Music Blogs

Last week, MTV brought news of the nation's favourite album in music history, as list culture's ravenous march threatened to eat us all up alive. Most sane individuals are still reeling from the announcement that Craig David's debut is apparently better than every record ever, except Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Well, now it's time to unmask the most-played song in public places from the last 75 years, which was revealed on BBC Radio 2 yesterday after a comprehensive survey which surely cannot possibly feature the "Rewind" crooning wally.

It doesn't. In fact, Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" tops the poll, over 30 years after it was first released, ahead of the likes of "Bohemian Rhapsody" from Queen, Wet Wet Wet's "Love Is All Around" and "Dancing Queen" by Abba. Amazingly, there are no Beatles tracks in the Top 10, although Macca and co can console themselves with the fact that they and Robbie Williams are tied on the most number of entries, with three apiece. Procol singer Gary Brooker called their triumph "a great and unsought honour", saying: "Every musician and singer hopes to reach out and communicate to the audience so it means a great deal that the record has such an indefinable popularity and lasting appeal".

The full Top 10 is as follows:

01 Procol Harum "A Whiter Shade Of Pale"
02 Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"
03 Everly Brothers "All I Have To Do Is Dream"
04 Wet Wet Wet "Love Is All Around"
05 Bryan Adams "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You"
06 Robbie Williams "Angels"
07 Elvis Presley "All Shook Up"
08 Abba "Dancing Queen"
09 Perry Como "Magic Moments"
10 Harry Lillis Crosby "White Christmas"

Meanwhile, PPL, the company that licenses songs on behalf of the music industry, explained how they put the chart together. "These are the records that have 'outplayed' all others, not just on radio but in public, from cafes to clubs and from the high street to hospital radio", said a spokesman. "It's a chart overflowing with surprises, which reflects the history of recorded music, and includes songs from the age of rock and pop as well as the show-tune and big-band eras."An undisputed classic from a bygone age, the last time Famethrowa heard "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" was at a funeral, which perhaps tells its own story...