Tuesday, November 25, 2008

- Countdown to Festive Season #1: 1978

'What were you doing in December, 1978' is a question I'm rarely asked these days. Watching 'The wizard of Oz', 'Jeux sans frontieres', 'The generation game' and 'Blankety blank' is probably about as accurate an answer as I can give right now. I think this was the year that I got a Kermit the frog for christmas, although that could well have been 1979. I've absolutley no doubt that I wasn't tuning in to John Peel's 1978 Festive 50. As a five year old, I just didn't see the appeal at the time. My tastes have changed somewhat, which is why I'm so glad that I am now able to listen to this feast of music.


Stuart Hall and Ostriches, circa 1978

While my new toys were occupying me - perhaps this was the year that I got my six million dollar man doll - JP was busy broadcasting what was quickly becoming an international institution. The Festive 50 for that year was broadcast between 26th December, 1978 and 1st January, 1979. For those of you interested in listening, you can do so by clicking here, here, here and here. This is how the UK sounded before Thatcher got her hands on it.


2 comments:

entrailicus said...

Full list of 50 tracks:

1. Sex Pistols - Anarchy In The UK
2. Clash - Complete Control
3. Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen
4. Stiff Little Fingers - Suspect Device
5. Magazine - Shot By Both Sides
6. Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant
7. Clash - White Man In Hammersmith Palais
8. Buzzcocks - What Do I Get?
9. Public Image Ltd. - Public Image
10. Undertones - Teenage Kicks
11. Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster
12. Buzzcocks - Boredom
13. Damned - New Rose
14. Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven
15. Clash - White Riot
16. David Bowie - Heroes
17. Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet
18. Sex Pistols - Holidays In The Sun
19. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Freebird
20. Rezillos - I Can't Stand My Baby
21. Van Morrison - Madame George
22. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Hong Kong Garden
23. Clash - Police & Thieves
24. Jam - Down In The Tube Station At Midnight
25. Elvis Costello - Watching The Detectives
26. Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
27. Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
28. Dire Straits - Sultans Of Swing
29. Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond
30. Buzzcocks - Moving Away From The Pulsebeat
31. Derek & The Dominoes - Layla
32. Stranglers - Hanging Around
33. Stranglers - No More Heroes
34. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Helter Skelter
35. Motors - Dancing The Night Away
36. Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone
37. Elvis Costello - Alison
38. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Overground
39. Who - My Generation
40. Stranglers - London Lady
41. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Switch
42. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Mirage
43. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Jigsaw Feeling
44. Jam - In The City
45. Sex Pistols - EMI
46. Bob Dylan - Desolation Row
47. Flying Lizards - Summertime Blues
48. Neil Young - Like A Hurricane
49. Thin Lizzy - Emerald
50. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Metal Postcard

So It Goes said...

Pish! Trying to steal my thunder, you rascal!!???
Great work, as ever, and nice context.

Who was John Peel?


The philosophy of this blog is a celebration of music in the spirit of the late John Peel. For those of you who want to learn more, click here.

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