[peel] Dull-ish Festive Fifty - it's still a throwback!

[John Bravin]

>>>Let me start by stating that I love the Peel show, and have done for 
more years than most people on this list have been breathing...etc

Likewise. And I have listened for the very reason that Peel has never seen the world in terms of rock n roll in the 50s, pop in the 60s, guitar rock in the 70s, house in the 90s etc. There are (and he plays) so many other styles, and therein lies his longevity.  Its not his ability to spot and follow the trend that makes him great, it's rather the variety of his mix.  If his show was solely white guitar bands and electronica it would be deadly dull - but it never is thanks to the odd piece of reggae, jit jive, country, white soul and black folk.  It's true the Festive Fifty is a little predictable, but it's only a bit of festive fun.  If it set the playlist pattern for the following year it would be a disaster, but thank God, when it's over Peel takes pleasure in ignoring it and moving on to his next eclectic playlist.

And I'm not sure "the post-'88 music tracks that he plays are *always* the most interesting, innovative and going-somewhere selections on the whole show, week in week out". Sometimes they are, but for me the music I take away and listen to again and again are the surprises - juxtapositions of Laura Cantrel and Extreme Noise Terror etc. It's always been thus - many years ago it would have been Tim Buckley and Beefheart, or Douggie Mclean and the Bhundu Boys.  There are many DJs who play a carefully blended mix of complimentary music, but it so often results in a samey miasma that takes you nowhere.  It really is Peel's jarring exceptions that make him special.