Caution: lists ahead

Firstly, what's inevitably happened since yesterday is the last.fm stats for the week have updated, so for full disclosure here's the most played top tens for w/e 16/3/08. Do your own cogent analysis.

Radio 1

1 The Futureheads 23
2 Leona Lewis 21
3 We Are Scientists 20
3 The Kooks 20
5 Guillemots 19
5 Girls Aloud 19
5 Utah Saints 19
8 Alphabeat 18
8 Gnarls Barkley 18
10 Panic! At the Disco 17

Radio 2

1 Van Morrison 22
2 Gabriella Cilmi 17
2 Bryan Adams 17
4 Amy Macdonald 14
4 Duffy 14
4 R.E.M. 14
7 James Blunt 13
8 OneRepublic 12
9 Scouting for Girls 11
9 Leona Lewis 11

But we thought this could be taken much further. The two stations' last.fm profiles were both installed on 26th April 2006, so taking into account scrobbling failures, incorrect tags ('By Red Hot Chilli Peppers' has registered a total of 56) and the station maybe not registering every play of everything, here's firstly the most played from nearly two years of Radio 2:

1 KT Tunstall 316
2 Bruce Springsteen 294
3 Amy Winehouse 285
4 The Beatles 283
5 Amy Macdonald 279
6 David Bowie 272
7 The Feeling 270
8 Madonna 259
9 The Rolling Stones 251
10 Eagles 244
11 Stevie Wonder 239
12 Elvis Presley 233
13 Mika 232
14 James Blunt 230
15 Elton John 225
16 Keane 224
17 Kylie Minogue 220
18 Take That 212
19 Scissor Sisters 199
20 ABBA 195
21 Queen 188
21 Razorlight 188
23 U2 186
24 Fleetwood Mac 179
25 The Beach Boys 178
26 Pet Shop Boys 177
26 Kaiser Chiefs 177
28 Maroon 5 174
29 James Morrison 172
29 Electric Light Orchestra 172

Dunno about you, but the one that leaps out there is Amy Macdonald, whose first single only came out last May. There's an odd disparity here, isn't there, in between those who've been most active in the last two years and those that have the back catalogue, although we're surprised Stevie Wonder is so high up. Obviously a better value of where Radio 2 has contemporarily centred recently comes from the most played tracks chart:

1 KT Tunstall – Hold On 105
2 Razorlight – America 100
3 Scissor Sisters – I Don't Feel Like Dancin' 95
3 James Blunt – 1973 95
5 Duffy – Mercy 94
6 Amy Macdonald – This Is The Life 93
7 Amy Winehouse – Tears Dry On Their Own 90
8 Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love 84
8 Bruce Springsteen – Girls In Their Summer Clothes 84
10 Lily Allen – Smile 82
11 KT Tunstall – Saving My Face 78
12 Tom Baxter – Better 75
13 Richard Hawley – Tonight The Streets Are Ours 73
14 Beth Rowley – Oh My Life 71
14 The Kooks – She Moves In Her Own Way 71
16 Gabrielle – Every Little Teardrop 69
17 Feist – 1234 68
17 Amy Macdonald – Run 68
17 Mika – Grace Kelly 68
17 Kylie Minogue – Wow 68
21 Amy Macdonald – Mr Rock & Roll 67
21 Amy Winehouse – Rehab 67
23 Mika – Relax, Take It Easy 66
23 The Feeling – I Thought It Was Over 66
23 The Zutons – Valerie 66
26 Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah 65
27 Ben's Brother – Let Me Out 64
27 Kylie Minogue – 2 Hearts 64
29 Rihanna / Ne-Yo – Hate That I Love You 63
29 Amy Winehouse – Love Is A Losing Game 63

Where's your youth culture now, Borrell? Obviously this is an ongoing event with Mercy's closeness to the summit, although Tom Baxter, Ben's Brother, Beth Rowley and to an extent Richard Hawley might lament that that much Radio 2 play doesn't translate as much as you might imagine into sales. Smile seems out of place somewhat in that company, especially factoring in her Hip! Now! Yoof! sales pitch. Obviously the numbers will be lower due to the lesser concentration on the new and all that stuff they waste Sundays with. Semi-shockingly, the joint most played songs more than two years old are Hey Ya! and A Little Less Conversation.


