1978 Festive Fifty

Punk takes over. To get a picture of how much Peel's listenership changed over this period, compare the list below with the 1976 Festive Fifty. Recordings of the four shows were finally unearthed and shared via the Peel Mailing List in summer 2008. Many thanks to Bill!
== Shows ==
*26 December 1978: #50 - #41
*27 December 1978: #40 - #26
*28 December 1978: #25 - #11
*01 January 1979: #10 - #1
;Comments
*"Four or five times as many people voted" this year as in the 1976 Festive Fifty.
*"And I will say this: If I were to compile a list of me own top 20 rock singles of all time [...] your top six would probably get in there as well."
*This year's number one "got nearly twice as many votes as "Complete Control" and five times as many votes as "Stairway to Heaven" did two years ago when it became number one"
*"And I must say, I thought you chose very well indeed. I was knocked out with it all myself"
*Siouxsie and the Banshees had seven Festive Fifty entries, six of which were from their ten-track debut album The Scream. Thus, they became the only band in the history of the Festive Fifty to have such a large perecentage of their recorded output represented in a chart. Sex Pistols scored five, The Clash four, and Buzzcocks and the Stranglers three each. Stiff Little Fingers, the Jam, Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan also had two entries.
*Seven tracks remain from the 1976 Festive Fifty and eleven returned from John Peel's 1977 Festive Fifty. Only 20 of the songs were originally released in 1978.
== The Festive Fifty Of 1978 ==
#thumb|330x330pxSex Pistols: "Anarchy in the UK" (Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, 1977) Virgin Records
#Clash: "Complete Control" (7" single, 1977) CBS
#Sex Pistols: "God Save the Queen" (Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, 1977) Virgin Records
#Stiff Little Fingers: "Suspect Device" [single version] (7" single, 1978) Rough Trade / Rigid Digits
#Magazine: "Shot by Both Sides" (Real Life, 1978) Virgin Records [version unconfirmed]
#Sex Pistols: "Pretty Vacant" (Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, 1977) Virgin Records
#The Clash: "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" (7" single, 1978) CBS
#Buzzcocks: "What Do I Get?" (7" single, 1978) United Artists
#Public Image Ltd: "Public Image" (Public Image, 1978) Virgin Records
#The Undertones: "Teenage Kicks" (7" single, 1978) Sire
#Stiff Little Fingers: "Alternative Ulster" (Inflammable Material, 1979) Rough Trade
#Buzzcocks: "Boredom" (Spiral Scratch EP, 1977) New Hormones
#The Damned: "New Rose" [single version] (7" single, 1977) Stiff Records
#Led Zeppelin: "Stairway to Heaven" (IV, 1971) Atlantic
#The Clash: "White Riot" [album version] (The Clash, 1977) CBS
#David Bowie: ""Heroes"" [album version] ("Heroes", 1977) RCA
#Only Ones: "Another Girl, Another Planet" (The Only Ones, 1978) Columbia
#Sex Pistols: "Holidays in the Sun" (Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, 1977) Virgin Records
#Lynyrd Skynyrd: "Free Bird" [album version] ((pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd), 1974) MCA
#Rezillos: "I Can't Stand My Baby" [single version] (7" single, 1977) Sensible Records
#Van Morrison: "Madame George" (Astral Weeks, 1968) Warner Bros. Records
#Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Hong Kong Garden" (7" single, 1978) Polydor
#Clash: "Police & Thieves" (The Clash, 1977) CBS
#Jam: "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" [single version] (7" single, 1978) Polydor
#Elvis Costello: "Watching the Detectives" (7" single, 1977) Stiff Records
#Bruce Springsteen: "Born to Run" (Born to Run, 1975) Columbia
#Ian Dury: "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" (7" single, 1977) Stiff Records
#Dire Straits: "Sultans of Swing" [album version] (Dire Straits, 1978) Vertigo
#Pink Floyd: "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" [parts I - V] (Wish You Were Here, 1975) Harvest
#Buzzcocks: "Moving Away from the Pulsebeat" (Another Music in a Different Kitchen, 1978) United Artists
#Derek & The Dominoes: "Layla" [album version] (Layla and other assorted Love Songs, 1970) Polydor
#Stranglers: "Hanging Around" (Rattus Norvegicus, 1977) United Artists
#Stranglers: "No More Heroes" (No More Heroes, 1977) United Artists
#Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Helter Skelter" (The Scream, 1978) Polydor (however the version played is a clean radio promo, with rerecorded, not muted, vocals)
#Motors: "Dancing the Night Away" [album version] (1, 1977) Virgin Records
#Bob Dylan: "Like a Rolling Stone" (Highway 61 Revisited, 1965) Columbia
#Elvis Costello: "Alison" (My Aim Is True, 1977) Stiff Records (played from the 7" single)
#Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Overground" [album version] (The Scream, 1978) Polydor
#Who: "My Generation" (My Generation, 1965) Brunswick
#Stranglers: "London Lady" (Rattus Norvegicus, 1977) United Artists
#Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Switch" (The Scream, 1978) Polydor
#Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Mirage" (The Scream, 1978) Polydor
#Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Jigsaw Feeling" (The Scream, 1978) Polydor
#Jam: "In the City" (In the City, 1977) Polydor [version unconfirmed]
#Sex Pistols: "E.M.I." (Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, 1977) Virgin Records
#Bob Dylan: "Desolation Row" (Highway 61 Revisited, 1965) Columbia
#Flying Lizards: "Summertime Blues" [7" version] (7" single, 1978) Virgin Records
#Neil Young: "Like a Hurricane" [album version] (American Stars 'n Bars, 1977) Reprise
#Thin Lizzy: "Emerald" [live] (Live and Dangerous, 1978) Warner Bros. Records
#Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)" (The Scream, 1978) Polydor
== Availability ==
All four of the Peel shows that make up this Festive Fifty are available online; see the individual show pages for details.
Although every one of the songs listed is included on John Peel Torrent Compilation 2 of 17, these are all mp3s of the original tracks, not recordings from the shows, and in some cases they are different versions to those transmitted.
Category:1978
Category:Available online
Category:Festive Fifty