Vera Lynn..... Happy 91st Birthday

[ROBERT M.]

Dame Vera was speaking live on BBC news 24 just after 7 pm ......................The Beatles albums were released late in the week, and with so many to choose from, their sales were diluted between all those albums. Maybe The Beatles albums should have been released "one" per week, guaranteeing a #1 hit each week

[john]

That is just incredible. Congratulations, Dame Vera.

[paul jh]

I am much more excited about Vera Lynn getting to #1 than if one of those Beatles albums got to the top. And Robert, Coldplay and Green Day each got to #1 on three days of sales. But they had new material whereas those Beatles albums are just remasters of albums that have been released many times before. And I think people would have lost interest if they were released a week at a time.

As an avid chart watcher this was a true surprise, as Jamie T led all week in the daily midweek chart. I am so glad he didn't make it to #1 as he's not very good. In the end, it wasn't all that close. Congratulations to Dame Vera for her fantastic #1 album on the "Hit Parade"!

Here are the sales figures:

1 Vera Lynn 32,826
2 Jamie T 27,806
3 David Guetta 19,282
4 Arctic Monkeys 18,736
5 Beatles [Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band] 17,830
6 Beatles [Abbey Road] 16,507
7 Kings Of Leon 15,955
8 Cribs 14,823
9 Beatles [Revolver] 14,568
10 Beatles [Rubber Soul] 13,203
17 Beverley Knight 9,234
21 Beatles [The Beatles] 8,532
24 Beatles [The Beatles In Stereo] 7,671
29 Beatles [Help] 6,150
31 Beatles [Past Masters] 5,748
33 Beatles [Magical Mystery Tour] 5,568
37 Beatles [A Hard Day's Night] 5,528
38 Beatles [Please Please Me] 5,106
42 Blackout Crew 4,607
49 Beatles [Let It Be] 3,993
51 Beatles [With The Beatles] 3,909
54 Beatles [1] 3,418
56 Beatles [Beatles For Sale] 3,390
57 Beatles [The Beatles In Mono] 3,305
89 Beatles [Yellow Submarine] 2,043

[Lena & Harry Smith]

We are as thrilled as you are at Veras No One position Paul, and thank you for the list of the sales figures.
We have been saturated with the Beatles music on TV and Radio and as much as we appreciate their music, we only need so much and i'm feeling very much the same way about ABBA at this moment. Goodness me !!! we even had to forego our radio progs..Alan Titchmarsh and Russell Davies for this Hyde Park concert Anyway we have noted of course that on one of the tracks on "We'll Meet Again " Vera sings a medley of Three songs that includes "Here In My Heart" so there's a mixed variety on there.

[paul jh]

I hadn't heard that Alan Titchmarsh was pre-empted for for ABBA concert. How upsetting. Back in the 70s, I felt I was the only person who listened and liked ABBA's music (such as Honey Honey, Mamma Mia, and SOS which were considered flops); they weren't popular in the US at all until Dancing Queen hit #1. Now I can't bear to hear Dancing Queen ever again. This renaissance because of the musical and film Mamma Mia has gone on far too long.

That's nice to hear that the Vera Lynn album includes a new medley. I'll purchase it the next time I'm in the UK.

[Lena & Harry Smith]

Just as much as we love the Beatles, we love Abba''s music, and since the Seventies we have bought and collected all their albums, seen the group, plus seen endless groups performing their songs, bought the Meryl Streep Mamma Mia DVD, and then it happened,--the relayed radio concert from the park, so " no more Abba for a while PLEASE !!

[Gloria]

Unbelievably, the full story of Dame Vera's best-selling album just reached my local newspapers yesterday, so I finally understood that comments here referred to a collection of World War II music. What an achievement! Congratulations, Vera Lynn! It's always great to see new appreciation for the classics.

[ROBERT M.]

Dame Vera was a "big" star in the UK during and after the war, but was she a "big" star in the US too

[Mark Fox]

Des Carrington subject week after this!

[Gloria]

I believe that Vera Lynn was quite popular in the U.S., along with Bing Crosby, and the big bands that recorded for Decca during the war. But I hadn't heard her name in many years, and for the most part, the names of just about every act of that era is unknown to most Americans today.

[Mark Fox]

Des Carrington subject week after this!

A 'repeat'featuring interview etc.

[Lena & Harry Smith]

More good news about Dame Vera.
She received a Lifetime Achievement award at yesterdays "Women Of The Year Lunch."
The tribute recognises her past as a forces sweetheart and her success as a singer.
Her recent achievement as the oldest living artist to have a No 1 album in the charts, outsold The Arctic Monkeys and the Beatles re-mastered editions.
She urged pop stars of today to remember and do as much as they can to help the troops.
She received the award from Katherine Jenkins.
Anita Dobson, Esther Rantzen, Fern Britton, and Tracey Emin were among the celebrities at the ceremony.

[Marian]

Dame Vera was on Paul O'Grady's Show today, but unfortunately I missed her.
Marian.