Grease is the one that we want - it's official

When it comes to naming the UK’s favourite movie soundtrack, there’s one that shot like greased lightning to the top of the charts.

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New national research by Showcase Cinemas reveals Grease to be our all time favourite soundtrack with 23 per cent of Brits opting for the 1970s hit musical.

Dance classic Dirty Dancing (18 per cent) and ABBA extravaganza Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (16 per cent) also made the top three.

Further choices included Saturday Night Fever (1977), The Greatest Showman (2017), The Bodyguard (1992), Top Gun (1986), Pulp Fiction (1994), The Graduate (1967) and The Wizard of Oz (1939).

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Whitney Houston claimed top spot when it came to the UK’s best loved song from a film soundtrack as nearly one in five people voted for her iconic power ballad “I Will Always Love You” from The Bodyguard.

Top spot: Whitney Houston (Getty Images)

The ’90s smash hit narrowly beat competition from Bryan Adams’ ‘Everything I Do (I Do it For You)’ that features in 1991’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and ‘Unchained Melody’ by The Righteous Brothers, synonymous with 1990s movie Ghost.

In the battle to be crowned the UK’s favourite tune from an animated movie, the top two could not be separated.

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Singing bear Baloo from 1967’s Jungle Book took joint top spot with ‘The Bare Necessities’ (26 per cent) alongside the Elton John composition ‘Circle of Life’ from Disney favourite The Lion King.

Support from the younger generation saw the more recent ‘Let it Go’ from Frozen propelled into the top three (23 per cent of votes).

Music we love most:

Perhaps the most surprising result from the study saw over one in five people choose ‘Don’t Cry for Me Argentina’ from Evita as their favourite song from a musical.

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The Andrew Lloyd Webber composition edged its way to the top of the list despite fierce competition from Grease’s Summer Nights (21 per cent) and ‘Grease’ (20 per cent), which both made the top three.

Showcase Cinemas also polled Brits to find out just how prolific the classic ‘Ghostbusters (Who Ya Gonna Call?)’ really is. A whopping 80 per cent said they knew the iconic song from the 1984 film.

However, one in three Brits identified the James Bond theme as the most recognisable movie song or instrumental, with Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ from Titanic accounting for more than a quarter of votes, and the disturbing Jaws theme landing in third place (25 per cent).

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The older generation tended to go for earlier movies, with 25 per cent of over 65s selecting The Bodyguard, Ghost and The Graduate as revered soundtracks, while 18 to 24-year-olds chose ‘My Heart Will Go On’ from Titanic.

There was also a gender divide in choices. More than one in five women selected ‘I Will Always Love You’, while men (17 per cent) primarily went for Simon and Garfunkel favourite ‘Mrs. Robinson’ from 1967’s The Graduate.

The study was commissioned to celebrate the recent release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife starring Paul Rudd and Finn Wolfhard.

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Mark Barlow, UK general manager for Showcase Cinemas, said: “The big screen has provided us with so many iconic soundtracks over the years that it is near impossible to choose a favourite. However, with its enduring popularity Grease took top spot, having maintained its status throughout several generations”.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife tickets available at www.showcasecinemas.co.uk/film-info/ghostbusters-afterlife site.

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