Hurrah, another 'best song ever survey' - because there's just not enough of these. This one has been organised by BBC Radio 2 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Ivor Novello Awards. Members of the British Academy picked out their five favourite songs from each ten year period between 1955 and 2004, Radio 2 listeners then voted on which one they liked best. The overall winners were announced yesterday.
The six million odd people who voted picked bloody 'Angel' by Robbie Williams' as the best song of 1995-2004, but let's not dwell on that (I mean, we're long time Robbie supporters round here, but it so isn't the best song of 1995-2004, it's not even the best Robbie song for 1995-2004). The more interesting results, however, appeared in the earlier periods.
The main thing of interest was that the Beatles did not appear in the final five, despite having two tracks shortlisted for the 1955-1964 section - 'She Loves You' and 'Please Please Me' - and one in the 1965-1974 section - 'Yesterday'. John Lennon was also shortlisted for the 1975-1984 section for 'Imagine', but lost out to Queen. Stat fans would no doubt point out that the Beatles most probably lost out because they had multiple nominations - splitting the Beatles vote - but still, the lack of Beatles tracks in the final top five let a couple of interesting alternatives slip in.
Commenting on the survey, Radio 2 music editor Colin Martin told reporters: "When we asked listeners to select their favourite song from five decades of great British hits we always thought the Beatles or John Lennon - who between them got the most nominations - would top at least one of the decades. How wrong we were. The listeners have voted and the Beatles are out. Great songs like 'You Really Got Me', 'Space Oddity' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody' are regarded as being not just on a par with Lennon and McCartney, but out in front in their contribution to and influence on British music."
The final five favourites are as follows:
1955-1964 The Kinks - You Really Got Me
1965-1974 David Bowie - Space Oddity
1975-1984 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
1985-1994 Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
1995-2004 Robbie Williams - Angels
This year's Ivor Novello Awards take place on Thursday.