JOHN PEEL 1986 FESTIVE FIFTY
1 THE SMITHS
THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT
2 AGE OF CHANCE
KISS
(cover of Prince)
3 THE FALL
MR PHARMACIST
(cover of the Other Half)
4 PRIMAL SCREAM
Velocity girl
5 THE SMITHS
Panic (Hang the DJ)
6 THE SMITHS
I know it's over
7 THE SMITHS
The Queen is dead
8 SHOP ASSISTANTS
Safety net
9 JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
Some candy talking (NME EP version)
10 THE FALL
US 80s-90s
11 THE SMITHS
Ask
12 THE SMITHS
Bigmouth strikes again
13 WEATHER PROPHETS
Almost prayed
14 HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT
Trumpton riots
15 THE FALL
Living too late
16 WEDDING PRESENT
Once more
17 SOUP DRAGONS
Hang ten!
18 WEDDING PRESENT
This boy can wait
19 BODINES
Therese
20 THE FALL
Bournemouth runner
21 COCTEAU TWINS
Love's easy tears
22 PRIMITIVES
Really stupid
23 PASTELS
Truck train tractor
24 BILLY BRAGG
Levi Stubb's tears
25 SOUP DRAGONS
Whole wide world
26 The Fall
ROD (Realm Of Dust)
(John Peel session rec. 29/6/86)
27 Age of Chance
Bible of the beats
28 Wedding Present
You should always keep in touch with your friends
29 That Petrol Emotion
It's a good thing
30 Verythings
This is Motortown
31 We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Going To Use It
Rules and regulations
32 The The
Heartland
33 Freiwillige Selbst Kontrolle
I wish I could Sprechen sie Deutsch
(John Peel session rec. 3/8/86)
34 The Mighty Lemon Drops
Like an angel
35 The Smiths
Cemetry gates
36 Wedding Present
Felicity
(cover of Orange Juice)
(John Peel session rec. 11/2/86)
37 The Fall
Lucifer over Lancashire (Theology Mix)
38 Cocteau Twins
Those eyes, that mouth
39 Half Man Half Biscuit
Dickie Davies eyes
40 Elvis Costello and the Attractions
I want you
41 Billy Bragg
Greetings to the new brunette
42 Flatmates
I could be in Heaven
43 Shop Assistants
I don't want to be friends with you
44 Mighty Mighty
Is there anyone out there?
45 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
By the time I get to Phoenix
(cover of Glen Campbell)
46 Colourbox
The official Colourbox World Cup theme
47 Camper van Beethoven
Take the skinheads bowling
48 The Fall
Dktr Faustus
49 Mission
Serpent kiss
50 Pogues
The body of an American
John Peel's Festive Fifty
EACH NOVEMBER, as the nation's thoughts turn to unrepeatable
Christmas discounts and the office party death squads ready themselves for
another season of drinking and driving, I commit myself to three or four weeks
of serious tedium by inviting listeners to my Radio 1 programmes to write
listing their favourite tracks of the year.
About 5,000 of the scoundrels oblige, thereby condemning me to
nights in an ill-lit corner of the scullery entering their votes in a ledger. At
the end of this proto-Dickensian routine we have what we call, I fear, the
Festive Fifty.
Since completing this year's chart I have spent some time
staring deeply into it in the hope that at least a handful of the secrets of the
universe will thereby be unlocked. What sort of trousers will we be wearing in
1987? Does anyone seriously believe that Arsenal will win the championship?
These are typical of the questions I have been asking. There is, though, only
one realistic forecast I can make from this prolonged study, and that is that
those listeners who write me grumpy letters chiding me for tainting, as they see
it, otherwise perfectly good programmes with reggae, hip-hop and African music,
will write again in triumph.
Where, they will want to know, are the Half Pints, the DJ
Cheeses, the Bhundu Boys? And they will take the non-appearance of reggae and
the rest in what is becoming a conservative and nostalgic chart as all the proof
that is needed that no one wants to hear these things.
Other and more adventurous consumers have suggested I should
list the top 50 tracks but broadcast numbers 51 to 100. This is not a bad idea
at all, as this bottom would include much reggae and hip-hop, along with at
least four tracks by the Bhundu Boys (back in Britain and virtually the only
genuinely un-missable combo around) and the unhinged, red-eyed Sewer Zombies,
from somewhere unforgivable in America, with They Died With Their Willie Nelson
T-Shirts On.
Only one of the tracks listed is not available on record or tape. This is the laugh-a-minute I Wish I Could Sprechen Sie Deutsch, recorded in a session for Radio 1 by the Munich-based Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle, a band which includes the painter Michaela Melain. I Wish I Could... is a highlight amongst tracks which, despite their individual merits, make up a rather characterless chart.
John Peel, 1986 (The Observer).