Radio One More Time: Sessions

Trades unionism has given a lot for this country to be proud of, but even the TUC fails to lay claim to Jarvis Cocker. Yes, for without unions, there would be no Jarvis.

The 'session' was a workaround from the early days of the station: worried about the prospect of all-record networks forcing their members out of work, the Musicians Union got broadcasters to agree to the Needle Time Directive. This limited Radio One to a certain amount of record-playing every day, and, to fill the gap, the concept of the specially-recorded session was created. That this was seen as a nuisance rather than an opportunity is shown in the programmes which took the brunt of this filler material: late-night, new music shows.

They, though, embraced the chance to get artists in to record stuff, so that worked out alright, then. And, in so doing, allowed the BBC to build up a massive collection of recordings which retain value today. Because, seriously, while replaying a John Peel session by, say, The Buzzcocks is appealing even now, had Simon Bates been in charge of booking the session acts, the archive might have consisted of much more Joan Armatrading.

Besides fulfilling the needs of the BBC to take the needle off the record, the sessions also provided a lifeline to new bands - the guaranteed four tracks played on proper radio would allow the band to qualify for their share of royalties from the copyright agencies, meaning the lucrative nature of the arrangement went beyond just the fee for the recordings.

The recording of a session - especially a Peel session - quickly became a yardstick of success: indeed, it was the invitation to record for Peel that led the young Jarvis Cocker to conclude that Pulp would be a success, and cancel his plans for university. And, indeed, they were a success. Just not that quickly. But at least the session had given something to Jarvis to cling to, which his record sales and gig attendances at the time wouldn't have provided. That, alone, might have been worth martyring the young men of Tollpuddle for.

Nowadays, of course, the session has been enthusiastically embraced by all parts of the network, and not only because it means they can knock out a compilation album of "unexpected" tear-inducingly obvious cover versions from the Live Lounge every 18 months or so. Oh, Travis, you've done a pop song. How surprising.

But is the embrace quite as warm as it seems? Back when sessions were tucked away to the evenings, you'd get a new one and a repeat on Janice Long, a new one and repeat on Peel or Kershaw, probably one on the Rock Show and one on Saturday Live. Since the dawn of Mark Goodier's Evening Session, though, the earlier part of the night-time programme started to eek a session out over the course of the week, perhaps from the mistaken belief that more than one slice of Dinosaur Jr might be too much for one sitting. Again, the impression is of an audience being underestimated.