This remnant will be replaced soon. The FAQ is back, with a new design! What Phish songs are rarities? Lotsa Songs: Phish play lots of songs (153 in 1993, 198 in 1994, 181 in 1995, 159 in 1996, 190 in 1997, and 231 in 1998, according to ZZYZX's PhishStats), but their current playlists still can't cover their entire, and growing, repertoire. Popularly demanded? Three songs are often talked about for having been played very few times, and not recently: "Spock's Brain" (introduced __ and played __ times) has not been played since __. "Destiny Unbound" (introduced __ and played 4 times) has not been played since 11/15/91. Unseen in '97 and '98: Big Ball Jam, Mound, Take the A-Train, Alumni Blues Busted Out in '98: These songs had been on the rarities list below but finally emerged: If I Could on 7-31-98, Esther 8-1-98, Cracklin' Rosie 8-6-98, and Amazing Grace 10-3-98. Unseen in the '90s: Here's a list of songs that haven't been played in the 1990's, in order of the number of shows since last played (current to 7/26/98), thanks to ZZYZX: Title, last time played, number of shows since last played: Grapevine 10/30/83 880 Fire on the Mountain 12/1/84 878 Spanish Flea 12/1/84 878 Eyes of the World 5/19/85 877 Fire up the Ganja 5/19/85 877 Midnight Hour 5/19/85 877 Scarlet Begonias 5/19/85 877 Anarchy/Revolution 10/17/85 876 I Wish 10/30/85 875 Revival 10/30/85 875 Bodhisattva Blues 5/4/86 872 Feelin' Alright 5/4/86 872 Here Comes Sunshine 5/4/86 872 Prep School Hippie 12/6/86 870 Freeworld 3/6/87 869 Why Don't You Love Me 3/23/87 868 Fuck Your Face 4/29/87 865 Melt the Guns 4/29/87 865 Lushington 8/29/87 860 Jump Monk 3/12/88 852 Dear Mrs. Reagan 6/15/88 846 Big Leg Emma 6/18/88 845 Blue Bossa 7/23/88 841 Skin It Back 7/25/88 839 I Know a Little 8/3/88 838 Mr. P.C. 11/11/88 828 All Blues 2/6/89 823 The Price of Love 3/30/89 817 You're No Good 3/30/89 817 I've Turned Bad 5/9/89 811 If I Don't be There by Morning 5/9/89 811 Nowhere Fast 5/9/89 811 Shortage 5/26/89 806 Blue Sky 8/12/89 801 On Your Way Down 8/12/89 801 Swing Tune 8/12/89 801 Wonderful You 8/12/89 801 Who Do We Do 9/21/89 796 Fly Like an Eagle 10/7/89 794 No Dogs Allowed 11/3/89 785 My Girl 11/10/89 783 Undone 12/7/89 781 In a Hole 12/16/89 777 Notable Gaps: Some songs have reportedly been "dropped" for specific reasons. ("Destiny Unbound", for instance, is said to sound too much like the Grateful Dead and, besides, now has legendary status as the too over-requested rare tune see show notes at 11-22-97.) But others become relatively rare only for a moment. For example, "Bouncing Round the Room" wasn't played for a 15-show gap (the longest since its debut) before resurfacing 7-24-98, and "Long Cool Woman (With a Black Dress)" went fifteen years before resurfacing. ZZYZX's stats page provides "Notable Gaps" when you request personal stats for the shows you've seen (or for any set of shows you select). As Dave explained it: I call a notable gap a 20 show break between seeing it. It prints out stuff like: Bold as Love was not seen between 8/19/87 and 7/23/88 [21 shows] Skin It Back was not seen between 8/27/87 and 7/25/88 [22 shows] Oh Kee Pa Ceremony was not seen between 8/27/87 and 8/19/88 [25 shows] Punch You in the Eye was not seen between 9/7/87 and 8/19/88 [22 shows] for each of the 20 + show gaps. 90s' Notable Returns: Here are the most notable returns, songs that were "broken out" or "busted out" (played after particularly long gaps of not being played), based on ZZYZX's notable [approximated] gaps, 120 or more). They are in order of the length of the gap, starting with the longest. Long Cool Woman was not seen from 11/3/83 to 10-30-98 [approx. 879 shows, at the time stretching their entire history] Little Drummer Boy was not seen from 12/6/86 until 7/3/99 870 Quinn the Eskimo was not seen from 4/29/87 to 11-21-98 [approx. 865 shows] She Caught the Katy was not seen between '84 and 7/98 [approx 863 shows] Light Up or Leave Me Alone was not seen between 8/13/88 and 12/30/99 [approx 860 shows] Corrina was not seen between 2/18/89 to 12/30/99 [approx 850 shows] Low Rider Jam was not seen between 8/21/87 and 11/23/97 [845 shows] Time Loves a Hero was not seen from 11/5/88 to 8/11/98 [approx. 