it's a simple tune, and it was a hit at the time for Matt Monroe I think - which i never remember as being a hit. The Beatles were Yesterday, but more memorable was Marianne faithful's cover on a Beatles TV Special, which I vaguely remember watching at the time, and very much remember on it's 80's repeat. Great show, The Music Of Lennon & McCartney came out just before Christmas '65.

 

Amongst the gems:

 

Peter & Gordon, A World Without Love

Lulu, I Saw Him Standing There

Peter Sellers as Lawrence Olivier's Richard III: A Hard Day's Night

The Beatles, Day Tripper

Paul McCartney/Marianne Faithful, Yesterday

Billy J. Kramer, Bad To Me

Cilla Black, It's For You (a highlight of the show, outside Beatles performances)

Henry Mancini, If I Fell

Esther Phillips, And I Love Him

The Beatles, we Can Work It Out

As Sgt. Pepper once said,

"It's getting very near the end..."

Only 2 more to go!

2nd: 699 points

Hey Jude

 

 

Chart run: 21-{1}-1-2-2-4-3-2-7-10-11-24-25-30-45-50->16

 

ben08 50

Brer 50

popchartfreak 49

Roba. 49

WhoOdyssey 49

jimwatts 48

Severin 46

Bjork 45

Jade 42

Notorious D.O.T. 42

King Rollo 39

steve201 36

Chez Wombat 33

dandy* 28

JulianT 28

gooddelta 26

…ready for it 24

danG 15

 

This was written by Paul and evolved from “Hey Jules”, written to comfort Julian Lennon after his dad had left his wife Cynthia for Yoko Ono. It was recorded during the “White Album” sessions and was the first time they used eight track recording equipment. At over 7 minutes in length thanks to the 4 minute coda (about which much has been written by critics in an effort to make sense of it) it was the longest UK #1 single up to that point.

 

It was #1 in the US for 9 weeks, a joint record at the time, and in the UK is their only post 1964 pure million seller. Here it received 2 50s, 10 top 10 placings and a lowest score of 15, the highest lowest score achieved in the rate.

1st: 752 points

Eleanor Rigby

 

 

popchartfreak 50

Chez Wombat 50

jimwatts 50

Notorious D.O.T. 49

Brer 49

danG 48

dandy* 48

Jade 47

King Rollo 46

steve201 46

Roba. 46

JulianT 46

gooddelta 43

Bjork 42

ben08 42

Severin 34

…ready for it 16

WhoOdyssey 0

 

We finish with one of only a few Beatles songs whose primary authorship between John and Paul is disputed, though various witness sources seem to support Paul’s claim. It was included on “Revolver” and of course released as a double A side single with “Yellow Submarine” reaching #1 in the UK.

 

Musically it perhaps seems less experimental now than it was at the time, when George Martin’s string quartet arrangement was very much breaking with convention. The lyrical theme of loneliness was also very unconventional. “Eleanor Rigby” may be the Beatles song whose lyrics have been most discussed by sociologists and philosophers over the years.

 

This gained 3 sets of maximum points, fewer and “A Day In The Life”, and unlike 2nd and 3rd did not receive a full house of voters. Nonetheless it wins convincingly thanks to consistently very high scores - 12 top 5s and 15 top 10s.

This is just low top 10 for me but alas

‘Hey Jude’ had a chart run more akin to their earlier releases!

Thanks for running this Julian, great stuff and a perfect top 2 from my point of view :lol:

 

Hey Jude was the one that kicked-off my chart-obsession when it topped the chart and I discovered the Alan Freeman chart show rundown, I remember it on Top Of The Pops and it was only second in my affections at the time to Mary Hopkin's Those Were The Days (also Paul behind that one). It was an epic length for a pop single, unheard of at the time, that rousing singalong is timeless, and I recall singing along in the dining room of 3 Sheepwalk, RAF Swinderby, Lincolnshire every Sunday till it dropped out the top 20.

 

It was a hit again in 1976, the top original single of their catalogue, and again in 1988, and out again in 1998 as formats changed. I saw Paul do it at Wembley Arena, it was inspirational, and a woman in the back row in the block in front of us (we were on the flat, all stood up) passed out, which caused me concern and interrupted my feelings of elation. Oops.

 

But Eleanor Rigby is the most-emotionally-affecting song of their catalogue, loneliness is a devastating condition for some older people (not me!) and the imagery is very stark and moving. The strings were genius. Yellow Submarine's video for it is amazing too. Still makes me weep if I sing along to it. What a song!

