Guest MrRant Report post Posted November 10, 2002 LONDON (Reuters) - Twenty-seven years after it was first released, Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" has once again topped a chart of all-time greatest hits. The mini rock-opera saw off competition from fellow usual suspects The Beatles to claim the pop crown in a poll to mark the 50th anniversary of the UK charts. John Lennon's "Imagine" came in second, followed by The Beatles' "Hey Jude." George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" was at number five. The Beatles claimed 14 of the top 100 hits, way ahead of any other act. Other top 10 entries included the Animals' "The House of the Rising Sun," Abba's "Dancing Queen" and the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." But perhaps more noteworthy was who didn't feature in the top 100. Contemporary stars barely got a look in with only four number one singles from the past decade making the grade with listeners -- and one of those was a remix. Kylie Minogue (news)'s 2001 hit "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" featured at number 35, with revamped Elvis song "A Little Less Conversation," which topped British charts earlier this year, at 39. Oasis were at 41 with their 1996 hit "Don't Look Back In Anger" and Irish rockers U2's were at 83 with their 2000 single "Beautiful Day." The most contemporary track in the first 25 was Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" from 1984. "Bohemian Rhapsody" has proved an enduring favorite among music fans, regularly topping "greatest ever" polls. In May, it crowned a national poll of 30,000 people organized by Guinness World Records. The single has also occupied the number one spot on the British chart twice, despite record bosses initially being reluctant even to release it. The top 50 of the chart -- compiled by the Official UK Charts Company -- will be counted down on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday from 1400 GMT. You are goddamn right it should be #1. No other song comes even fucking close. All other songs will bow down to it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest godthedog Report post Posted November 10, 2002 pssh. it's a great song, but let's compare: 'bohemian rhapsody' sounds like an opera. 'a day in the life' sounds like the end of the world. i've said it before, you just can't top the end of the world. i'm sorry, but it's not possible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest La Parka Es Mi Papa Report post Posted November 10, 2002 I have no problems with Bohemian Rhapsody being number one. Great fucking song. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BigPoppaKev Report post Posted November 10, 2002 I am glad it is #1 I really love that song. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Lethargic Report post Posted November 10, 2002 Seeing things like this makes me want to go ahead and just shoot myself to get out of this world. I'm trying to use the excuse that there were some stupid Brits voting for on this bullshit list but it's not working. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest evenflowDDT Report post Posted November 10, 2002 I'm all for "Rhapsody", but the other (ex-)Beatles tracks in that top 5 are much better. "Bohemian Rhapsody" isn't even the best Queen song out there, IMHO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Ravenbomb Report post Posted November 11, 2002 hmm... I don't know if it's the BEST song ever, but it's up there. Dream On would top MY list... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest goodhelmet Report post Posted November 11, 2002 keep in mind that this is based on SINGLES not songs. bohemian rhapsody, if nothing else, had staying power. it was a huge hit in the 70's and re-emerged when wayne's world was released. "a day in the life" was never released as a single. i have to agree with evenflow though. it's not even queen's best song. maybe their most popular, but not their best. and since it is britian, i imagine mccartney's "mull of Kintyre " is up there somewhere. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Amazing Rando Report post Posted November 11, 2002 The main factor to have to put in place in order for any semblance of a 'greatest ever' is whether or not it has had or will have staying power... Money is a big thing too.... Nevermind The Bullocks... by the Sex Pistols is a priceless album, has many perfect punk anthems, and also helped revolutionize the BritPunk movement that was begun by the Bullocks and Micheal Devoto... 'God Save The Queen' was released as a single before the album was released, and was promptly banned by the BBC even though it outsold Rod Stewarts 'I Don't Want To Talk About It'.......and that song has staying power with punks.......but not so much with many others... Staying power must be over as many genres as possible 'Bohemian Rhapsody' has staying power through most genres of rock fans, some punks, stoners, and others... You need to look over every single and see exactly what kind of staying power it holds amongst the people... In all my knowledge, I would seriously choose 'Stairway To Heaven' by Led Zeppelin due to the fact that it was screwed out of #1 by VH1, and even though it was never released as a single, it is quite the well known song, covers many varieties of music, and a copy of it will always stay in my CD collection for years to come....no matter what people say about that song... 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is good, but I agree with you all in saying it is not the greatest Queen song ever...though I personally could give that to many Queen songs... There are too many great songs for me to pick a number one single....so I picked an easy one with 'Stairway'... ...though in reality I think every genre has it's own number one single of all time... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Phr33k Report post Posted November 11, 2002 I liked "Mull of Kintyre"... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Kotzenjunge Report post Posted November 11, 2002 Hey Rant, I did it first, yo. And I'll cover the Kylie naysayers in this thread by saying "Damn fucking straight" here too. Fo sheez, Kotzenjunge Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest goodhelmet Report post Posted November 11, 2002 with all due respect to "stairway", if one of the criteria for the song to be on the list is a single release, then "stairway" shouldn't be on the list. rules are rules! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest FeArHaVoC Report post Posted November 11, 2002 hmm... I don't know if it's the BEST song ever, but it's up there. Dream On would top MY list... "Dream On" would be my Top song also, followed by "Sweet Emotion" 'Bohemian Rhapsody' deserves to be on the top of the list, but I don't know about #1. Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" & 'Whole Lotta Love" would be up there too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Sassquatch Report post Posted November 12, 2002 "Bohemian Rhapsody" was not Queen's best song by any means but it is a popular song that has shown it has staying power. Perfectly acceptable pick. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Kinetic Report post Posted November 12, 2002 Do they make music in America? I hadn't noticed. Really, that's an awful list. Any sort of list like this is bound to be stupid and exclude way too much. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is an unbelievably contentious thing to put at the top of the list because while it may be an epic, operatic classic to some, it's a bloated and excessive piece of garbage to a whole other group of people. By which I mean people who aren't British music journalists, of course. There's no way that Elvis remix should have been anywhere near the list, either. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cawthon777 0 Report post Posted November 12, 2002 It was a UK poll, no wonder Queen and the Beatles dominated (not that they wouldn't have if it were done by anyone else). The voting seems a bit biased but it was a great song. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest godthedog Report post Posted November 12, 2002 the beatles dominate every "greatest song" poll. queen wouldn't dominate a non-british poll. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
