Offer Me Protection

It was interesting recently to read a chart compiled by BBC Radio 2, which suggested that Procul Harum's 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' was the most-played song in public places of the last 75 years. It is undeniably a great song, containing both a lyrical ambiguity (everything from dancing the fandango to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales) and an instantly recognisable lead organ riff, which, combined, acted as a commercial breakthrough for the emerging sound of British psychdelia in 1967.

There are other interesting elements to the chart also. Somehow, no song by the Beatles features in the Top-10 - although a multitude of explanations could account for this, from copyright laws to royalty payments etc. Of the Top-10, 7 of the songs are from 1976 or earlier, which is understandable simply because they have had a longer period to be played. Bryan Adams' '(Everything I do) I Do It For You' was a number 1 hit for about a billion years, which explains how it could be played so often since 1991, and Wet Wet Wet's 'Love Is All Around' was on the soundtrack to Hugh Grant's 1994 breakthrough Brit-com film Four Weddings and a Funeral, so again there are reasons.

Which all leads up to one important question: what the hell is Robbie Williams' 'Angels' doing at number 6?!?!

I mean christ almighty, it's barely over a decade old, yet has somehow been played more times than Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas', which was released in nineteen-FOURTY-TWO!! Even Elvis only made it to number 7. It boggles the mind, and depresses those of us with any musical taste whatsoever. The "Fat Dancer" from Take That has a lot to answer for, but clogging up the airwaves with insipid drivel is surely the main offence.

Gary Brooker, Procul Harum's lead vocalist and writer of 'A Whiter Shade of Pale', stated upon learning of this most recent accolade that it was a "great and unsought honour." Yet you can well imagine Williams' indignation at only being number 6, and not higher. Some people go into the music industry to push boundaries, experiment with sound and language and create new art forms. Others just want to make money and move to L.A.

As Brooker sang: "...her face at first just ghostly, turned a whiter shade of pale." She'd obviously just seen where 'Angels' was in the chart.