Six By Seven were frequently on or near my stereo when I was at university and I bought many of their releases, singles and albums, around the turn of the last decade. I even saw them play on a bill with The Delgados at the Union Chapel in London, a few years before I moved to Scotland.

Anyway…here are three covers that they did:

First up, David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ which Bowie also sang in German, covered in German. Bowi’e German version is heard in both Christiane F and Radio On, if you enjoy cult arthouse films…Six By Seven recorded this for a Peel session.

Six By Seven -‘Helden (David Bowie cover).’ mp3

This cover of the Delgados ‘Pull the Wires From the Wall’ was only ever available (as far as I know) on a Fierce Panda 7″ single, which featured a picture of Jamie Oliver (yes, the chef) which Peel played round about March or April 2001.

Six By Seven -‘Pull the Wires From The Wall (Delgados cover).’ mp3

Finally, the Soft boys’ awesome ‘I Wanna Destroy You’ gets the Six By Seven treatment. This was a b-side (‘I.O.U. Love’ I think).

Six By Seven -‘I Wanna Destroy You (Soft Boys cover).’ mp3

If this has whetted your appetite, start with Six By Seven’s debut The Things We Make.

OK, a mixture of covers, rarities and Peel-stuff now.

Six By Seven formed in Nottingham in the nineties, and have released at least five albums, my favourite remaining The Things We Make, which lived in my walkman for about six months when it came out in 1998. I only saw them live once, in 1998, when they played a joint headliner at the Union Chapel in Islington, London, with my favourite ever scottish band, The Delgados.

John Peel was a fan, and the band did no fewer than five sessions including this one, a cover of a David Bowie song -in german (as you do), which was their only Festive Fifty entry, no.43 in 1999. If you don’t speak German…well, you’re just going to have to listen and find out which David Bowie song, aren’t you?

Six By Seven -‘Helden (David Bowie cover in German).’ mp3

They made some great singles, and are still active, with the original lineup having come back together, as I understand it. One cover version from about six years ago saw them tackle The Soft boys’ I Wanna Destroy You.’

Six By Seven -‘I Wanna Destroy You (The Soft Boys cover).’ mp3

I mentioned earlier that Six By Seven played with the Delgados. It must have rubbed off, in 1998 Six by Seven recorded a cover of ‘Pull The Wires From The Wall,’ the Delgados song that reached no.27 in the 1997 Festive Fifty (a session version) and no.1 in the 1998 Festive Fifty (the album version from Peloton). The Six By seven version was eventually released in 2001 on a Fierce Panda six track various artists double 7″ EP called Cheffing and Blinding. I heard this on Peel, too…

Six By Seven -‘Pull The Wires From The Wall.’ mp3

(NB The last recording is a little scratchy in places, due to surface noise from the vinyl. Still, as the great man himself said: ‘listen, mate, life has surface noise…’)