Take Away English-Music in the UK 英国音乐

The UK charts are the most exciting in the world

Have you ever heard of Al Martino? Not many people know his name nowadays but back in 1952 he made history by becoming the first recording¹ artist to have a number one record with his song ‘Here In My Heart’.

For more than fifty years sales of singles have been measured on a weekly basis and ranked in a chart. The week’s best-selling single takes the number one position for that week.

So who has had the most number ones? For 25 years The Beatles and Elvis Presley matched each other with 18 number one records apiece. However, in 2005 Elvis earned a posthumous² number one when his 1957 hit ‘Jailhouse Rock was re-released. Since then two more Elvis singles have gone to the top of the charts bringing his total to 21 number ones!

Over the years many artists have enjoyed incredible success in the charts. Bryan Adams held the number one position for 16 weeks in 1991 with the ballad³ ‘Everything I Do I Do It For You’ whilst Elton John’s tribute to Princess Diana, ‘Candle In The Wind 97’, sold 4.86 million copies in the UK.

However, there are concerns over the future of the music industry as sales have fallen in recent years. This was illustrated⁴ in 2004 when Eric Prydz had a number one record despite having sold less than 24,000 copies.

One reason for the fall in CD sales could be the increase in music downloads. Many computer users illegally download MP3 files through peer-to-peer, file-sharing networks.

The music industry has responded to this new threat by offering the possibility to buy downloads from approved web sites. These digital downloads were integrated into the UK chart for the first time in April 2005. Ironically, the first number one of the digital age was a reissue of Tony Christie’s ‘Amarillo’, a song first released in 1971.

GLOSSARY 词汇表
recording artist 唱片艺术家 ranked 排名 matched each other 平分秋色；不分伯仲 hit 轰动一时的电影、歌曲或演出 ballad 民谣；情歌 peer-to-peer 相同层次的；对等的 reissue 重新发行	singles 单曲唱片 best-selling 畅销的 posthumous 著作者死后出版的；遗作 re-released 再度发行 music downloads 音乐下载 integrated 合并到，融入

 

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 posthumous   

adj.遗腹的；父亡后出生的；死后的，身后的

参考例句：

• He received a posthumous award for bravery.他表现勇敢，死后受到了嘉奖。
• The legendary actor received a posthumous achievement award.这位传奇男星在过世后获得终身成就奖的肯定。

3 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。

4 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。