Post by Taxigirl on Nov 19, 2003 10:48:45 GMT
Music experts have named U2's love song One as the greatest song ever recorded.
The song was the group's only entry in the top 100 of Q magazine's poll to find the favourite 1001 tracks.
Runner-up was Aretha Franklin's I Say a Little Prayer, written by Bacharach and David, and Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit was third.
Radiohead scored the most entries on the list, with nine in total - Creep was the highest at number seven - while The Beatles notched up eight.
The highest Beatles hit was A Day in the Life, at number four. Something, In My Life and Paperback Writer were also included.
Eight of John Lennon's solo efforts featured in the poll, while Sir Paul McCartney had just one post-Beatles track included, the Wings song Jet.
Q's top 10 records
1. U2 - One
2. Aretha Franklin - I Say a Little Prayer
3. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
4. The Beatles - A Day in the Life
5. Elvis Presley - In the Ghetto
6. Eminem - My Name Is
7. Radiohead - Creep
8. Destiny's Child - Independent Women
9. Oasis - Live Forever
10. Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High
Q's writers and a selection of well-known musicians cast their votes for the list of great songs.
The most modern song in the top 10 was Destiny's Child 2000 hit Independent Woman (Part One) at eight, followed by Eminem's My Name Is, which reached number one in the UK in 1999.
As well as their number one position, U2 also had seven other hits included in the list.
Surprisingly, One - taken from the Achtung Baby album - only reached number seven in the charts when it was released in 1990.
U2 guitarist The Edge said: "When we named it, I always knew it would be number one at something."
Editor-in-chief of the Q special edition, Paul Trynka, said of the winner: "I think people voted for this because it's a classic that still feels fresh."
"It's a great tune but despite being over ten years old we haven't had time to get bored of it," he said.
It's inspirational, it makes people feel good, but it also feels profound - all the more so when you hear Johnny Cash's recent cover version."