iTunes Beatles storm charts on first day of sale

More than 40 years after the Beatles broke up, their entire catalogue is finally available to download, song by song, through iTunes. And which tracks are most popular with Fab Four fans in the UK? Not Yesterday, I Want to Hold Your Hand or even Strawberry Fields. British music-lovers are double-clicking their love for Hey Jude, Twist and Shout, and Let It Be.
At the time of writing, Beatles songs have been available as legitimate paid downloads for just under a day. And already the Fab Four occupy 15% of iTunes UK's top 200. Although their highest entry, Hey Jude, is at No 40 they have 31 appearances in the charts. A few of these are doubles because some tracks are available on both albums and compilations – Twist and Shout appears at 59 and 79, for instance, and Let It Be at 65 and 147 – but it's clear that people aren't just buying Beatles songs by the album, or as a £125 set. Forget Abbey Road's medley – the public wants Here Comes the Sun and Come Together. Nevermind Yesterday – I Saw Her Standing There and Eleanor Rigby are in hotter demand.
The sentimental Blackbird is the Beatles' fifth-highest entry, but it's encouraging to see lesser-known tracks such as Hey Bulldog and You've Got to Hide Your Love Away appearing above The Long and Winding Road. Phil Spector will be rolling in his prison cell.
Despite this mop-top cheerleading, it's not just the Beatles who have appeared in the iTunes charts. The Rolling Stones are there too. Whether it's nostalgia or coincidence, Gimme Shelter is at No 81. The song isn't new, reissued or the subject of a major Apple announcement. People just like it a lot. And this, in the long run, matters more than any press release.
The Beatles in iTunes UK's top 200:
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