Sing It With An Accent

Britain's a weird place.  So like us, yet so different. Anyway, that's what I thought when the Official Charts Company, in Britain, celebrated its 60th anniversary by listed the top musical acts of all time.

To no one's surprise, the Beatles, with 22.1 million in combined sales, came out on top, in any category.  Behind them, in top groups, was Queen. A bit of a surprise, I'd have to say.  After them, ABBA (huge throughout Europe), the Rolling Stones (that's more like it), and Oasis, another flower that bloomed a lot bigger across the pond.

For male artists, Elvis was #1, and just below the Beatles in overall sales.  Almost tied with Elvis (just 200,000 units behind) is Cliff Richard, who's been big forever in England, but means nothing in America.  Then comes Michael Jackson, Elton John and David Bowie.

For female artists, Madonna is first.  Rihanna, surprisingly, is second.  She's young enough that she may be #1 yet.  Then comes Kylie Minogue, another odd taste, followed by Whitney Houston and Lady Gaga. All fairly modern names compared to the other lists.

When it comes to top singles, things get even weirder.  Let's look the top eleven.

11.  "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" by Boney M.  Christmas songs do well, but Boney M?

10.  "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet.  Like the song, but this version?

9.  "Unchained Melody/(There'll Be Bluebirdes Over) The White Cliffs Of Dover" by Robson Green & Jerome Flynn. Once again, who?

8.  "She Loves You" by the Beatles. Finally, a great song by a great act. But note this is the Beatles' biggest seller--not "Hey Jude" or "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (and "Yesterday" wasn't even released as a single there in the 60s).

7.  "Relax" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood.  A silly (if fun) song by a silly band.  Hardly top ten material.

6.  "Rivers Of Babylon/Brown Girl In The Ring" by Boney M.  Who can get enough Boney M. Shocking they're not outselling the Beatles.

5.  "You're The One That I Want" by John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (whose "Summer Nights" is 20th on the list).  Grease obviouly looms large there.

4.  "Mull Of Kintyre/Girl's School" by Wings.  Yep, this sentimental Paul McCartney tune, which means less then nothing in America, is a bigger seller than anything by the Beatles.

3.  "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen.  So now we see why Queen was so big. (And why wouldn't Queen be big in a country with royalty?)

2.  "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid.  The song is bad enough, but why is it huge while "We Are The World" doesn't even register?

1.  "Something About The Way You Look Tonight/Candle In The Wind" by Elton John.  This is really more a keepsake to commemorate Princess Di, but it's still a weird song to top the list.