Before The Flood

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

This is a poll about John Peel's Festive Fifty, 1976. Just tick all the songs you like from the list of 50 (counting down from #50 to #1, as it happens). I've put it up because i) I'm curious about the results, ii) I'm probably writing a pitchfork column about the F50.

[Poll #1137239]

And some more general questions I'd like to think about - they're quite big questions though:

- What does rock do better now? What does it do worse?
- How does the stuff that won respect and adoration on this poll differ from the stuff that critics and fans enjoy now (a VERY broad formulation, I know)?
- Where's the modern equivalent of the audience suggested here - Pazz and Jop? the Pitchfork Readers Poll?
- What were Poco and can we eat them?

Comments

[martinskidmore.livejournal.com]

You see, I don't think that is his whole legacy at all. He championed a lot of different types of music, and I'm not sure how much they would have caught on here without them. Someone mentioned his playing drum & bass, then a specialist show cutting into his slot - I'm not sure that specialist show would have come about without a R1 DJ playing lots of it (and he did play a lot - for years a show wouldn't go by without 3, 4, 5 D&B tracks). I think he was the only person playing hip hop from its early Sugarhill vogue until Def Jam got big, and he kept playing it (more turntablist stuff than rap - he found the lyrics distasteful). He was playing African music for a long time before anyone else caught on, and what profile that had/has would surely not have happened without him. He introduced me to loads of music I wouldn't have noticed otherwise, and I know that's true of lots of people - I remember conversations with friends who also listened about whether hip hop or house were better, 20 years ago. I know I'm not alone in this. He also introduced me to some rock/indie I liked and wouldn't have known otherwise, but that's a small amount compared to the other styles I caught on to through him.