1979 Festive Fifty

So, what happened in the world of music between 1978 and 1979 then? Pretty much bugger all, if the comparative charts of the year before and year after are to be believed. OK, so maybe Peel's few remaining Genesis fans had been totally alienated by this time, but that's about it. Despite this still being, ostensibly, an all time list, the comparisons with the 1976 list are few. Absolute belters abound, nevertheless.

John Peel's Festive Fifty 1979

 * Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
 * Undertones - Teenage Kicks
 * Clash - White Man in Hammersmith Palais
 * Jam - Down in the Tube Station At Midnight
 * Clash - Complete Control
 * Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster
 * Specials - Gangsters
 * Stiff Little Fingers - Suspect Device
 * Public Image Ltd. - Public Image
 * Damned - New Rose
 * Ruts - In a Rut
 * Undertones - Get Over You
 * Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen
 * Sex Pistols - Holidays in the Sun
 * Stiff Little Fingers - Johnny Was
 * Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant
 * Magazine - Shot By Both Sides
 * Stiff Little Fingers - Wasted Life
 * Jam - Eton Rifles
 * Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet
 * Siouxsie & the Banshees - Love In A Void
 * Damned - Love song
 * Gang of Four - Damaged Goods
 * Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven
 * Buzzcocks - Boredom
 * Clash - White Riot
 * Jam - Strange Town
 * Public Image Ltd. - Death Disco
 * Undertones - You've Got My Number
 * Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond
 * Undertones - Jimmy Jimmy
 * Who - My Generation
 * Dead Kennedys - California Uber Alles
 * David Bowie - Heroes
 * Siouxsie & the Banshees - Icon
 * Specials - Too Much Too Young
 * Skids - Into The Valley
 * Siouxsie & the Banshees - Switch
 * Tubeway Army - Are friends Electric?
 * The Fall - Rowche Rumble
 * Mekons - Where were you
 * Siouxsie & the Banshees - Jigsaw Feeling
 * Cure - 10:15 Saturday Night
 * Siouxsie & the Banshees - Playground Twist
 * Stranglers - No More Heroes
 * Siouxsie & The Banshees - Helter Skelter
 * Ruts - Babylon's Burning
 * Siouxsie & the Banshees - Hong Kong Garden
 * Clash - Police & Thieves
 * Buzzcocks - What Do I Get?

Where can you find this show?
As of January 2008, this is the earliest list in general circulation, and in fact only the top 10 exists.

This can be obtained from entrailicus at the Fades in slowly blog. Here's what he has to say:

At the time of broadcast I was six years old, and to be honest probably didn't stay up late enough to be able to listen to Peel all that much at the time. Consequently, this means a lot more to me nowadays than it did then. This particular 50 dates to the time before Peel had made the chart year-specific, and as a result it bears striking similarites to the 50s of the previous and following years. The quality of the recording is as delightfully bad as you'd hope - washy mediumwave signal fading in and out. Legend has it that this was recently discovered at a car boot sale and purchased for 25 pence. If I could put a price on this recording, I'd probably say it's worth a bit more than that. Be warned that number 3 seems to be missing, although that just makes it all the better if you ask me.

Link to download the top ten
Festive 50 1979 top 10