UNCUT: JOHN PEEL's FESTIVE 15

JOHN ROBERT PARKER RAVENSCROFT, O.B.E (August 20 1939 – October 25, 2004) aka. JOHN PEEL, was an English Disc Jockey, radio presenter and journalist who was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004. UNCUT magazine is a monthly publication based in London which is available across the English-speaking world that focuses on music, films and books. For today's blogpost, I'll be featuring the UNCUT Magazine JANUARY 2006 Issue with the Freebie CD entitled "UNCUT Presents: John Peel's Festive 15". It was taken from JOHN PEEL'S FESTIVE FIFTY which was an annual list of the year's fifty best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was John Peel's annual rundown of listeners' fifty favorite tracks of the year, and thus "The John Peel Festive 50" became a Christmas institution more loved than fairy lights and Christmas crackers. So instead of 50, the Compilation CD contains only 15 Tracks. Well, here in the MANILA back in the 80s there was 99.5RT's "The RT 40" which was inspired by Casey Kasem's "American Top 40" which was an RT exclusive radio show back in those days. John Peel's Festive Fifty was usually dominated by indie and rock songs which did not fully represent the diversity of music played by Peel but rather the majority opinion among his listeners. After Peel's death in 2004, the tradition of the Festive Fifty was continued, first by other Radio 1 DJs and when Radio 1 decided to discontinue it then came Dandelion Internet Radio continuing the legacy since 2006. The very first "Festive Fifty" was broadcast in 1976 and differed in format to later charts in that it was not restricted to songs from that year. It was topped by Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven", first released in 1971, and also contained many older songs. The following year, Peel's producer suggested that instead of taking a poll, Peel should simply compile a list of his favorite songs of the year.


John Peel's thoughts on Festive Fifty:
"It's really just me marking every single vote down in a ledger. There is obviously the temptation to slip something in that I like, especially if it's just outside the 50, and something crap has gone above it. But I have a very workman-like brain so it just wouldn't be on to fix it."


There was more to JOHN PEEL than his famous Peel Sessions, playing records and spinning discs and of course supporting unknown bands. JOHN PEEL was one of Britain's most loved broadcasters and was known for his eclectic taste in music and his honest and warm broadcasting style. He was one of the first broadcasters to play psychedelic rock, reggae and punk records on British radio and was widely acknowledged for promoting artists working in various genres including alternative rock, indie rock, pop, hardcore punk, grindcore, death metal, British hip hop and dance music. That's why he was loved by a lot of people especially the musicians. Definitely a very influential person who is missed right now because of his contribution to music history.


I bought the JANUARY 2006 Issue of UNCUT Magazine with "THE SMITHS" cover and of course the free CD that I'm featuring right now. This issue featured the 20th Anniversary of THE SMITHS' album "THE QUEEN IS DEAD".



UNCUT PRESENTS: JOHN PEEL'S FESTIVE 15



INSIDE MY CD

This compilation CD was just a sampling of what John Peel's annual Festive 50 was like back in the day. It includes some of John's most favorite bands like THE WEDDING PRESENT and BHUNDU BOYS. It really represented the man who influenced so many listeners of different generation. Although It contains only 15 tracks from 15 different Artists/Bands, It still worthwhile to listen to all of them. Good thing It's a Freebie!! Actually when I saw the CD and saw the UNCUT Issue cover which was "THE SMITHS", I did not have second thoughts of buying it at once. I don't have that much issues of UNCUT but this have to be my personal favorite. YUP!! From the articles in the magazine and the CD itself. This CD was dedicated to the Two Johns namely JOHN PEEL and JOHN WALTERS. It's a FIESTA on music!! I made my CD available for download if you are interested to have a copy. GREAT COMPILATION INDEED!!

Other CD INFOS:
Compilation Producer - Andrew Tidball* , Mick Meikleham
Compiled By - Roy Carr , Simon Goddard
Compiled By [Man Full Of Christmas Cheer] - Allan Jones
Compiled By [Santa's Little Helper] - Paul Lester
Design - Miles Johnson


UNCUT PRESENTS: JOHN PEEL'S FESTIVE 15
TRACKLIST:

1. The Trumpton Riots- Half Man Half Biscuit
2. Take The Skinheads Bowling- Camper Van Beethoven
3. Where's Captain Kirk?- Spizzenergi
4. Remember- The Mighty Wah!
5. Birthday- The Sugarcubes
6. Well Well Well- The Woodentops
7. The Saturday Boy- Billy Bragg
8. Sensitive- The Field Mice
9. Foolish Harp / Waerera- The Bhundu Boys
10.Gold Soundz- Pavement
11.Primitive Painters- Felt Featuring Elizabeth Fraser
12.Destroy The Heart- The House Of Love
13.Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft- The Wedding Present
14.Shipbuilding- Robert Wyatt
15.Eat Y'self Fitter- The Fall
16.Untitled- John Peel

DOWNLOAD MY CD HERE:


PASSWORD: http://docmuzic.blogspot.com/

I uploaded two songs from two favorite bands of John Peel in the compilation for you to listen to.


LISTEN to "Foolish Harp / Waerera" by THE BHUNDU BOYS Here:




LISTEN to "Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft" by THE WEDDING PRESENT Here:



INSIDE MY UNCUT MAGAZINE:


Pages 16-20 of this UNCUT MAGAZINE I bought payed tribute to JOHN PEEL. The photo above are Pages 16 and 17. As the title of the article said "THIS NATION'S SAVING GRACE". The bold first liner indicated "One year on from the Legendary DJ's untimely death, this month's free UNCUT CD pays tribute to JOHN PEEL and his annual FESTIVE 50". THIS IS THE REAL THING!!


Page 18 talked about Songs #1 to #5. Very informative trivia about the songs 1-5 of the CD compilation which was added to my memory banks.




Page 20 talked about Songs #6 to # 15 with a mouthful of information too. That's not all!! It included the TOP WINNERS of the FESTIVE 50 countdown from the year it started which was 1976 to the year JOHN PEEL died in 2004. Actually the countdown still continued by 2005 up to present even without John Peel but definitely it was not included here since this UNCUT Magazine Issue was JANUARY 2006. This page also include a portion entitled "Five Festive Facts" which was also a trivia thing.


Btw, there's also a "John Peel Festive Fifty Illustrated Book" by David Gedge available.


Here are some images in the book created by David Gedge:

John Peel, Ian Curtis (Joy Division), and Morrissey & Marr (The Smiths)

I hope you guys ENJOYED another trip down memory lane here on "The Doctor Is In". I'll leave you with a film clip of John Peel's thoughts about PUNK to wrap up this tribute of mine. THANKS again for dropping by!!

WATCH JOHN PEEL HERE:




It's UNCUT's JOHN PEEL's
FESTIVE 15 CD!!
-DR. STIRRING RHOD