I'm glad Eleanor Rigby won as it's among my top ten at least, a wonderful song. Hey Jude is a classic of course, but I wouldn't call it a personal favourite.

 

Good results overall, the download/streaming success era of Here Comes The Sun reflected here too, but it's a lovely song.

 

Thanks for running this Julian! Quite a rate, and really enjoyed your commentary.

Ooh wonderful, my favourite won :heart: I thought that one snub might have cost it, one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking songs ever written and wonderfully composed, it really gets to me even today.

 

I do enjoy Hey Jude as well, it's a timeless song and very feel-good, it's just become a bit cliched over the years and I do prefer their more introspective work.

 

Yesterday and Here Comes The Sun are both absolutely wonderful in their simplicity and encapsulating of two polar opposite moods, they work so well and not surprised their appeal has endured.

 

This was a great idea and I enjoyed following the results, thanks Julian!

 

 

My favourite won too :heart: one of those songs that puts you right in the centre of its subject and never fails to capture my attention when it's playing. It's from my favourite Beatles album too, and while I thought a few of its other tracks were a tad low in this rate, I'm very pleased this one is so well regarded.

 

Thanks Julian for running this and the insightful commentaries, really enjoyed following this!

Edited May 28, 20241 yr by jimwatts

Eleanor Rigby is a great winner, I put it fifth in my own vote. Thanks Julian for running this poll.

‘Eleanor Rigby’ wasn’t too far of the maximum in my poll too so good number one. Always think the discography is so good that if I rated them again I could come up with different results as the songs are so good.

 

Thanks for the insightful commentary and running this Julian, great time and effort considering it started on Xmas week!

'Hey Jude' does goes on and on but it's still such a class record for me and a very deserving 2nd here. 'Eleanor Rigby' a brilliant winner too. Thanks for running Julian. Been fun taking part and making many Beatles discoveries. (One of your 5 or 6 projects completed now too hehe).

Thanks Julian. Great commentary.

 

I had Eleanor Rigby at no. 42 - my name seems to be missing from your list.

42 Eleanor Rigby

Very happy with that winner ^_^

 

I do like Hey Jude but I do also think it's too long and, perhaps through overplay, I've become a bit less fond of it over the past 20 years or so.

 

 

Thank you for running this Julian (and particularly for waiting so long for some of our votes haha), it's been very enjoyable to follow

Full results as revealed in the thread:

 

1 Eleanor Rigby 752

2 Hey Jude 699

3 Yesterday 675

4 Here Comes The Sun 659

5 Strawberry Fields Forever 637

6 Let It Be 601

7 Tomorrow Never Knows 567

8 Help! 525

9 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 522

10 A Day In The Life 521

 

11 Ticket To Ride 515

12 Come Together 508

13 While My Guitar Gently Weeps 506

14 Something 492

15 In My Life 491

16 Penny Lane 480

17 A Hard Day’s Night 440

18 We Can Work It Out 430

19 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) 422

20 Paperback Writer 418

 

21 I Am The Walrus 415

22 Across The Universe 405

23 I Want To Hold Your Hand 382

24 Twist And Shout 381

25 Day Tripper 377

26 All You Need Is Love 350

27 She Loves You 343

28 Hello, Goodbye 339

29 Back In The U.S.S.R. 333

30 I Saw Her Standing There 332 (17 voters)

 

31 The Long And Winding Road 332 (12 voters)

32 Now And Then 330

33 Blackbird 305

34 I Want You (She’s So Heavy) 300

35 Can’t Buy Me Love 293

36 All My Loving 291

37 Revolution 289

38 I Feel Fine 278

39 You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away 275

40 With A Little Help From My Friends 265

 

41 I’m Only Sleeping 258

42 The Fool On The Hill 249

43 Lady Madonna 244

44 Yellow Submarine 240 (14 voters)

45 Real Love 240 (13 voters)

46 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 237

47 Love Me Do 233

48 Please Please Me 224

49 Nowhere Man 223

50 Magical Mystery Tour 214

 

51 And I Love Her 209

52 Taxman 204

53 Get Back 196

54 Eight Days A Week 191

55 Here, There And Everywhere 183

56 The Ballad Of John And Yoko 181

57 From Me To You 175

58 Within You Without You 158

59 Free As A Bird 156

60 Octopus’s Garden 153

 

61 Don’t Let Me Down 143

62 Drive My Car 141

63 Michelle 136

64 Got To Get You Into My Life 125

65 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da 107

66 Oh! Darling 104

67 Girl 102

68 Dear Prudence 96

69 Hey Bulldog 95

70 I Me Mine 78

 

