but those who were there will have seen one of the great sets, I think. It was wonderful, I thought.')
* Mi Bong / Maximum / Cause & FX
3. Live from Maida Vale, 16 January 2002. No repeats.
*Straight To A Soundboy / Return Of The Dread / Digital Mastermind / Mean Old World / Dread Pon Sound / Different Planets / Little Britain
== Live ==
*24 June 1994: Live set from Glastonbury. Recorded 1994-06-24. (Peel made the effort to get up early to see Dreadzone on the Pyramid Stage and reports that they were “dazzlingly good”. Happy to discover that most of the set was recorded (“accidentally almost”), so he is able to play the final three tracks on the show.)
#The Good The Bad & The Dread
#Dream On
#The Warning
*21 April 1995: live at Bristol Anson, Bristol Sound City
#House Of Dread
#Little Britain
#The Good The Bad The Dread
#Zion Youth
#The Warning
#Fight The Power
*24 June 1995: live set from Glastonbury
#Little Britain
#The Good The Bad & The Dread
#Life Love & Unity
#Zion Youth
*27 April 1997: live set from The Garage in London
#unknown tracks
*01 October 1997: live from the ICA (special tribute programming to mark 30 years of JP on the Radio One)
#Biological Radio
#The Lost Tribe
#Unknown
#Fight The Power
#Moving On
#Little Britain
== Other Shows Played ==
;1993
*12 November 1993: Skeleton At The Feast (LP - 360°) Creation
*13 November 1993 (BFBS): The Warning (album - 360°) Creation
*13 November 1993: Chinese Ghost Story (album - 360°) Creation
*20 November 1993 (BFBS): Chinese Ghost Story (album - 360°) Creation
*04 December 1993: The Good The Bad And The Dread (unknown version) (single) Creation
;1994
*02 July 1994: The Warning
*09 July 1994 (BFBS): The Warning (Various)
*02 July 1994 (BBC World Service): 'The Warning (LP-360°)' (Creation)
*12 November 1994: Fight The Power (12") white label
*18 November 1994: Fight The Power (12") Totem
*03 December 1994: House Of Dread (CD - Performance) Totem
*10 December 1994: Africa (CD – Performance ) Totem
*17 December 1994 (BFBS): Africa (album – Performance) Totem
;1995
*01 April 1995: Zion Youth (CD) Virgin
*14 April 1995: Zion Youth (Underworld mix) (12") Virgin
*28 April 1995: Zion Youth (Dreadzone Mix) (CD single) Virgin
*19 May 1995: Zion Youth (CD single) Virgin
*26 May 1995: Life, Love And Unity (CD - Second Light) Virgin
*27 May 1995: Little Britain (CD - Second Light) Virgin
*02 June 1995: Captain Dread (CD - Second Light) Virgin
*03 June 1995: Cave Of Angels (CD - Second Light) Virgin
*03 June 1995 (BFBS): Life, Love and Unity (CD - Second Light) Virgin
*10 June 1995 (BFBS): Cave Of Angels (CD - Second Light) Virgin
*17 June 1995 (BFBS): Captain Dread (CD - Second Light) Virgin
*01 July 1995: Life, Love and Unity (CD - Second Light) Virgin
*01 July 1995 (BFBS): Out of Heaven (CD - Second Light) Virgin
*01 July 1995 (BFBS): One Way (CD - Second Light) Virgin
*18 August 1995: Maximum (12 inch - Fight The Power '95) Virgin
*19 August 1995: One Way (Man With No Name Remix) (EP: Maximum EP) Virgin
*26 August 1995 (BFBS): One Way (The Man With No Name Remix) (12"-Maximum EP) Virgin
*27 August 1995: Maximum (12") Virgin 
*01 September 1995 (BBC World Service): One Way (12" - Maximum EP) Virgin 
*08 December 1995: Little Britain
*16 December 1995: Little Britain (More Rockers Mix) (12" - Little Britain) Virgin VST 1565
*23 December 1995 (BFBS): Little Britain (Vocal Version) (CDS) Virgin (JP discusses his appearance on This Is Your Life: “Dreadzone, oddly enough, were the only band there in their entirety, and they kept coming up afterwards and saying what an honour it had been to be there, they were really sweet about it, which I appreciated a great deal.”)
*29 December 1995: Life, Love And Unity (LP-Second Light) Virgin FF#48 (JP: 'Top quality stuff...It's always difficult to know which mix you ought to play on these occasions, whether you ought to seek out some obscure mix which was only available on the B side of a 12 inch in Norway, or something like that, but we've stuck by and large...well, we haven't always, but on this particular occasion, we've stuck with the LP version...)
*29 December 1995: Captain Dread (CD-Second Light) Virgin FF#35
*30 December 1995 (BFBS): Maximum (Peel Session) FF#9
*30 December 1995: Little Britain (CD-Second Light) Virgin FF#23
*30 December 1995: Fight The Power 95-Dreadzone Remix (12 inch-Maximum E.P.) Virgin FF#16
*30 December 1995: Maximum (Peel Session) FF#9 (JP: "Well, I'm very glad you, the avid consumer, seem to like Dreadzone as much as I do.")
