It was 35 years ago, England was gripped in economic turmoil, and, at the same time, was celebrating the Silver Jubilee, 25 years of reign by Queen Elizabeth II. Filled with angry lyrics like, "God save the queen, she ain't no human being," and chants of "No future," the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" became a rally cry for the punk movement and a massive public howl about the impact of joblessness and poverty. Perceived by many as an attack on the monarchy, "God Save the Queen" was banned from the BBC radio airwaves, and many record stores as well as Woolworth's refused to stock it. Despite the efforts to block its success, the song hit #2 on the official singles chart. There was much suspicion that there was a "fix" on the charts and "God Save the Queen" should have hit #1. The BBC has never released an official statement either confirming or denying that such an event occurred.
On June 7, 1977, the date of the jubilee celebration, the Sex Pistols boarded a boat to perform "God Save the Queen" on the Thames outside of the Palace of Westminster. The event resulted in multiple arrests when the boat docked. It is captured in the video below.
In celebration of the song's 35th anniversary and coinciding with Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, "God Save the Queen" has been re-released. There is a Facebook campaign to attempt to boost the song to #1, but it is unlikely to be successful. However, in honor of what remains one of the most powerful hit songs of all time, watch the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" below.
- Watch "God Save the Queen"
Single cover courtesy Virigin
Gotye's breakthrough single "Somebody That I Used To Know" becomes the longest running #1 song so far in 2012 as it reaches its seventh week at the top this week. In a rare chart occurrence, the top nine songs on the Billboard Hot 100 are in exactly the same positions as last week. Learn more in this week's coverage of the US pop music charts.
Single cover courtesy Universal Republic
Last week "Home," by the new American Idol champion Phillip Phillips, sold 278,000 digital copies and debuted at #2 on the digital sales chart. That was also enough copies to be the biggest selling digital sales week for any American Idol coronation song. Back in the early days of the show when CD singles were still common, both Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard sold more copies of their first releases after the show's finale. It is also the second biggest digital sales week for any American Idol contestant ranking just behind the opening week of Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You" which sold 280,000. "Home" has also received strong critical praise for Phillip Phillips. It enters the Billboard Hot 100 this week at #10 making it the first top 10 debut by an American Idol champion since David Cook opened at #3 with "The Time Of My Life" four years ago.
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images
Without a doubt, summer 2009 was the summer of the Black Eyed Peas. They ultimately ruled the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for an amazing 26 weeks. The biggest song of the summer was "Boom Boom Pow," the song that kicked off their reign. It was only one of 10 big hits that ruled radio and digital downloads for the season. Check out the details in the list of the Top 10 Pop Songs of Summer 2009.
Single cover courtesy A&M Records
