I grew up listening to John Peel’s Festive Fifty. For those who did not, listeners to his alternative show would vote each year for their three favourite songs. This started off as an “All Time” show, but after a few years, the usual suspects started gumming up the upper reaches of the chart. After Anarchy in The UK was still Number One years after The Sex Pistols had split up, Peel changed it in the early 80s to a “Songs Of The Year” Fifty.
There were some ‘classic’ Number Ones – Blue Monday, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Common People – but also others to whom time has been much less kind. Geek Love by Bang Bang Machine. Girls are the New Boys by Saloon. Chinese Whispers by Melys. Sometimes listeners seemed ahead of the curve, sometimes not. Good Morning Captain by Slint is surprisingly high for a ‘sleeper hit’. But where are Neutral Milk Hotel?
Peel developed a love/hate relationship with the concept, frequently complaining about “white boys with guitars” while he was trying to introduce his listeners to the broad gamut of alternative sounds. One year The Smiths effected a coup and it seemed like every other track was by them. Another year he abandoned it altogether, only to relent and play the rundown a track at a time over the following year (the so-called ‘Phantom Fifty’). But it remained a highlight of my calendar, marking the pivot from one year to the next.
I can’t pretend this is anything like a definitive selection for 2020. If I carried on listening to everything I might like from the year, I’d still be at it in March. That’s the age of Spotify, to some extent.
Like all Christmas traditions – like Peel’s original format - this one is steeped in nostalgia, even while it carries the torch for a celebration of the here and now. I haven’t got the breadth of Peel’s audience, so can’t ask listeners to send in their favourites. Instead I’ve done it on your behalf. A few of you have kindly sent in your suggestions to the ‘Friends of Sombrero Fallout’ group on Facebook. What I’ll do is put up an “Artists to Watch in 2021” episode early in the New Year, partly drawn from them.
Hope you enjoy the show. Thanks for your support in 2020, and may 2021 be remarkably different, on almost every front. But here’s to the good tunes continuing.
Tracklist:
12. The Motor, The Wants
11. Self effacing, Sparks
10. Can I believe you, Fleet Foxes
9. Someone new, Helena Deland
8. Alexa!, Cool Greenhouse
7. Gush, Bedrmmm
6. Am I missing something?, Jarvis Cocker
5. Hannah sun, Lomelda
4. Valleys, Working Men’s Club
3. Rue, Girl in Red
2. At the door, The Strokes
1. Scratchcard lanyard, Dry Cleaning