BBC Radio 2 has revealed its Autumn line-up, including a new series hosted by Johnny Marr and the least surprising band survey ever.
The station today revealed that the band voted by listeners as the Ultimate British Group is…..
The Beatles.
Listeners cast their votes to pick their 5 favourite groups to mark the annual all-day musical celebration of National Album Day on 19th October.
A 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 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.
“We have absolutely loved seeing the Radio 2 listeners cast hundreds of thousands of votes for their Ultimate British Group, and this Top 30 chart reflects some of music’s biggest selling, most loved and established British artists who have achieved incredible success globally across the decades,” said Smith.
The Top 30 are:
- The Beatles
- Queen
- The Rolling Stones
- Pink Floyd
- Fleetwood Mac
- Led Zeppelin
- Take That
- Coldplay
- Oasis
- Electric Light Orchestra
- The Who
- Depeche Mode
- The Jam
- Radiohead
- The Smiths
- Genesis
- Pet Shop Boys
- The Cure
- Duran Duran
- Madness
- Girls Aloud
- The Beautiful South
- The Kinks
- Bee Gees
- Wham!
- The Clash
- Blur
- Spice Girls
- The Police
- Manic Street Preachers
Johnny Marr
The BBC is also airing a number of exclusive programmes, including Johnny Marr’s Great British Groups (on Radio 2 from midnight-1am, 13, 20, 27 October and 3 November).
During the 4-part playlist series Marr take listeners from the 60s to now, focusing on artists who have not only resonated with him, but have also left an indelible mark on the music scene.
“The nice people at Radio 2 have invited me along to play some music by British bands from albums that I really like and maybe a couple of albums I’ve been involved in myself!” said Marr.
“I’ll be choosing all kinds of things from long-players by British bands of all kinds, as long as they go around at 33 revolutions per minute. Part of wanting to be a great group is wanting to be as good as the people you think are great and not necessarily just copying or being in those shadows. All of the great bands that I know of and that I love have all managed to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people who came before them.”
Further shows include The Great British Groups That Broke America covering everyone from The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, to Queen, Radiohead and Spice Girls.
