Festive Fifty

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The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's fifty (though the exact figure varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was usually dominated by indie and rock songs which did not fully represent the diversity of music played by Peel but rather the majority opinion among his listeners. After Peel's death the tradition of the Festive Fifty was continued, first by other Radio 1 DJs and then (when Radio 1 decided to discontinue it) by the Internet radio station Dandelion Radio.

1 History
2 All-time charts
3 Festive 50 number ones
4 External links

[edit] History

The first Festive Fifty was broadcast in 1976 and differed in format to later charts in that it was not restricted to songs from that year. It was topped by Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven, first released in 1971, and also contained many older songs. The following years' charts listed mostly contemporary songs but did for a time include occasional older songs - Anarchy in the UK by the Sex Pistols topped three consecutive charts from 1978 and came second in the 1981. This marked a period of domination of the upper reaches of the chart by punk artists as the genre was embraced by Peel and his listeners, though other genres were represented further down the list.

In 1982 the shift to a strictly annual chart was made. In the early 80s post-punk records by bands such as Joy Division and The Cocteau Twins featured heavily in the chart. In the mid and later 80s indie bands began to gain recognition with The Smiths making many appearances, including a record eleven entries in the 1987 list. This trend continued in the early 90s, despite Peel's championing of emerging dance acts, leading him to criticise the proliferation of "white boys with guitars" and even to refuse to broadcast the 1991 chart. This "Phantom Fifty", topped by Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit was eventually broadcast in 1993, one track per week. Charts in the later 90s and 2000s were dominated by a diverse range of more obscure acts such as The Delgados and The Cuban Boys who, despite not selling many records, were favourites of Peel and his listeners.

After John Peel died in 2004, the chart for that year was played by Rob Da Bank and was topped by The Fall - one of Peel's favourite bands and prolific session guests. Huw Stephens from Radio 1's One Music strand, the original replacement for Peel's show, joined fellow One Music presenter Rob Da Bank for the chart for 2005.

In 2006, after One Music was axed, Radio 1 decided not to continue with the Festive Fifty. However Dandelion Radio, an internet station founded in Peel's memory, took up the baton and compiled a 2006 Festive Fifty, and is planning to continue compiling the chart in future.

[edit] All-time charts

Two all-time charts have been compiled, in 1982 and 2000 in addition to the early charts which were not technically all-time charts but to which entry was not time sensitive. The 1982 chart focused heavily on punk and post-punk artists, but also featured some bands from other genres such as Altered Images. It was topped by the Sex Pistols, with Joy Division, The Clash, New Order and Siouxsie And The Banshees all making numerous appearances. The 2000 chart was a more diverse affair. It still contained many of the same songs - three of the top five were the same - but newer bands (such as Pavement and Stereolab) had been assimilated and also older artists from a wider variety of genres made appearances (such as Nick Drake and The Beach Boys.)