March 8, 2001 17:58

'RAINBOW' SELECTA!

The American list rates the Andrews Sisters' 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy' as being better than anything ever recorded by The Beatles. And The Farm don't even get a look-in!...

JUDY GARLAND's 'OVER THE RAINBOW' has topped a new list of 20th-century songs, well ahead of entries from THE BEATLES, the ROLLING STONES and ELVIS PRESLEY.

The song, from classic 1939 film 'The Wizard Of Oz', was joined in the Top Ten by Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas', Aretha Franklin's 'Respect', 'American Pie' by Don McLean and The Righteous Brothers' 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling', among others.

The list was compiled by the Recording Industry Of America Association (RIAA) and the National Endowment For The Arts (NEA) "for young people" to "help further an appreciation for the music development process, including songwriting, musicianship, recording, performing, producing, distributing and the development of distribution and cultural values," according to an RIAA press release.

www.cnn.com reports the list was picked by hundreds of "music lovers across the country" from "all walks of life," including the music industry, who picked from 1,100 songs provided by the RIAA and the NEA, though write-in spaces were available on the ballots.

Significantly, some rock'n'roll classic big hitters only begin to feature lower down the list. The Stones' highest position is Number 16, with 'Satisfaction', while The Beatles do not appear until Number 28 with 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand'. Elvis fares much worse. The King first hits the chart at Number 68 with 'Don't Be Cruel'/'Hound Dog'.

More contemporary stars such as Nirvana and Ricky Martin also feature further down the chart, Nirvana at Number 80 with 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and Martin at Number 203 with 'Livin' La Vida Loca'.

The Top Ten is as follows:
1. 'Over the Rainbow', Judy Garland
2. 'White Christmas', Bing Crosby
3. 'This Land Is Your Land', Woody Guthrie
4. 'Respect', Aretha Franklin
5. 'American Pie', Don McLean
6. 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy', Andrews Sisters
7. 'West Side Story' (album), Original Broadway Cast
8. 'Take Me Out To The Ball Game', Billy Murray
9. 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'', Righteous Brothers
10. 'The Entertainer', Scott Joplin

To see the whole chart, click here...