| Festive Fifty |
| 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | ||||||
| 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
| 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
This chart came to be named the 'Phantom Fifty' by Peel himself, as part of the way through voting he aborted it, deciding not to tally the votes or broadcast it, instead playing a selection of his own favorite records of the year and session repeats. According to Peel himself he got into a bit of a 'sulk' when not many people were voting and decided to cancel it.
At some point, however, he relented and instead invited any listener who cared to make a chart: he said, at the start of one 1992 show:
"I'll tell you something I discovered over the weekend, while I was going through records trying to tidy up my room a little bit, and that is the envelope with all of last year's aborted Festive Fifty entries in it. I know from the mail that I've had, I still get it actually, on the subject, people saying how disappointed they were that there wasn't a Festive Fifty over last Christmas and New Year, so if there's anybody...I'm not going to broadcast it: I might say what the answer was, but if there's anybody who'd like to add them all up, I haven't got the time, frankly, but there aren't a great many of them, and if there's somebody listening who's got time on their hands, who'd like to work out what last year's Festive Fifty would have been if I'd bothered to go ahead with it, then I'll send the cards and letters off to you and you can do it for me. You'll get no reward at all, of course, apart from the solid satisfaction of doing a good job well."
He eventually broadcast the Phantom 50, compiled by an anonymous listener in Sheffield, in the first part of 1993.
Dates Broadcast[]
Beginning on the 08 January 1993, JP commenced playing the tracks at the rate of one per show, as he intimated he was going to do at the end of his 01 January 1993 show, "just to make it really agonising." The listing below is now complete, thanks mainly to the work of Peel Mailing List user Isector. Peel was supposed to have played track 21 on 17 April 1993 but left it at home, thereby throwing the sequence out by a week.
The Festive Fifty Of 1991[]
John Peel's Festive Fifty - 1991
50: Bongwater, "Nick Cave Dolls" (08 January 1993)
49: Mercury Rev, "Car Wash Hair" (09 January 1993)
48: Nirvana, "Breed" (15 January 1993)
47: Pixies, "Bird Dream Of The Olympus Mons" (16 January 1993)
46: Pixies, "Motorway To Roswell" (22 January 1993)
45: Field Mice, "Missing The Moon" (23 January 1993)
44: Th' Faith Healers, "Gorgeous Blue Flower In My Garden" (29 January 1993)
43: Fall, "So What About It?" (30 January 1993)
42: Babes In Toyland, "Ripe" (05 February 1993)
41: Fall , "The Mixer" (06 February 1993)
40: Electronic, "Get The Message" (12 February 1993)
39: Babes In Toyland, "Primus" (13 February 1993)
38: Curve, "No Escape From Heaven" (19 February 1993)
37: My Bloody Valentine, "To Here Knows When" (20 February 1993)
36: Teenage Fanclub, "Like A Virgin" (26 February 1993)
35: Fall, "The War Against Intelligence" (27 February 1993)
34: Pavement, "Summer Babe" (05 March 1993)
33: Chapterhouse, "Pearl" (06 March 1993)
32: Wedding Present, "Octopussy" (12 March 1993)
31: Babes In Toyland, "Laugh My Head Off" (13 March 1993)
30: Babes In Toyland, "Catatonic" (19 March 1993)
29: Billy Bragg, "Sexuality" (20 March 1993)
28: 70 Gwen Party , "Auto Killer UK" (26 March 1993)
27: Smashing Pumpkins, "Siva" (27 March 1993)
26: Pixies, "Planet Of Sound" (02 April 1993)
25: Nirvana, "Lithium" (03 April 1993)
24: Fall, "High Tension Line" (09 April 1993)
23: Slint, "Good Morning, Captain" (10 April 1993)
22: Wedding Present, "Rotterdam" (16 April 1993)
21: Foreheads In A Fishtank, "Happy Shopper"(23 April 1993)
20: Slowdive, "Catch The Breeze" (24 April 1993)
19: Boo Radleys, "Finest Kiss" (30 April 1993)
18: Babes In Toyland, "Handsome & Gretel" (01 May 1993)
17: Moose, "Suzanne" (07 May 1993)
16: Nirvana, "Drain You" (08 May 1993)
15: Catherine Wheel, "Black Metallic" (14 May 1993)
14: Wedding Present, "Fleshworld" (15 May 1993)
13: Gallon Drunk, "Some Fools Mess" (21 May 1993)
12: Wedding Present, "Dare" (22 May 1993)
11: Primal Scream, "Higher Than The Sun" (28 May 1993)
10: Hole, "Teenage Whore" (29 May 1993)
09: Fall, "A Lot Of Wind" (04 June 1993)
08: Wedding Present, "Dalliance" (05 June 1993)
07: Hole, "Burn Black" (11 June 1993)
06: Teenage Fanclub, "The Concept" (12 June 1993)
05: Teenage Fanclub, "Star Sign" (18 June 1993)
04: Fall, "Edinburgh Man" (19 June 1993)
03: Curve, "Ten Little Girls" (25 June 1993)
02: PJ Harvey, "Dress" (26 June 1993)
01: Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (02 July 1993)
Availability[]
- Part 1, Part 2. See also IAP's Tapes, 'Phantom 50' folder.