Their people (mostly), their list

John Lennon: Best of the Beatles.

The BBC being the respected broadcasting operation that it is, well, we expect a little bit more.  But this list of the 100 Greatest Britons is like so many other lists we come across. It stinks.  Yet flawed as it may be, we feel a responsibility to share the musical connections with devoted readers at the Sanctuary.  We apologize this took eight years. 

To give you a taste of the insanity we now share the Top 5:

1. Sir Winston Churchill
2. Isambard Kingdom Brunel
3. Princess Diana
4. Charles Darwin
5. William Shakespeare

Shakespeare ranking below Mr. Brunel, a 19th century civic engineer, tells us something is awry. But remember, it's just another stupid list. Armed with this information and 3 quid you could secure a pint of Guinness in any London pub.  And now on to music and, specifically, where the Fab Four can be found on the esteemed collection of greatest Britons:

8. John Lennon
19. Sir Paul McCartney
62. George Harrison

Ringo?  He was not as fortunate as David Bowie (29), Boy George (46), Freddy Mercury of Queen (58), Bob Geldof (75), Bono (86) and John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten (87).  Small point, but Geldof and Bono are much more Irish than dozens of noteworthy Brits who were left off the list, like Eric Clapton and Sir Elton John, to name just two.  Right-o, it's not a list of musicians.  Thank heavens for that.