Music fans have criticised Radio X for a lack of diversity, after a new poll named Oasis’ ‘Live Forever’ as the greatest British song of all time.
The top 100 list, which was entirely voted for by listeners and didn’t feature a shortlist, saw five Oasis tracks feature in the top 10 – with ‘Live Forever’ accompanied by ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’, ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Slide Away’ and ‘Champagne Supernova’.
But the definitive ranking of the tracks has drawn criticism from fans, who called for greater inclusion by female, LGBT and ethnic minority musicians.
“The Radio X Best Of British list is fascinating, never realised there’s actually no such thing as women or black people”, one user wrote on Twitter.
Another said: “Almost goes without saying, but that Radio X ‘Best of British’ list is awful. It’s just the whitest, penisiest collection of music in existence.”
Check out a series of reactions below.
The Radio X Best Of British list is fascinating, never realised there's actually no such thing as women or black people.
— Kieran Devlin (@NoNotThatDevlin) April 3, 2018
Radio X's "Best of British" playlist has no women in the top 100 but features 15 songs by Oasis pic.twitter.com/q537N9T9eH
— Scene & Heard reports / David Ziggy Greene (@SaHreports) April 3, 2018
The most surprising thing about that Radio X ‘Best Of British’ list is the fact that people are surprised at how awful/male/white it is.
— Steve Vickers (@stevevickers_) April 3, 2018
Specifically, users called out a discernible lack of iconic British female artist from the last 20 years – including the unmistakeable voices of Adele and Amy Winehouse.
But amid the widespread criticism, the list also received support from Radio X listeners – along with a legion of Oasis fans.
Best of British on Radio X just shows that Oasis are the best band to ever grace the planet.
— Adam Merrifield (@AdamMerrifield_) April 2, 2018
“Why are people kicking off that Radio X’s Best Of British barely contained any women? It’s based off the people’s personal tastes who voted and not everything has to be sexist”, one listener argued.
Another reasoned: “Best of British on Radio X just shows that Oasis are the best band to ever grace the planet.”