Elton John Tops BBC Radio 2 Chart Celebrating 100 Singles to Have Sold Over One Million in UK

http://www.newsonnews.net/radio/4321-elton-john-tops-bbc-radio-2-chart-celebrating-100-singles-to-have-sold-over-one-million-in-uk.html

Friday, 03 September 2010 06:17
Elton John's double A-side Something About The Way You Look Tonight/Candle In The Wind 97 has been announced as the UK's best-selling single to date, in a chart compiled especially for BBC Radio 2 by The Official Charts Company. Elton John is just one of the many artists featured in the list, which charts the official best-selling singles in UK chart history. The chart also includes singles by The Beatles, Queen, Michael Jackson, Oasis and Wham! among others.
The top 100 chart, unveiled on Radio 2 on Bank Holiday Monday by Ken Bruce and Tony Blackburn, is based on sales data across all formats, from 45rpm singles through to downloads, covering the period 14 November 1952 through to 7 August 2010.
Elton's performance of Candle In The Wind at the funeral of the late Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, a unique version that he states he will never again perform in concert, prompted the song to appropriate iconic stature in music history. The Top 10 list places the charity single from 1984, Do They Know It's Christmas, at No. 2, and Queen's rock-opera masterpiece, Bohemian Rhapsody, at No. 3.
Unsurprisingly, The Beatles are a frequent entry in the chart: She Loves You is at No. 8, with I Want To Hold Your Hand and Can't Buy Me Love also featuring in the Top 30 bestsellers. Mull Of Kintyre/Girls' School by Paul McCartney's band, Wings, is ranked at No. 4, and John Lennon's Imagine, 21st.
Robson Green and Jerome Flynn's Unchained Melody and Candle In The Wind are the only Nineties offerings in the Top 10, which is dominated by the music of the Seventies. German disco quartet Boney M feature twice, with double A-side Rivers Of Babylon/Brown Girl In The Ring at No. 5, and Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord at No.10. The 1978 adaptation of musical Grease led to chart success for Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, with You're The One That I Want and Summer Nights among the Top 20 best-selling singles.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood's somewhat controversial 1983 single, Relax, is ranked seventh in the chart, and their follow-up, Two Tribes, is 20th.
Jeff Smith, Head of Music, Radio 2 and 6 Music, says: "This chart reflects the diverse nature of the British music charts in recent decades, and demonstrates Radio 2's commitment to providing its audience with a wide variety of music across all programmes."
Phil Matcham, from The Official Charts Company, says: "It's easy to forget just how successful some of these tracks from the last 50-plus years have been. It's also interesting to see how downloading has influenced the chart. Though downloading may be the new way that music fans buy their singles, older tracks such as Dancing Queen, Stand & Deliver and Sugar Sugar have all climbed into this chart in recent months thanks to their continuing success as downloads. Classics such as these are still quietly selling tens of thousands each year."
The Top 20 are as follows:
1. Something About The Way You Look Tonight/Candle in the Wind 97 – Elton John (1997)
2. Do They Know It's Christmas? – Band Aid (1984)
3. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen (1975)
4. Mull Of Kintyre/Girls' School – Wings (1977)
5. Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl In The Ring – Boney M (1978)
6. You're The One That I Want – Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta (1978)
7. Relax – Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1983)
8. She Loves You – The Beatles (1963)
9. Unchained Melody/(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs Of Dover – Robson Green and Jerome Flynn (1995)
10. Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord – Boney M (1978)
11. Love Is All Around – Wet Wet Wet (1994)
12. I Just Called To Say I Love You – Stevie Wonder (1984)
13. Anything Is Possible/Evergreen – Will Young (2002)
14. Barbie Girl – Aqua (1997)
15. I Want To Hold Your Hand – The Beatles (1963)
16. Believe – Cher (1998)
17. (Everything I Do) I Do It For You – Bryan Adams (1991)
18. Last Christmas/Everything She Wants – Wham! (1984)
19. Summer Nights – John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (1978)
20. Two Tribes – Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1984)

Thursday, Sep. 02, 2010

Picnic at the Pops features the music of Elton John performed by piano man Michael Cavanaugh

By Lisa Millegan Renner
lrenner@modbee.com

(DEBBIE NODA / dnoda@modbee.com) - Michael Cavanaugh, sings the music of Billy Joel at the Modesto Symphony Orchestra Picnic at the Pops at the E.J. Gallo Winery grounds September 12, 2009.

Read more: http://www.modbee.com/2010/09/02/1321659/picnic-at-the-pops-features-the.html#ixzz0yVp7cUc8

He was a big shot at last year's Billy Joel tribute. Now, he's back to dance the crocodile rock.
Michael Cavanaugh, 38, is performing at the Modesto Symphony Orchestra Picnic Pops concert for the second year in a row, this time to sing the music of Elton John and other rock legends.
Cavanaugh, who starred as the Piano Man in the original Broadway production of the Billy Joel musical, "Movin' Out," said he's excited about the new show because he's a huge Elton John fan.


Read more: http://www.modbee.com/2010/09/02/1321659/picnic-at-the-pops-features-the.html#ixzz0yVoxw1eD

"It's enjoyable when it's music you enjoy so much, that you grew up listening to," Cavanaugh said. "It doesn't feel like work when you're performing it."

Among the songs he's planning to sing are "Benny and the Jets," "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," "Candle in the Wind," "Philadelphia Freedom," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Tiny Dancer" and "Crocodile Rock."

Cavanaugh said he played the songs for years when he worked at piano bars, but this is the first time he's learned them exactly as they were written. He usually just improvised when bar patrons would request them.

He's excited that the symphony show will also include music beyond Elton John, such as songs by Chicago, Paul McCartney, Journey, the Eagles, Styx and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The program was written by the same team that created the Billy Joel show, and Cavanaugh already has performed it with great success in Indianapolis and San Diego.

One thing different about the concert is that it's one of the rare occasions when symphony audience members are encouraged to bring their cell phones — and use them. In one part of the concert, the audience is invited to text song requests.

Modesto Symphony Pop Conductor Steven Reineke said he wants the audience to have as good a time as possible and to get up and dance and sing along with the music.

"It's basically one party tune after the other," he said. "It's a very high-energy, up-tempo show."