New Blind Date

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New Blind Date was a feature in Melody Maker started in September 1968, where celebrities reviewed singles along with album tracks of the week, without being told at first who they were by. This was a successor to Blind Date, which focused on singles of the week. After a few weeks the "New" was dropped and the feature continued under the name Blind Date, although with a more varied range of records and guests than before.
== Links to Peel ==
thumb|271x271pxPeel was the first person on New Blind Date to give his opinions on singles and album tracks, in the Melody Maker issue dated 28th September 1968. 
It's not known who played the records to Peel, but it may well have been MM reporter Chris Welch, who had writtien a highly critical article on American groups in a previous issue of the paper, which included a rubbishing of Peel's favourite Captain Beefheart and an equally dismissive verdict on the Doors' lead singer Jim Morrison. Peel comments that he didn't agree with "what you wrote" in general, but after having seen the Doors at the Roundhouse he was in partial agreement with Welch's opinion of the group.:
* Cream: Sunshine Of Your Love (7") Polydor ('I've liked it very much ever since "Disraeli Gears" came out. It's one of those riffs that keeps running through your ears, and you can't remember where it came from")
* Jethro Tull: A Song For Jeffrey (7") Island ('This is also on their LP, which is musically very good but the production isn't very good, which is unfortunate.')
* Chicken Shack: Worried About My Woman (7") Blue Horizon ("So many blues bands are all doing the same numbers, and they sound essentially the same - trying to play like Peter Green, Clapton or Stan Webb. Where will it all end?")
* Big Brother & The Holding Company Featuring Janis Joplin: Piece Of My Heart (7" - Piece Of My Heart / Turtle Blues) CBS ('It would be nice to see this at the top of the chart and to see them on Top Of The Pops. That programme is such a drag - like something from the Stone Age')
* Steve Miller Band: In My First Mind (LP - Children Of The Future) Capitol ("When I first heard this it didn't sound exciting, but every time I hear it now I get warm. It's very simple and sounds like it was done in one take. The track we are listening to is very beautiful.")
* Ornette Coleman: Cross Breeding (LP - Ornette On Tenor) Atlantic ("I've listened to a lot and tried to get into this, and I saw Ornette Coleman at the Albert Hall, but in the first half I fell asleep, bored to distraction. The second half was exciting but I've never recaptured it by listening to his records.")
* Doors: Love Street (LP - Waiting For The Sun) Elektra ("I thought musically they were good, but I was disappointed. If they evolve around Jim Morrison purely as a show, which is his reputation, then to compare him to Mick Jagger is ridiculous. All that Mick does on stage is natural. Jim Morrison crouched on stage, did a leap, and landed rather self-consciously.")
== See Others ==
* Blind Date
* Melody Maker
* New Singles
Category:Lists
Category:Discography