Is there actually a spike in album sales when National Album Day comes around?

How the hell does this list not include two the biggest British bands of the glam rock era who between them rocked up TEN No1 singles and a string of No2's and also sold albums galore at No1 too - I'm talking about Slade and T.Rex

Today to mark the day Radio 2 did a countdown of the nation's favourite British groups of all time. No surprise that the Beatles were the No1, it can only ever really be them for eternity can't it. Here is the top thirty voted on in recent weeks, apparently from a set list of 54 bands that were on the list as judged by what they called Radio 2's expert panel quote;


"A star-studded panel, including Radio 2 presenters, Jo Whiley, Sara Cox, OJ Borg, Vernon Kay, Scott Mills, Trevor Nelson, DJ Spoony, and Owain Wyn Evans voted from a long list of nearly 100 bands to produce a final list of 54, which spans the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s and 10s. The list was compiled from the timeless melodic music that is played on Radio 2 and the Most Successful British Groups on the Official Albums Chart. A British group is any band of 2+ members that is made-up wholly or the majority are people who were born, live or hold British citizenship. The chairman of the selection panel is Radio 2 and 6 Music’s Head of Music, Jeff Smith, who is also the chairman of the Mercury Prize judging panel."

The chart is:

1. The Beatles

2. Queen

3. The Rolling Stones

4. Pink Floyd

5. Fleetwood Mac

6. Led Zeppelin

7. Take That

8. Coldplay

9. Oasis

10. Electric Light Orchestra

11. The Who

12. Depeche Mode

13. The Jam

14. Radiohead

15. The Smiths

16. Genesis

17. Pet Shop Boys

18. The Cure

19. Duran Duran

20. Madness

21. Girls Aloud

22. The Beautiful South

23. The Kinks

24. Bee Gees

25. Wham!

26. The Clash

27. Blur

28. Spice Girls

29. The Police

30. Manic Street Preachers

It seems like a cash-in for gullible and record collectors. All those albums you can get a few quid each on CD, All Saints is one of those albums you will always find in a charity shop or car boot sales along with Spice Girls.

I am sure these vinyl exclusives will sound the same on CD. War Of The Worlds is a classic though and a must-have for prog fans who are starting to collect.

If fans of the early Animals want a complete collection of their early stuff, look at the EMI complete recordings box set. I think it's even mixed by Mickie Most. It's always cheap to find, don't be fooled by gimmicks.

I can't believe that Genesis are above Duran Duran, The Cure, and Madness. Also Oasis in the top 10. Is this just because they are in the news so much recently? I don't think that Radiohead or Coldplay belong in the top 10. Who can name more than 1 member of Coldplay or more than 2 Radiohead songs? As for T-rex and Slade, I agree, they should be in the top 30. Unfortunately apart from Merry Christmas Everyone, Slade are rarely played on the radio, and T-Rex are just as a name for Marc Bolan, rather than been a proper band. I think Take That do deserve their place. They have had hits throughout the decades and maintained a high quality throughout. I'm surprised that ELO are in the top 10. I think they were great, but they have been a little bit forgotten. Also the Police should be top 10, and 10CC should be in the list. Altogether I enjoyed the countdown

I was just about to post on this Ultimate British Band list myself, so thank you Rich.

The Bee Gees at 24 and Take That at 7.

The other way around seems more like it.

What Genesis album was it?

Coldplay and Radiohead are both depressing and whiney.

I almost forgot the Bee Gees, yes they should be higher than Coldplay and Radiohead. I think Spandau Ballet, Human League, and Culture Club also deserve a place in the chart. True, Don't you Want me, and Do you really want to hurt me are all pop classics. I think Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd are more groups that people say they like in order to appear intellectual, but they haven't actually had many hit records. These charts are more about whose trending at the moment, who is in peoples consciousness, hence the top 10 place for Oasis.

