When I was a kid, one of the charming things about the build-up to Christmas was the charts countdown and trying to figure out which band would have the Christmas Number One single. Ok, so I didn’t get out much.
As I grew older and wiser and my interest in the event waned until I realised it was something else I could bet on (Wa-hoo!). Nowadays, however, finding out who is Christmas No1 is about as unexpected as someone other than Elin Woods claiming to have slept with her husband.
Sadly enough for the last four years the UK Christmas Number 1 has been won by the winner of the X-Factor (yawn) thereby ruining any betting interest in the event. Joe McElderry has been installed as the 1/10 favourite to top the charts in two weeks’ time with a cover of Miley Cirus’ ‘The Climb’ (exactly!) and there ain’t nothing anyone and do about it. Especially as Amazon and Tesco are selling it at a loss (you can buy it for 29p).
As it turns out a Facebook group has been set up to encourage everyone to vote for Rage Against The Machine’s 1992 single ‘Killing I The Name Of’ – a song which employs 14 uses of the word fuck and one use of the word motherfucker. Nice touch.
It is an admirable attempt at derailing the Simon Cowell juggernaut but unfortunately, as the 10/3 odds would suggest, there is about as much chance as Rage winning the day as there is Katie Price being mentioned in the New Year’ Honours list. The other problem with that choice is that, like McElderry, RATM’s single is on the Sony record label. So the big corporations win again.
As Brian May, the legendary Queen guitarist, said recently, “it’s sad that if you’re not on the inside of this very powerful system which gives you the exposure you need to succeed you get left out. It’s really tough for the genuinely talented trying to break through.”
It’s also sad that May, Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams and countless other artists have endorsed the whole Cowell monopoly by appearing on the show themselves to promote their own records and consequently the X-Factor music.
At least May and his surviving Queen band members have allowed the Muppets to take on McElderry with a version of Bohemian Rhapsody, though.
If you do nothing else this Christmas, download this video single just to piss off Cowell and his manufactured pop. The numbers simply won’t be there for Killing In The Name Of as it’s content will only convince a small demographic but at least the Muppets version is an amusing video single that will be popular across the board.
Check it out. Over a million others already have done. And then buy it. Go on, it’s Christmas.
