Written In Advance, I have decided to post both versions of the ‘Christmas number one’ blogs. As you know I have been preaching about the download rule for several years now, but only in the last few weeks has the possibility of creative abuse started to bare fruit. Below is the blog for Joe getting to number one, with RATM at two, and after it is the RATM victory blog. It would have been a shame to delete one and never show it, so now you can step into two alternate realities.
So Near But So Far
Okay Joe, we hold our hands up and declare you the winner. Your cover of 'The Climb' has reached Christmas number one, in what has been one of the most talked about Sunday afternoon charts of all time.
Admit it; this has been an exciting week for the charts with front-page newspaper coverage with points of view from all corners. Simon Cowell does not think it fair that we are trying to undermine Joe’s chance of glory! Joe thinks the song is horrible, (has he heard his?) Cheryl is not happy, and Rage Against The Machine have been dragged into a media bun fight they knew nothing about until this week.
Although we all desperately wanted a RATM victory, I somehow do not feel too bad about the result. To get a number two single into the UK top forty with a song that got to number 25 in 1993, with only an internet campaign and no record company input was an achievement that all parties involved should be very proud of. I kind of feel like my football team has made to it the final, yet lost the game. As a Middlesbrough supporter that is a feeling I have felt too many times in my life. The mixture of initial disappointment followed by a philosophical “Well we made it this far eh?”
If anything, this has once again proved the point I have made in blogs as far back as November 2007, that when the rules changed and downloads counted alongside ‘physical’ releases to determine the charts, a revolution quietly happened.
The power is ours if we want it!
I admit I watch The X-Factor, and as I watch it with my phone in my hand updating my facebook and twitter feed I know that it gets the world talking. Who should go, who should stay, and he can’t sing, she cannot sing, what is he/she wearing? It goes on. But the important thing is to see the bigger picture. The X-Factor is NOT a talent show, neither is it a singing contest. A programme like The X-Factor should only be viewed from the point of view of light entertainment. I am sure that I am not the only person with the intelligence to take the whole silly affair too seriously. There are people who buy the singles and albums produced by the winners and runners up, and these people need help getting dressed and eating!
Joe is just like all the others, neither likeable nor hateable. The villain is Simon Cowell, who knows about money, not music. The Christmas number one is merely part of the prize, and we should not take it too seriously. The Christmas number one is worthless now, and Rage Against The Machine with their number two position are the worthy victors here.
Maybe with a slightly bigger push, next Christmas could be the year we finally knock Simon Cowell off his perch!
Victory For Real Music Lovers
The vast majority of the population have been listening today to the hit parade, perhaps for the first time in a long time.
The wonderful thing about this situation is that it was all down to people power. The average man and woman on the street has stood up to the power of the high-trousered one and literally said “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me”.
In 2007, a similar campaign was launched to give 'Fairytale Of New York' its rightful place as a Christmas number one (originally kept off by The Pet Shop Boys in 1987) but it didn’t quite manage, only reaching number four in the festive chart. The point was still made regarding downloads, especially as that years Christmas chart also contained Slade, Wizzard, Wham!, Andy Williams and Mariah Carey with their Christmas pension funds all acquired through the clicking of the public’s mouses, (mice?). In 2008 the internet campaign wheels turned again in an attempt to topple Cowell’s choice of single for that years puppet, winner. Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen both made the top forty with their own versions of 'Hallelujah', but alas, Simon hit the top, although Cohen definitely had a turkey for his Christmas lunch last year!
The top forty shows, if you look at it with detail shows that the message about download power is slowly getting through to the people. At 32 is a new chart entry for The Muppets and Queen, with 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. Another internet success story, (but really it only works as a video) from a facebook campaign and downloading. Interestingly, Miley Cyrus is one place higher with her (original) version of 'The Climb', and Mariah Carey is once again placed in the chart with All I Want For Christmas (her equivalent to Slade’s annual royalty cheque that she will always be known for, whatever else she does). 'Fairytale Of New York' is again selling well, and Journey have been enjoying a regular chart position during the last few weeks again thanks to downloading.
Joe might be number one next week, as Rage Against The Machine fall completely out of the chart, re-consigned to memories of Wednesday nights in Rumours (or the nightclub of your underage youth). But it doesn’t matter because the point has been made.
Maybe now the Davids of the world will take on a few more Goliaths, and with the right amount of support, WIN!
