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All-time countdown · John Peel (BBC Radio 1) · December 30, 1981

John Peel's All-Time Festive Fifty (1981)

The all-time countdown (December 30, 1981) from John Peel (BBC Radio 1) ranks 50 songs, with “Atmosphere” by Joy Division at number one. The list features 26 different artists; Joy Division has the most entries with eight songs.

50songs
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Listener poll of all-time favourite tracks (not restricted to 1981 releases), broadcast 23-30 December 1981. Positions 51-60 were announced by Peel but not played on air, and are excluded here; this file covers the 50 broadcast positions.

# Song ListsBest
1 Atmosphere Joy Division 21 #1
2 Anarchy in the U.K. The Sex Pistols 85 #1
3 Love Will Tear Us Apart Joy Division 120 #1
4 Ceremony New Order 13 #4
5 New Dawn Fades Joy Division 4 #4
6 Teenage Kicks The Undertones 16 #2
7 Decades Joy Division 3 #7
8 A Forest The Cure 58 #4
9 Holiday In Cambodia Dead Kennedys 47 #6
10 White Man In Hammersmith Palais The Clash 22 #3
11 Dead Souls Joy Division 3 #11
12 New Rose The Damned 23 #8
13 Down in the Tube Station at Midnight The Jam 10 #4
14 Transmission Joy Division 19 #10
15 Dead Pop Stars Altered Images 2 #15
16 Alternative Ulster Stiff Little Fingers 7 #6
17 Holidays In The Sun The Sex Pistols 8 #11
18 Complete Control The Clash 9 #2
19 Release The Bats Birthday Party 2 #19
20 Get Over You The Undertones 4 #12
21 Ghost Town The Specials 26 #21
22 The Sweetest Girl Scritti Politti 2 #22
23 Going Underground The Jam 17 #7
24 Johnny Was' Stiff Little Fingers 4 #15
25 Legion Theatre Of Hate 2 #25
26 Public Image Public Image Ltd. 17 #9
27 Requiem Killing Joke 4 #27
28 Follow the Leaders Killing Joke 2 #28
29 Fascist Groove Thing Heaven 17 5 #29
30 Fiery Jack The Fall 2 #30
31 In A Rut The Ruts 4 #11
32 Suspect Device Stiff Little Fingers 7 #4
33 How I Wrote 'Elastic Man' The Fall 3 #24
34 O Superman Laurie Anderson 9 #34
35 Jigsaw Feeling Siouxsie and the Banshees 5 #35
36 Remembrance Day B-Movie 1 #36
37 Israel Siouxsie and the Banshees 2 #15
38 God Save the Queen The Sex Pistols 63 #3
39 Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag Pigbag 3 #39
40 Icon Siouxsie and the Banshees 3 #40
41 Another Girl, Another Planet The Only Ones 10 #17
42 California Uber Alles Dead Kennedys 10 #31
43 Twenty Four Hours Joy Division 4 #23
44 Isolation Joy Division 7 #38
45 Psyche Killing Joke 3 #34
46 Over The Wall Echo and the Bunnymen 2 #22
47 Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul The Fall 1 #47
48 Procession New Order 2 #30
49 Switch Siouxsie and the Banshees 5 #38
50 Happy Birthday Altered Images 12 #27

About this countdown

John Peel's All-Time Festive Fifty (1981) was voted by John Peel (BBC Radio 1)’s listeners in December 30, 1981. Positions are shown exactly as the station ranked them; artist and song names have been standardized so that every entry links to that song’s complete chart history across all stations. It counts toward the Alternative & Modern Rock rankings.

Source: John Peel Wiki (Fandom), "1981 Festive Fifty".

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