The Cranberries radio and television sessions


Throughout their career, The Cranberries recorded several radio and television sessions in form of recording studio sessions, live studio sessions and live audience sessions.

Recording Studio Sessions

The Dave Fanning Sessions

The Dave Fanning Sessions consist of recording studio sessions made available to young aspiring bands and artists. These sessions were subsequently played on The Dave Fanning Show on Irish-based radio RTÉ 2FM.

The 1991 Dave Fanning Session

Produced by Jim Lockhart and engineered by Phil Cook, the 1991 session was recorded at RTÉ's Studio 8 on March 9, 1991.

On May 19, 2010, RTÉ 2FM radio host Dan Hegarty played three tracks from the 1991 Dave Fanning Session, nearly 20 years after their first broadcast. Hegarty aired "Reason" again a year later on March 17, 2011, then "Dreams" on September 7, 2011 during a show broadcast from Limerick.

The complete session was broadcast again on October 18, 2011 on Dan Hegarty's show.

Track list
In 1993, the band recorded another Fanning Session. During an interview at RTÉ 2FM, Fergal indicated that the band was recording a new version of "Wanted" from their debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? and three new songs. Up to this date, "False" and "Like You Used To" remain commercially unreleased, while "The Icile Melts" was re-recorded and released a year later on the band's second album, No Need to Argue.
The complete session was broadcast again on 7 December 2011 on Dan Hegarty's Alternative to Sleep show.

Track list
It is unclear if another Dave Fanning Session took place, since information about the Cranberries’ Fanning Sessions remains scarce and sometimes contradictory in the fan community. In 2002, Zombieguide webmaster, Alex Kraus, received CD-Rs from the Cranberries’ drummer, Fergal Lawler, which contained some tracks identified as being from a 1990 Dave Fanning Session. Since some of the information from those CD-Rs are now know to be inaccurate, we cannot confirm the existence of a 1990 Dave Fanning Session. It possible that the information on those CD-R tracks was mixed up sometime between the original tape recording in the early 1990s and the CD transfer, a decade later.

The John Peel Session

The Cranberries worked on a studio session for the John Peel show on BBC Radio 1. The session, produced by Dale Griffin and engineered by Nick Gomm, was recorded at Maida Vale 4 on January 16, 1992 and broadcast a month later, on February 16. It featured four songs that were later re-recorded for the band's first album. The four tracks were broadcast again on the April 24, 1992 show. Recordings of the John Peel Session appeared on an unauthorized bootleg CD entitled Be With You.
Track list
The Cranberries recorded a BBC Radio 1 Evening Session, which was broadcast on September 26, 1994. The recording session was produced by James Birtwistle. "I Can't Be With You" and "Empty" from that session were included on the "I Can't Be With You" single while "Zombie" was released on a promo cassette with British magazine Vox. It is unclear if other tracks were recorded during that session.
Track list

The 2 Meter Session

On May 23, 1993, The Cranberries recorded an acoustic performance for the 2 Meter Sessions in the Netherlands. This session was performed live without an audience.

Track list
On the day of their Los Angeles debut, the band was invited at KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic radio show on July 15, 1993 for an interview with host Chris Douridas and a live acoustic performance. The acoustic version of Sunday from that performance was included on the KCRW 1995 compilation Rare on Air, volume 2. The interview and performance are available in streaming mode on the radio's website.
Track list
In 1993, The Cranberries recorded a live acoustic performance in Los Angeles for the On the Edge show on the Westwood One radio network. "How", "Away" and "Linger" were broadcast on the week of September 11, 1993 along with two short interview segments. The complete performance was aired during the week of June 4, 1994, without the interview segments.
Track list
On March 24, 1999, The Cranberries gave a three-song performance at BBC Radio 1, before the release of their fourth album Bury The Hatchet on the Mid Morning Show with Simon Mayo. It was the first time the band played "Animal Instinct" and Elvis Presley's "In The Ghetto".

Track list
On August 16, 2001, The Cranberries gave a two-song acoustic performance at the Studio C of Boulder radio station KBCO – World Class Rock, to promote the upcoming release of Wake Up and Smell the Coffee. A similar performance was broadcast on Minneapolis-based radio station KTCZ – Cities 97 on August 20, 2001. Both performances of "Analyse" were featured on locally-sold charity compilations KBCO Studio C, Volume 13 and Cities 97 Sampler Volume 13. The two stations are part of the Clear Channel Communications group.

Track list
On September 6, 2002 Irish radio RTÉ 2fm broadcast a live and acoustic session with The Cranberries to promote the release of their greatest hits compilation, '. The band discussed each song with radio host Gerry Ryan before performing it.

Track list'''

The Black Session

On May 3, 1993, the band performed a live set for the C'est Lenoir show on France Inter in Paris. The Black Sessions were recorded in front of an audience.
Track list
On August 19, 1994, the band recorded a live acoustic performance in front of an audience for the WNNX radio station in Atlanta, Georgia. The recording was featured on the unauthorized bootleg CD entitled Strange Fruits.
Track list
On January 31, 1995, The Cranberries recorded a live acoustic performance in front of an audience at Los 40 Principales in Madrid, Spain. Three tracks from that session were featured on several "When You're Gone" CD singles.
Track list
On February 14, 1995, The Cranberries recorded a live acoustic performance in front of an audience at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York
City for the MTV Unplugged series. During that performance with a strings ensemble, the band played nine songs, from which three were unreleased material at that time. While "Free to Decide" and "I’m Still Remembering" were later included on the band's third album To the Faithful Departed, "Yesterday’s Gone" remains unreleased in a studio format. The MTV Unplugged version of "Zombie" appeared on the band's "When You're Gone" North American Maxi single and the one of "Yesterday's Gone", on the Beneath the Skin – Live in Paris DVD. The show aired for the first time on April 18, 1995.
Track list
On 6 May 1999, The Cranberries recorded a live performance in the Musique Plus studios in Montreal. The one and a half hour show was hosted by VJs Pierre Landry and Elsie Martins, who interviewed the band and asked questions from the audience.
Track list
On May 15, 1999, The Cranberries recorded a live electric performance at The Joint in Las Vegas for the series Hard Rock Live on American music channel VH1.
Track list
The Cranberries were featured on a Sessions at West 54th episode on May 14, 2000. The show was taped in New York City and featured a short interview with lead singer Dolores O'Riordan.
Track list
On August 13, 2001, The Cranberries were guests at the Live from the Lounge show, hosted by Ryan Seacrest on L.A.-based radio station Star 98.7, two months before the release of their fifth album Wake Up and Smell the Coffee. This one-hour show, which was also broadcast live on Internet, featured an extended interview with the band as well as questions from fans.
Track list
On 13 August 2002, The Cranberries recorded a MTV Asia Session in Singapore during their Asian tour.
Track list