*30 December 1995: Zion Youth (CD-Second Light) Virgin FF#5
;1996
*07 January 1996 (BFBS): Zion Youth (CD-Second Light) Virgin FF#5
*02 February 1996: The Warning [Radio Edit] (CD - The Warning) Creation
*10 February 1996 (BFBS): The Warning (CD-360°) Creation
*24 March 1996: Life Love & Unity (Drumhead Mix) (12") Virgin VST 1583
*01 March 1996: 'Life Love & Unity (Disco Dread Mix) (12")' (Virgin)
*09 March 1996: Life, Love & Unity (Disco Dread Mix) (12") Virgin VST 1583
*15 March 1996: 'Little Britain [More Rockers Dub] (Compilation CD–FMCD March 1996)' (Future Music Magazine)
*16 March 1996 (BFBS): 'Life Love & Unity (Ninety Six Mix) (CDS)' (Virgin)
*21 March 1996: Life Love & Unity (CD - Life Love & Unity) Virgin
*23 March 1996 (BFBS): 'Little Britain [More Rockers Dub] (Compilation CD–FMCD March 1996)' (Future Music Magazine)
*20 July 1996: Captain Dread
*29 July 1996: Me Bong (session) (John Peel's Classic Sessions)
*16 November 1996: Skeleton At The Feast (album - Dubnology 2: Lost In Bass) Middle Earth MIDDLE 7
;1997
* 13 January 1997: Maximum (session) (John Peel's Classic Sessions)
*20 March 1997: Little Britain
*25 March 1997: Earth Angel (12 inch) Virgin
*03 April 1997: Earth Angel (Radio Edit) (CD single) Virgin
*08 April 1997: Earth Angel (CDS) Virgin
*10 April 1997 (BFBS): Earth Angel (CDS) Virgin
*05 May 1997: Earth Angel (single)
*25 June 1997: Moving On (Asian Dub Foundation Mix) (single) Virgin VST 1635
*26 June 1997: Moving On (12") Virgin
*28 June 1997: Moving On (12") Virgin (JP plays the track at the correct speed .... at the third attempt)
*01 July 1997: Life Love and Unity (CD-Second Light) Virgin
*02 July 1997: Moving On (The Dread Ahead Mix) (12") Virgin VST 1635
*16 July 1997: The Lost Tribe (album - Biological Radio) Virgin
*17 July 1997: Heat The Pot (CD – Biological Radio) Virgin
*17 July 1997 (BFBS): 'Moving On (12")' (Virgin)
*23 July 1997: Biological Radio (CD - Biological Radio) Virgin
*29 July 1997: Heat the Pot (CD – Biological Radio) Virgin
*30 July 1997: The Lost Tribe (CD – Biological Radio) Virgin
*31 July 1997 (BFBS): 'Heat The Pot (CD-Biological Radio)' (Virgin)
*07 August 1997: Ali Baba (album - Biological Radio) Virgin CDV 2808
*13 August 1997: Messengers (LP - Biological Radio) Virgin
*14 August 1997 (BFBS): Heat The Pot (CD-Biological Radio) Virgin
*14 August 1997 (BFBS): The Lost Tribe (CD-Biological Radio) Virgin
*15 August 1997 (BBC World Service): Heat The Pot (CD Album - Biological Radio) Virgin
*28 August 1997 (BFBS): 'Ali Baba (CD-Biological Radio)' (Virgin)
*27 November 1997: Little Britain (12") Virgin
;1999
*14 January 1999 (Radio Eins): Chinese Ghost Story (album - 360°)' (Creation)
;2000
*11 January 2000: Zion Youth (CD-Second Light) Virgin (Peelenium 1995)
;2001
*03 July 2001: (JP: “Speaking of recent rock festivals, one of the highlights of recent Glastonbury for me was standing at the back of the stage while Dreadzone were playing, dancing my silly old man's dance.”) Believing In It (12") Rufflife
*05 July 2001 (Radio Eins): Believing In It (12") Rufflife
*04 September 2001: Zion Youth (Radio One Sessions) Strange Fruit
*06 September 2001: Little Britain (LP - The Radio One Sessions) Strange Fruit
*03 October 2001: Little Britain (LP - The Radio 1 Sessions) Strange Fruit
*11 October 2001 (Radio Eins): Zion Youth (album - The Radio 1 Sessions) Strange Fruit
*04 December 2001: Return Of The Dread (LP – Sound) Rufflife UK
*06 December 2001: Straight To A Soundboy (LP – Sound) Rufflife UK
*12 December 2001: Digital Mastermind (album - Sound) Rufflife UK
*19 December 2001: Return Of The Dread (LP – Sound) Rufflife UK
*20 December 2001: Digital Mastermind (LP-Sound) (Rufflife UK)
;2002
*03 January 2002: Straight To A Soundboy (LP – (Sound) Rufflife
*10 January 2002 (Radio Eins): Return Of The Dread (album – Sound) Rufflife
*22 January 2002: Believing In It (Dubwiser Remix) Rufflife
*23 January 2002 (BBC World Service): Straight To A Soundboy (album - Sound) Rufflife UK
*31 January 2002 (Radio Eins): Believing In It (CD Single)
== See Also ==
*Top 20 Albums
*Peel Sessions Releases
*120 Minutes
*December 2001 (Peel's Record Box)
*January 2002 (Peel's Record Box)
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
*Official site
*Facebook
;Footnotes
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