Whose buying albums anymore anyway when you can listen to them all for free on spotify

Can you imagine all these people in all these groups having to do the very British act of queueing up in line in the order they are on this list and finding that Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb, the Bee Gees are made to stand a number of places behind Girls Aloud. It's an affront to common sense.

U2 didn't make the list on account of being Irish but they kind of feel British and as if they should be on the list somewhere.

I think that this thread would be better titled "The Ultimate British Band". I think it would get more comments that way.

As regards albums, I don't know why anyone would buy albums anymore when you can listen to them for free on Spotify.

robbiex wrote:
I can't believe that Genesis are above Duran Duran, The Cure, and Madness. Also Oasis in the top 10. Is this just because they are in the news so much recently? I don't think that Radiohead or Coldplay belong in the top 10. Who can name more than 1 member of Coldplay or more than 2 Radiohead songs? As for T-rex and Slade, I agree, they should be in the top 30. Unfortunately apart from Merry Christmas Everyone, Slade are rarely played on the radio, and T-Rex are just as a name for Marc Bolan, rather than been a proper band. I think Take That do deserve their place. They have had hits throughout the decades and maintained a high quality throughout. I'm surprised that ELO are in the top 10. I think they were great, but they have been a little bit forgotten. Also the Police should be top 10, and 10CC should be in the list. Altogether I enjoyed the countdown

I was just about to post on this Ultimate British Band list myself, so thank you Rich.


I was surprised nobody had got in before me, but cheers for the nod there anyway Robbie.

Your take seems similar to mine a bit here. I was quite surprised to see ELO so high up, despite the fact I like them and they had loads of great memorable hits, but making top ten seemed genuinely surprising and rather interesting too.

The Beautiful South though? How did they make this list and come above such classic stalwarts as The Police and Bee Gees who you'd expect to be far higher. That feels weird to me, and even above Wham! who with George Michael you'd have imagined to be far higher.

Another thing I'd say is why on earth did they have to play some of the most obvious and overheard tracks by these artists. Did we really have to hear Bohemian Rhapsody yet again, or Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. This type of show should be used as an opportunity on a dedicated music day in thhe year to maybe showcase something else less predictable about such artists. For instance, when it got to Rolling Stones I had never heard that song, called Angry, and imagined it must have been from their recent new album, which it was, and thought the track was absolutely brilliant quality and will now check out the rest of the album which I haven't yet heard. I played it about 4 times on BBC Sounds after hearing it.

Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, both groups in the top six positions yet released very few singles.

Fleetwood Mac felt a bit fraudulent to me as I think of them from a very Amercian perspective with Lindsay Buckingham, Christime McVie and Stevie Nicks from their massive album selling days, plus again quite a surprising top five place.

I'd also suggest that anyone who thinks Slade are virtually one hit wonders with the Christmas hit of theirs gets educated. I bet there are many who think like that and have no idea just how many enormous singles they have actually had, and not all in the 70s either. The first Slade single I remember first hand was My Oh My, the Christmas No2 in 1983. I can still feel the disappointment I felt that Christmas when it failed to be No1 ten years after their 6th and last with Merry Christmas in 1973. Atrocious they were not in the list.

At least with countdowns and surveys like this they stir plenty of debate but such countdowns are always going to face flaws of some kind I feel. A similar survey for just American or non-British groups would also be fascinating. Abba would be the shoe in at No1 like the Beatles wouldn't they?

It seems the list is made by people who don't know much about the British music scene Rich.

Fleetwood Mac, they were great as a raw heavy blues band with Peter Green. When they went commercial and radio friendly I turned them off.

I doubt many people can name a Slade album apart from the soundtrack Slade In Flame, their b-sides were superb. I never liked ELO but people have a thing for Mr Blue Sky which annoys me, I think it's overproduced and overplayed.

I do like Hackney Diamonds, I went off the Rolling Stones in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Beautiful South they were hit and miss.


How many normies can name T-Rex and Tyrannosaurus Rex albums without researching them apart from Electric Warrior and Slider?

