Festive 50 1976

[John]

This is my first posting in this group, which I discovered only 
recently, so bear with me if any of my subsequent 
comments/requests/questions are `old hat' to any of you.

I'll start with a wee tale which I hope will raise a smile from some 
of you, even though it is a little embarrassing for me 
 


I was listening - live - to the final program of the very first 
Festive 50.  I'd been able to listen to numbers 50-45, missed 44-11 
due to being away at relatives for part of that year's festivities, 
and was now catching from 10 onwards.  

I didn't know which tracks I'd missed, so educated guesses as to what 
the number 1 might be were almost pointless.  A Day In The Life had 
appeared at 9, Crazy Diamond at 8, Alright Now at 6, Watchtower at 5 
and Desolation Row at 3.  All had been possibilities for the top spot 
in my mind.

He then introduced the runner-up, commenting that `two had whizzed 
ahead and either one of them could have won it.'   I'd been sure that 
as Layla hadn't appeared in the last 10 already it must surely be the 
winner – but no.

After Layla, `without the other assorted Love Songs'  and  `by Eric 
Clapton, of course, or actually Derek & The Dominoes to be absolutely 
accurate' - to quote the man – he introduced Number 1 with :-  

`and, you probably won't be too astonished to discover that this is 
number one in the Festive 50'

And out of my speakers poured the sound of Led Zeppelin's  Stairway 
To Heaven.

Now, here is where I have to admit what, to this day, still 
embarrasses me when I'm reminded of it – I did not recognize the 
track, I didn't know it, I'd never heard it, nor heard of it.  There 
was I, convinced that I was au fait with the 
current/popular/progressive rock world, only to discover that I 
didn't know the track that the whole of Britain – well, listeners to 
John Peel's show – had voted as their favorite track.

I did, however, buy the LP within a few days of first 
hearing `stairway'.  Not because it was so clearly something that was 
missing from my record collection, but because after a couple of 
replays of my tape of the programme I really did like the track - and 
it remains a favorite to this day.

So there you are – my confession.  I feel much better now :)


Which leads nicely on to my first question - are there any complete 
recordings of this very first Festive 50 around ?   It's interesting 
to hear what he said about some of the records in the list and I'd 
like to hear what he had to say about some of the tracks played in 
the programs that I missed.