As for 23 months of Radio 1:

1 Arctic Monkeys 751
2 The Killers 650
3 Rihanna 592
4 Razorlight 587
5 Justin Timberlake 579
6 Sugababes 526
7 Fall Out Boy 507
8 The Feeling 506
9 The Kooks 491
10 Muse 489
11 The Fratellis 485
11 Foo Fighters 485
13 Kaiser Chiefs 484
14 My Chemical Romance 473
15 Mika 458
16 The Enemy 449
17 Hard-Fi 444
18 The Pigeon Detectives 442
19 Klaxons 423
20 Scissor Sisters 407
20 Girls Aloud 407
22 Kanye West 397
22 Nelly Furtado 397
24 Robyn 396
25 Bloc Party 393
26 Red Hot Chili Peppers 389
27 Gnarls Barkley 386
28 Snow Patrol 380
29 Booty Luv 364
30 The White Stripes 362

Booty Luv?! Now, these are going to be skewed towards guitar bands because they're most likely to be hammered by their specialist shows (and in the full list by the skewing of time which means the Ting Tings are only three plays behind Arcade Fire), but a couple of interesting things raise their head when we see the tracks list:

1 Fedde le Grand – Put Your Hands Up For Detroit 220
2 Kanye West – Stronger 211
3 The Fratellis – Chelsea Dagger 206
4 The Holloways – Generator 191
5 Supermode – Tell Me Why 187
5 Girls Aloud – Call the Shots 187
7 My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the Black Parade 184
8 My Chemical Romance – Teenagers 182
9 Robyn – With Every Heartbeat 181
10 The Automatic – Monster 180
10 Christina Aguilera – Ain't No Other Man 180
12 Hard-Fi – Suburban Knights 178
13 The Wombats – Moving To New York 176
13 Arctic Monkeys – Fluorescent Adolescent 176
15 Rogue Traders – Voodoo Child 175
16 Bloc Party – Flux 174
17 Gnarls Barkley – Smiley Faces 173
18 Kaiser Chiefs – The Angry Mob 172
19 The Killers – When You Were Young 168
19 Gym Class Heroes – Cupid's Chokehold 168
21 Nelly Furtado – Maneater 167
22 Muse – Starlight 165
23 Razorlight – In The Morning 164
23 Razorlight – America 164
25 Lily Allen – Smile 163
26 Klaxons – It's Not Over Yet 162
27 The Kooks – She Moves in Her Own Way 161
28 Justin Timberlake – SexyBack 160
29 The Pigeon Detectives – I Found Out 159
29 Scouting for Girls – Elvis Ain't Dead 159

Now, there's some great big one hit wonder rickets in there, most obviously Fedde (total plays 241) and Supermode (192) but most startlingly Generator, which may have been reissued several hundred times, or so it felt, but never got above number 18. Has someone been using it for a competition or something? The rest of their by no means that limited number of singles have only earned them 41 more plays. You'll also notice the lack of Rihanna, the main stormer of the guitar citadels in the earlier list but clearly someone who prefers consolidating her many radio-friendly singles into one lump number (SOS 117, Umbrella 115, Don't Stop The Music 115, Shut Up And Drive 79, Unfaithful 59) And Crazy is on merely 114 despite being released in the same month as these charts began.

Any further thoughts will be gladly received. In the meantime, let's have a go at 6 Music's stats, which like the supposedly forward thinking nature of the station itself are more thorough, starting on 12th August 2004:

1 Bloc Party 698
2 Interpol 671
3 R.E.M. 667
4 David Bowie 647
5 Beck 646
6 Manic Street Preachers 645
7 The White Stripes 628
8 U2 620
9 Editors 611
10 Super Furry Animals 607
11 Kaiser Chiefs 606
12 Oasis 602
13 Primal Scream 567
14 Supergrass 563
15 Foo Fighters 559
16 The Cure 553
17 Radiohead 552
18 The Clash 549
19 Killers 548
20 The Rolling Stones 546
21 The Chemical Brothers 532
22 Arctic Monkeys 530
23 Morrissey 507
23 New Order 507
25 The Futureheads 500
25 Razorlight 500
27 The Who 496
28 Doves 493
29 Kings of Leon 488
30 The Stranglers 486