I am amazed Wishbone Ash was not on the list. I love the Kinks but again most people only know the singles, not the albums Word Of Mouth is criminally underrated a bit like State Of Confusion.

How many people have taken notice of Pink Floyd a part from Dark Side Of The Moon, The Wall and the 2 compilations Echoes and Relics?

Jethro Tull, ELP, Yes and Barclay James Harvest knocked Led Zep for six IMHO. Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog and NO Stairway To Heaven are what casual fans people know about them.


How could they forget Dire Straits and Moody Blues?

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is one album that people must listen to.

Green Man wrote:
What Genesis album was it?

Coldplay and Radiohead are both depressing and whiney.

Its not a specific album. The countdown was about the ultimate British group. The chart was part of National Album Day

Rich wrote:
robbiex wrote:
I can't believe that Genesis are above Duran Duran, The Cure, and Madness. Also Oasis in the top 10. Is this just because they are in the news so much recently? I don't think that Radiohead or Coldplay belong in the top 10. Who can name more than 1 member of Coldplay or more than 2 Radiohead songs? As for T-rex and Slade, I agree, they should be in the top 30. Unfortunately apart from Merry Christmas Everyone, Slade are rarely played on the radio, and T-Rex are just as a name for Marc Bolan, rather than been a proper band. I think Take That do deserve their place. They have had hits throughout the decades and maintained a high quality throughout. I'm surprised that ELO are in the top 10. I think they were great, but they have been a little bit forgotten. Also the Police should be top 10, and 10CC should be in the list. Altogether I enjoyed the countdown

I was just about to post on this Ultimate British Band list myself, so thank you Rich.


I was surprised nobody had got in before me, but cheers for the nod there anyway Robbie.

Your take seems similar to mine a bit here. I was quite surprised to see ELO so high up, despite the fact I like them and they had loads of great memorable hits, but making top ten seemed genuinely surprising and rather interesting too.

The Beautiful South though? How did they make this list and come above such classic stalwarts as The Police and Bee Gees who you'd expect to be far higher. That feels weird to me, and even above Wham! who with George Michael you'd have imagined to be far higher.

Another thing I'd say is why on earth did they have to play some of the most obvious and overheard tracks by these artists. Did we really have to hear Bohemian Rhapsody yet again, or Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. This type of show should be used as an opportunity on a dedicated music day in thhe year to maybe showcase something else less predictable about such artists. For instance, when it got to Rolling Stones I had never heard that song, called Angry, and imagined it must have been from their recent new album, which it was, and thought the track was absolutely brilliant quality and will now check out the rest of the album which I haven't yet heard. I played it about 4 times on BBC Sounds after hearing it.

Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, both groups in the top six positions yet released very few singles.

Fleetwood Mac felt a bit fraudulent to me as I think of them from a very Amercian perspective with Lindsay Buckingham, Christime McVie and Stevie Nicks from their massive album selling days, plus again quite a surprising top five place.

I'd also suggest that anyone who thinks Slade are virtually one hit wonders with the Christmas hit of theirs gets educated. I bet there are many who think like that and have no idea just how many enormous singles they have actually had, and not all in the 70s either. The first Slade single I remember first hand was My Oh My, the Christmas No2 in 1983. I can still feel the disappointment I felt that Christmas when it failed to be No1 ten years after their 6th and last with Merry Christmas in 1973. Atrocious they were not in the list.

At least with countdowns and surveys like this they stir plenty of debate but such countdowns are always going to face flaws of some kind I feel. A similar survey for just American or non-British groups would also be fascinating. Abba would be the shoe in at No1 like the Beatles wouldn't they?

