The Beatles take over iTunes UK charts

Now that they're on iTunes, The Beatles are storming the charts...again. © Bettmann/CORBIS

With yesterday's announcement that The Beatles' catalogue was finally being made available on iTunes, MusicRadar posed the burning question: Do you care? And within 24 hours, that answer is a resounding 'Yeah yeah yeah!'

After just one day, songs by The Beatles account for 15 percent of iTunes UK's Top 200. While single tracks snagged the lion's share of downloads, full albums by the Fab Four also made strong showings, with two of the group's 'best-of' collections having the biggest impact: the 'Blue' 1967-1970 set is ranked at number 10 while the 'Red' 1962-1966 package is number 13. Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band clocked in at number 11.

Still, and somewhat predictably, it's singles that the public seems to want, with 31 tracks listed in the chart. And the choices are all over the place: Hey Jude, I Saw Her Standing There, While My Guitar Gently Weeps - even Hey Bulldog! (A few of the selections are listed twice as they were purchased on both regular albums and compilations.)

Here they are, The Beatles songs, as ranked in iTunes UK chart as of this writing:

40. Hey Jude
59. Twist And Shout
65. Let It Be
77. Here Comes The Sun
79. Twist And Shout
97. Blackbird
98. In My Life
99. I Saw Her Standing There
101. Come Together
109. A Day In the Life
123. Hey Jude
125. Help!
128. Eleanor Rigby
146. I Am The Walrus
147. Let It Be
154. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
155. A Hard Day's Night
158. Yesterday
160. Hey Bulldog
163. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
171. Yesterday
172. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
176. Strawberry Fields Forever
183. Strawberry Fields Forever
184. With A Little Help From My Friends
185. In My Life
190. Norwegian Wood
192. Penny Lane
194. Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
197. The Long And Winding Road
198. Here Comes The Sun

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.