THE TOP SINGLES OF ALL TIME (Possibly!!)

The sentimental warblings of comic Ken Dodd has beaten the biggest selling record ever made in a controversial new league table of the top 100 pop songs of all time.  The authoritative Guinness Book Of Hit Singles is arguably on safe ground when it places Bill Haleys' 45 year old classic Rock Around The Clock at No 1, just ahead of Queens' Bohemian Rhapsody... but music insiders have poured scorn on other entries, not least the appearance at No 34 of Kens' 1965 ballad Tears - no fewer than 30 places higher than Elton Johns' Candle In the Wind tribute to Princess Diana, which has outsold every other popular song in history.  Even stranger is the absence from the Top 10 of any Beatles song, despite the fact that the group are regularly named as the worlds' all time favourite pop artists.

Dave McAleer, who compiled the new list, attempted to explain the complicated range of factors that has thrown up such anomalies as Eighties group Frankie Goes To Hollywood achieving more entries than any other British artist. "The list is worked out on a points system" said Dave. Records were judged not on sales but on chart positions, length of time in the British charts and repeat appearances.

Rock Around The Clock was a hit for Bill Haley no fewer than five times, selling 25million copies worldwide, while Eltons' 33million selling Candle In the Wind 1997 was released once and stayed top for a short time.  In contrast, Bryan Adams' (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, stayed at No 1 for a record breaking 16 weeks and shows up as the ONLY record from the Nineties in the Top 10. (Good On Ya Bryan!!).  Perhaps the biggest surprise in the list is the poor showing of The Beatles, whose top record, She Loves You, appears at No. 19, one place behind Gloria Gaynors' disco hit I Will Survive.  Cliff Richard does not feature in the list at all (which proves what a complete farce this list is!).

Pop pundit Jonathan King said he is surprised at some of the entries. "The stunning thing is that a lot of the greatest songs of all time seem to be by people who just had the one hit, and not much of a career."

DO YOU AGREE WITH THE NEW LIST? Write to Top Singles, The Express Newspaper,  245, Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 9UX, England.

        BELOW: COPY OF THE GUINNESS HIT PARADE!             

JUST A THOUGHT! Is it possible that Dave McAleer had one too many glasses of guinness when he compiled this Guinness Hit Parade? If not, what's his excuse!

DONT FORGET... If, like me, you think this list is a load of rubbish, write to Top Singles, The Express, 245 Blackfriars Road, London,SE1 9UX. 

THE GUINNESS BOOK OF HITS AND MISTAKES!

                                                      24/03/01