In defence of Macca

Sir Paul McCartney. One quarter of The Beatles. The McCartney in the Lennon-McCartney song-writing partnership which changed the face of British pop music in the 60s.

And yet according to a poll, he is the most annoying pop star in the world. What on earth do they base this on? Well, according to Craig Dawson, head of www.musicmagpie.co.uk, who published the list, people are fed up with Macca because he has "driven people up the wall with his 'holier than thou' approach to his divorce, two-fingered peace gesture and penchant for wearing trainers with suits".

Well, there you go then. He is the most annoying musician because of non-music related reasons. More annoying than Robbie Williams, Liam Gallagher, Mick Hucknall, Jay Kay, The Spice Girls, Bono, Bob Geldof, The Cheeky Girls, James Blunt and Johnny Borrell.

Well, sorry, I can't accept that. Macca should never have been anywhere near the Top 10 based on his contribution to music. I don't care for the reasons given, he was the driving force behind most of The Beatles best work. Ok, his subsequent Wings and solo work was patchy and at times awful (The Frog Chorus anyone?) but I'll forgive him anything because he gave us Penny Lane, Hey Jude, Here There and Everywhere and Blackbird to name a few.

Of course, he is upstaged in most people's eyes by John Lennon but I suppose that is what you get when you are not gunned down at a relatively young age. No one would deny Lennon's brilliance, but Paul was his equal. And he is far more likeable as a person than Lennon ever was.

It was Paul who formed a band, got in a bus and toured Student Unions and small venues after The Beatles split, while the others revelled in their rock God status - a far more punkish and man of the people attitude than "imaginging no possessions" while sitting at a grand piano in your plush New York home.

John was a genius and worthy of hero worship. But it would be nice if people got over themselves and stopped mocking a true music legend.