BigShinyThing

The single version of that vile Crazy Frog ringtone is set to top the UK charts this week, outselling the previous favourite for the top spot Coldplay by as much as four to one, according to HMV.

The surge in sales for Crazy Frog means it will eclipse Coldplay’s ‘Speed of Sound’, the first single from their long-awaited third album ‘XY’, as well as remove Oasis from the top spot with ‘Lyla’ their single from forthcoming album ‘Don’t Believe the Truth’.

Gennaro Castaldo, spokesman for HMV, said:

Music purists might not be too happy at the prospect of the Crazy Frog outselling Coldplay, but it shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise when you consider its huge novelty appeal and the massive amount of exposure it’s currently getting.

Last week, it emerged that the television ad of the ringtone had drawn more than 400 complaints from viewers who found it too irritating. But while adults might find Crazy Frog intensely annoying, children and teenagers have embraced it.

Gut Records, which is releasing the single in the UK, says it has already received 400,000 orders.

Since its launch, the Crazy Frog ringtone has been downloaded by more than 1m people in the UK and has made around £10m for the firm behind it, Jamster.

The tone’s inventor Erik Wernquist, 32, confesses in today’s Daily Star that he hates Crazy Frog.

Erik came up with the character after hearing the distinctive “bding-ding-ding” noise on the internet, where 17-year-old Daniel Malmedahl had posted his weird imitation of a two-stroke moped.

Erik got in touch with Daniel, created the character and featured it on his website - where it was spotted by Jamster and turned into a mobile phone ringtone.

He said:

Some people obviously think this thing is worth paying for. I don’t. I would never have it on my phone. I wouldn’t have it anywhere near me. If it came on TV, I would turn it off. Even before it went on the website, I began to hate myself.

And Erik says it’s not even supposed to be a frog:

Some German ringtone people decided to call it that. It’s not a frog, it’s a guy. An annoying guy.