829 shows] Boogie On Reggae Woman was not seen between 9/13/88 and 12/7/97 [815 shows] Sneakin' Sally through the Alley was not seen between 5/28/89 and 12/30/97 [785 shows] Shaggy Dog was not seen between 11/3/88 and 10/29/95 [642 shows] Dave's Energy Guide was not seen between 9/13/88 and 6/28/95 [619 shows] Camel Walk was not seen between 2/24/89 and 7/2/95 [605 shows] Letter to Jimmy Page was not seen between 11/19/87 and 7/5/94 [569 shows] Cities was not seen between 9/13/88 and 7/5/94 [543 shows] Freebird was not seen between 3/6/87 and 7/15/93 [484 shows] Peaches en Regalia was not seen between 6/23/89 and 12/28/93 [438 shows] Have Mercy was not seen between 10/31/86 and 2/20/93 [429 shows] Touch Me was not seen between 7/27/91 and 12/3/94 [385 shows] Hoochie Coochie Man was not seen between 4/10/93 and 8/8/97 [380 shows] Halley's Comet was not seen between 8/17/89 and 3/14/93 [358 shows] The Asse Festival was not seen between 4/27/91 and 6/14/94 [344 shows] Costume Contest was not seen between 10/31/91 and 10/31/94 [343 shows] Sparks was not seen between 9/13/90 and 8/2/93 [339 shows] Satin Doll was not seen between 2/25/90 and 4/12/93 [337 shows] Frankenstein was not seen between 7/26/91 and 6/11/94 [320 shows] Punch You in the Eye was not seen between 11/9/89 and 2/5/93 [313 shows] Kung was not seen between 11/2/89 and 12/31/92 [312 shows] Swing Low Sweet Chariot Jam was not seen between 10/20/89 and 12/11/92 [312 shows] Ride Captain Ride was not seen between 4/14/90 and 12/12/92 [270 shows]; notable again from '92 to '96 Alumni Blues was not seen from to 4/15/94 and 7/24/99 [__ shows] Earlier Rarities: A tape circulated 1992-1995 of songs that had been considered rarities but of which many have since been played. That tape included thanks to Jeremy David Goodwin <gilmour@GWIS2.CIRC.GWU.EDU>: Halley's Comet (Goddard, 5/14/88) Shaggy Dog (UVM, 4/22/88) Timber Ho! (Sam's Tavern, 7/12/89) Sanity (Hebron, NY 5/28/89) Prep School Hippie (Mood Ranch, VT 12/6/86) Tube (Fort Collins, CO 11/4/90) Harpua (Molly's, Boston 11/3/88) No Dogs Allowed (Tree Cafe, ME 11/3/89) Dave's Energyguide (Finbar's, VT 1985) Revolution/Anarchy (Finbar's, VT, 1985) Makisupa Policeman (The Front, 3/30/89) Punch You In The Eye (Collins Center, UNH 8/19/89) Camelwalk (FInbar's, 1985) Horn (Gothic Theater, CO 3/15/91) Rift (Strand, Boston 4/28/90) Destiny Unbound (Gothic Theatre, CO 3/15/91) She's Bitchin' Again (Amy's Farm, Me 8/3/91) Nancy Reagan (1988) Hole (The Front, 10/20/89) Lushington Miles (Nectars 4/27/87) Thanks also to Kristoffer Paci, Lane Wooder, Brett Sterba Paul, Amy and Bob Sullivan. "I like the fact that now, people come expecting what we do. They know we want to take you higher, that we are going to search for something. It won't be the same old thing. That's refreshing. Not too many bands can say that. And as a result, the material keeps going through these changes. I think a few songs from Hoist, like 'Down with Disease', have just reach maturity. It's really exciting to play those, because you get involved in the way it feels good, how you can make it feel better." -- Trey Anastasio, Microsoft Music Central interview, 9/96 "We just discovered how to play Split Open and Melt, because it's got this really weird time change that was throwing us off. But that one on Hoist at the end, that was the first time it clicked. Split Open and Melt went from being a big pain in our butt to like, this was it, this was how you play Split Open and Melt. For the next year, it was incredible. We played one at Red Rocks.... It was just screaming. That had gotten to that point from the one on Hoist, from Columbus, Ohio. That was the night that it broke through. I actually this this is what happened: The one at Red Rocks was the end of the cycle. It peaked, and it never got as good as that again. It hasn't yet. And this tour, it didn't have it anmore. It didn't have the magic. It's weird. We figured it ou, and then it went through this big cycle starting in Columbus and ending in Red Rocks, and this tour, it's back on the back burner again. We're not playing it that much." -- Trey Anastasio, 12/10/94 interview with Steve Silberman There's never been logic to music being forgotten, for if a song is good, it should be good all the time. You never throw away a book that's good. And music should be treated as well. ~~ Phil Everly "The saddest part about growing older is that we often have to set aside those relationships with acquaintances who have enriched our lives, to make room for those who are about to." - Robert Merton This page last updated February 03, 2007. All contents © 1992-2007 Ellis Godard. 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