Fanning's Fab 50 (1986)

I have in my possession a number of cassettes recorded over a series of nights late in 1986 when Dave ran down the 50 successful entries and some of those that didn’t quite make it into that year’s Fab Fifty. Some of the tracks from these particular tapes have made it into previous posts but I thought you might like the complete rundown. Unfortunately I performed some in situ editing so there are a few blind spots below, if anyone can fill in the blanks, I’d love to hear from you. My interest in the Fab Fifty waned in later years as I became more interested in John Peel’s Festive 50, I liked the way Peel’s rundown was restricted to music from that year, the Fab 50 meant negotiating indie ‘classics’ and U2 anthems like that interminable live version of ‘Bad’. Anyway for whatever reason the 1986 Fab 50 was the one for me, I still enjoy listening to it. The number of demos present is particularly impressive IMHO..

Update: Show now online, listen to parts 1,2,3,4,5 and 6

50. U2 – A Celebration
49. New Order – Ceremony
48. Half Man Half Biscuit – The Trumpton Riots
47. The Triffids – Wide Open Road
46. In Tua Nua – Ballad Of Irish Love
45. The Mission – The Serpent’s Kiss
44. Aslan – This Is
43. The Blue Nile – Heatwave
42. Blue In Heaven – I Just Wanna
41. The Subterraneans – Maxi Joy (Demo)
40. The Waterboys – This Is The Sea
39. Half Man Half Biscuit – All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
38. Paul Brady _ The Island
37. The Cocteau Twins – Pearly Dew Drops Drop
36.
35.
34.
33. The The – Heartland
32. Joy Division – New Dawn Fades
31. Tuesday Blue – I’m So Scared (Demo)
30. Billy Bragg – Between The Wars
29. PiL – Rise
28. Something Happens – Forget Georgia (Demo)
27. Simple Minds – Someone Somewhere In Summertime
26. Half Man Half Biscuit – Dickie Davies Eyes
25. Simple Minds – Don’t You Forget About Me
24. U2 – An Cat Dubh
23.
22. Cactus World News – The Bridge
21. The Blades – Some People Smile
20. The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead
19. Joy Division – Atmosphere
18. New Order – Blue Monday
17. Tuesday Blue – Tunnel Vision
16. The Doors – An American Prayer
15. The Pogues – Dirty Old Town
14. The Smiths – There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
13. U2 – Pride (In The Name Of Love)
12. New Order – State Of The Nation
11. The Waterboys – Death Is Not The End (Live On Fanning Show)