1 Peter Bjorn and John – Young Folks 165 (total plays 180)
2 We Are Scientists – Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt 155
3 Interpol – Slow Hands 154
4 Pixies – Debaser 142 (where has this come from? The band as a whole are on 380)
5 Ladytron – Sugar 141 (total 213)
6 Beck – Girl 137
7 Pigeon Detectives – I Found Out 136
8 Guillemots – Made Up Love Song #43 134
9 Kaiser Chiefs – Oh My God 130
9 Bloc Party – Flux 130 (we bet the band are delighted this is their most played track on 1 and 6)
11 Kate Nash – Foundations 118
12 Holloways – Generator 116 (again! Total 125)
12 Kate Nash – Pumpkin Soup 116
12 CSS – Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above 116
15 Jamie T – Sheila 115
16 British Sea Power – Please Stand Up 112
17 Hard-Fi – Hard to Beat 110
18 Editors – The Racing Rats 109
19 I Was A Cub Scout – Pink Squares 108 (total 130)
19 LCD Soundsystem – Daft Punk Is Playing at My House 108
19 The Bravery – Unconditional 108
22 The Raveonettes – Love in A Trashcan 107
23 Hot Chip – Over and Over 106
23 Feist – 1234 106
23 The Duke Spirit – Cuts Across the Land 106 (only just outside the artist top 30)
26 Cajun Dance Party – Amylase 105 (total 113)
26 Radiohead – Jigsaw Falling Into Place 105
26 Green Day – Boulevard of Broken Dreams 105
26 Sons and Daughters – Gilt Complex 105
30 Interpol – C'mere 104
30 Razorlight – Somewhere Else 104
30 The Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #2 (Laika) 104


And for 1Xtra, from 14th June 2005:

1 Kanye West 454
2 Dizzee Rascal 442
3 Jay-Z 419
4 Ne-Yo 392
5 Wiley 357
6 Lupe Fiasco 349
7 Mary J. Blige 330
8 Roll Deep 312
9 Nathan 307
10 Taio Cruz 301
11 Justin Timberlake 296
12 Damian Marley 294
13 Cassie 282
14 Tony Matterhorn 277 (the current pre-eminent reggae selector, in case you don't know)
15 Nas 274
16 Kano 272
17 Beyoncé 268
18 Amerie 266
19 The Game 261
20 Snoop Dogg 254
21 T.I. 252
22 Sean Paul 234
23 Beenie Man 231
24 Timbaland / Keri Hilson / D.O.E 209
25 T2 / Jodie Aysha 207
25 Mr. Vegas 207
27 Omarion 205
28 Collie Buddz 204
29 Akala 202
30 Kano / Craig David 190

1 Timbaland / Keri Hilson / D.O.E – The Way I Are 209
2 T2 / Jodie Aysha – Heartbroken 199 (no, we don't know where the other eight went)
3 Kano / Craig David – This Is The Girl 183 (or these other seven)
4 Kanye West – Stronger 181
5 Lloyd – Get It Shawty 170
6 Tony Matterhorn – dutty wine 163
7 Ny – Willow 160
8 Nelly Furtado / Timbaland – Promiscuous Girl 156
8 Charlean Dance / Gappy Ranks – Mr DJ 156
10 Collie Buddz – Come Around 153
11 Kelly Rowland – Work 150
12 Snoop Dogg – Sensual Seduction 142
13 T.I. – Why You Wanna 133
13 Justin Timberlake / T.I. – My Love 133
15 Lupe Fiasco – Superstar 129
16 Nathan – Cold As Ice 127
16 Dizzee Rascal – Flex 127
18 Cassie – Long Way 2 Go 125
19 Mims / Junior Reid / Cham – This Is Why I'm Hot (Remix) 122
19 Tinchy Stryder / Cyleena – Something About Your Smile 122
21 Mr. Vegas – Tek Weh Yourself 121
22 Ear Dis – Hey Girl 120
22 Cassie – Me & U 120
24 Beyonce / Jay-Z – Deja Vu 119
25 Chamillionaire / Krayzie Bone – Ridin' (Original) 117
26 Dizzee Rascal – Old Skool 115
27 Mary J. Blige – Just Fine 113
27 Taio Cruz – I Just Wanna Know 113
29 Munga – bad from mi born 111
29 Common / Lily Allen – Drivin' Me Wild 111

Finished now.