RaW Folk's Vital Statistics

During the final show I received an email enquiry about the most-played song on RaW Folk - a title won by Fleet Foxes for Mykonos, which, with four plays, works out as almost 0.8% of RaW Folk's musical output. In actuality that is likely to be wildly untrue, as I have not been so anal in my bookkeeping as to record individual track lengths - but I have pressed play 513 times.

Listed below for the quantitatively-tuned are RaW Folk's vital statistics.

Total shows: 32
Total songs played: 513
Average show duration: 74.5 minutes
Average songs per show: 16.03
Most songs played: 30 (18/10/2008)
Fewest songs played: 9 (07/02/2009 - though this special show included snippets from 35 other tracks, as part of RaW Folk's BBC Folk Awards coverage).

Most Played Artist: Bob Dylan (18)
Most Played Female Artist: Eliza Carthy (11) and Kate Rusby (11)
Most Played Band: Chumbawamba (13)
Most Played Duo: Simon & Garfunkel (8)

Most Played Songs: "Mykonos" by Fleet Foxes (4) and "All You Pretty Girls" by Jim Moray (3) and XTC (1).
Songs with three plays:
- "Come Down Jehovah" (Chris Wood)
- "Fakenham Fair" (Bellowhead)
- "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" (Robert Plant & Alison Krauss)
- "Lon Dubh / Blackbird" (Julie Fowlis)
- "Mary Margaret" (Mr Plow)
- "New Columbus" (The Queensbury Rules)
- "Old Virginia Block" (Devon Sproule)
- "When I Get Back To Shore" (Thea Gilmore)
- "White Winter Hymnal" (Fleet Foxes)
"Dirty Old Town" has also been heard three times - Ewan MacColl's original, Rod Stewart's cover and the Pogues' Irishised version from Rum, Sodomy & the Lash. In addition, the Dylan classic "I Shall Be Released" received three plays - versions by the Tom Robinson Band and the Band having been featured in Folk On or Folk Off but the original never making the airwaves (tut).

Most Featured Albums: "The Boy Bands Have Won" by Chumbawamba (ten different tracks played, twelve plays total); "Low Culture" by Jim Moray (six, nine) and "Burlesque" by Bellowhead (eight, eight).

Thanks again to everyone who listened to the programme during its four term run. The current intention is to continue the show with a series of specials next year.