Interesting Facts

The singles chart in the UK began in 1952, which makes it 60 years old. (To commemorate this, an A list of records that have sold more than a million copies has been compiled by the Official Charts Company , a total of 123 records. The top seller is Elton John's double A-side Something About The Way You Look Tonight/Candle in the Wind, which was released in the aftermath of the 1997 death of Diana, Princess of Wales and sold 4.9m copies in the UK. 123rd place and just scraping past the million mark, is When We Collide by X-Factor winner of two years ago Matt Cardle. You can find the full list here .)

Ageing rockers The Rolling Stones have announced their first live shows in five years - but the tickets will set you back at least £106. (The best seats cost around £406, and fans who want to stand in the "tongue pit" near the front of the stage will have to purchase a VIP hospitality package costing £1,140. £106 - is more than the band themselves were paid when they performed their first gig 50 years ago.  I guess this isn't so much a "must see before I die" as a "'must see them before they die",)

According to Music Week magazine, singer Susan Boyle had the UK's best selling album for the second year running. (Her album, The Gift, sold 3.7 million copies abroad, beating Sade, Mumford and Sons and Muse. I do hope anyone who bought Ms Boyle's album has at least listened to the runners up.)

Organisers of the Glastonbury music festival have allegedly taken the surprise decision to cancel the world-famous music event in 2012 because so many of the nation’s Portaloos will be in use at the Olympics.   (I think it's a very sensible idea, because the thought of Glastonbury without enough loos makes my stomach churn.)

Dame Vera Lynn had three songs in the first ever Top 12 in 1952. (The songs were: Forget me not, Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart and The Homing Waltz.)

The Crazy Frog is the first ringtone to enter the singles chart. (Ringtones in the British pop charts? We are all doomed!)