I think Slade's "My Oh My" was 1983. I remember it vying for the christmast no. 1 in 1983 against The Flying Pickets awfull "Only You". Yes I think that groups like the Police didn't feature higher is because they haven't been active for 40 years. They did a brief re-union tour about 10 years ago, but it passed without much fanfare. Hyping hadn't reached such fever pitch in those days. I think that Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin are always seen as very worthy bands by certain middle-aged men who must make the a large percentage of the radio 2 listenership.u2 are of course irish, although 2 out of 4 were born in the England. Adam Clayton moved to Ireland at 5 years old, but the band were formed in Dublin and are considered an Irish band. I think the criteria was that they must have at least 2 british members. Christine McVie is British, along with Mick Fleetwood, and Peter Green, so Fleetwood Mac count as British. I thihk a lot of it is about who is in the public consciousness. Spandau Ballet and the Human League haven't had any projects in the media for years so people aren't thinking about them. Bands like RAdiohead and Coldplay are frequently played on radio 2 and seen as cool worthy groups to like by some people.

robbiex wrote:
Whose buying albums anymore anyway when you can listen to them all for free on spotify

My local HMV is always packed and the indie records near me.

Spotify always sounds shit to me.

A member of The Police is 82 on New Years' Eve. Let that sink in. (Andy Summers)

Missing in action STATUS QUO???

Did I miss the time when they took out foreign citizenship that disqualified them. Only one of the biggest and most enduring British bands since 1968 that have shifted bucket loads of both singles and albums year after year and charted every year from the sixties to the nineties, and anyone even loosely into music knows Rossi and Parfitt's names. It's quite frankly ludicrous to see that they are not in this top thirty when I look at some of the inclusions. I think they were trying to attempt an element of cool into this list.

I saw Status Quo a few times, I have never seen such a pedestrian band and I thought The Cars and Fairport Convention were bland live. The third time I walked out, it was like they didn't want to be there despite the crowd giving it all.

Green Man wrote:
I saw Status Quo a few times, I have never seen such a pedestrian band and I thought The Cars and Fairport Convention were bland live. The third time I walked out, it was like they didn't want to be there despite the crowd giving it all.

I walked out on a David Essex show at the interval about 25 years ago because he seemed so lacking effort, bored and uninterested in playing or connecting to the audience, barely cracking a smile. I was with two fanatical friends who adored him. I left them behind. Later they assured me I'd misunderstood him but I don't think I had. I gave him a pass as having a bad night. It happens I suppose.

robbiex wrote:
I think that this thread would be better titled "The Ultimate British Band". I think it would get more comments that way.

I have no idea if this will work but while posting this comment I've also adjusted the title in the subject box to: National Album Day - Your Ultimate British Group.

Status Quo is an enormous fail to appear on the list I agree there, but on BBC Sounds there is an addition to the broadcast programme called "Your Ultimate British Groups - The Extras" which features all those that missed the top thirty, the other 24 from the original list of 54 they decided on but in no particular order which seems a bit odd when they must have the figures to place them No54 to No31, so why not tell us then if we took the trouble to vote for it.

Stella wrote:
Green Man wrote:
I saw Status Quo a few times, I have never seen such a pedestrian band and I thought The Cars and Fairport Convention were bland live. The third time I walked out, it was like they didn't want to be there despite the crowd giving it all.

I walked out on a David Essex show at the interval about 25 years ago because he seemed so lacking effort, bored and uninterested in playing or connecting to the audience, barely cracking a smile. I was with two fanatical friends who adored him. I left them behind. Later they assured me I'd misunderstood him but I don't think I had. I gave him a pass as having a bad night. It happens I suppose.

David Essex is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. My late mother adored his music and him a great deal. I did promise I would see him for her one day, but that one day has not arrived yet. He never plays live at a venue that is easy for me to get to, if he does it clashes with prior engagements. I do watch his movies from time to time but I do find Silver Dream Racer a chore to sit through, I think it was for women who want to see him in leathers rather than play a vile druggie, washed up popstar in Stardust; which I believe is a decent movie.

I would not be surprised if David Essex does get bored singing the same hits over and over.