71 You Can’t Do That 53

72 If I Needed Someone 44

73 Glass Onion 31

74 Roll Over Beethoven 28

75 This Boy 9

76 Baby It’s You 8

77 Old Brown Shoe 4

78 You Really Got A Hold On Me 0

Here is Version 2 with chartjack2’s votes and the original positions in brackets. Happy to call these the final results as they’re slightly more to my taste overall :lol: . Particularly happy to have “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in the Top 10, “Across The Universe” in the Top 20 and “I’m Only Sleeping” in the Top 40. :)

 

1 (1) Eleanor Rigby 785

2 (2) Hey Jude 729

3 (4) Here Comes The Sun 699

4 (3) Yesterday 692

5 (5) Strawberry Fields Forever 671

6 (6) Let It Be 616

7 (7) Tomorrow Never Knows 606

8 (13) While My Guitar Gently Weeps 556

9 (12) Come Together 554

10 (10) A Day In The Life 553

 

11 (11) Ticket To Ride 543

12 (14) Something 541

13 (15) In My Life 535

14 (8) Help! 525

15 (16) Penny Lane 523 (19 voters)

16 (9) Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 523 (16 voters)

17 (18) We Can Work It Out 465

18 (21) I Am The Walrus 456

19 (22) Across The Universe 453

20 (17) A Hard Day’s Night 440

 

21 (19) Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) 436

22 (20) Paperback Writer 431

23 (25) Day Tripper 393

24 (23) I Want To Hold Your Hand 390

25 (24) Twist And Shout 381

26 (26) All You Need Is Love 372

27 (28) Hello, Goodbye 368

28 (27) She Loves You 361

29 (30) I Saw Her Standing There 359 (18 voters)

30 (29) Back In The U.S.S.R. 359 (16 voters)

 

31 (32) Now And Then 342 (16 voters)

32 (31) The Long And Winding Road 342 (13 voters)

33 (37) Revolution 336

34 (36) All My Loving 329

35 (33) Blackbird 328

36 (35) Can’t Buy Me Love 304

37 (38) I Feel Fine 303

38 (34) I Want You (She’s So Heavy) 300

39 (39) You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away 295

40 (41) I’m Only Sleeping 294

 

41 (43) Lady Madonna 281

42 (40) With A Little Help From My Friends 265

43 (47) Love Me Do 254

44 (45) Real Love 249 (14 voters)

45 (42) The Fool On The Hill 249 (10 voters)

46 (44) Yellow Submarine 240

47 (46) Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 237

48 (55) Here, There And Everywhere 228

49 (48) Please Please Me 227

50 (49) Nowhere Man 223

 

51 (53) Get Back 215

52 (50) Magical Mystery Tour 214

53 (51) And I Love Her 209

54 (52) Taxman 204

55 (54) Eight Days A Week 196

56 (56) The Ballad Of John And Yoko 181

57 (57) From Me To You 175

58 (61) Don’t Let Me Down 174

59 (59) Free As A Bird 162 (11 voters)

60 (58) Within You Without You 162 (7 voters)

 

61 (60) Octopus’s Garden 153

62 (64) Got To Get You Into My Life 149

63 (62) Drive My Car 141

64 (63) Michelle 136

65 (70) I Me Mine 120

66 (65) Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da 107

67 (66) Oh! Darling 104

68 (68) Dear Prudence 103

69 (67) Girl 102

70 (69) Hey Bulldog 95

 

71 (71) You Can’t Do That 53

72 (72) If I Needed Someone 44

73 (73) Glass Onion 31

74 (74) Roll Over Beethoven 28

75 (75) This Boy 11

76 (76) Baby It’s You 8

77 (77) Old Brown Shoe 4

78 (78) You Really Got A Hold On Me 0

 

Thanks for doing this Julian. Really enjoyed the countdown and a worthy winner regardless of my preferences.

 

Anyone for the Rolling Stones next?

Thanks for doing this Julian. Really enjoyed the countdown and a worthy winner regardless of my preferences.

 

Anyone for the Rolling Stones next?

Glad you enjoyed it and thanks to you and others for adding interesting commentaries.

 

I need a break from running these things but I would certainly participate in a Stones one with interest.

Not sure I would know enough of the Stones stuff to be able to effectively participate but would be next on my list of artists albums I am going to listen to once o finish off the Let it be album of the e Beatles!