On Sunday 20th December 2009, I was finally proved right after years of writing about the power of the download. In 2007, I wrote about how significant this was to the music business. The rules changed in January 2007 allowing songs downloaded legally to count towards a chart position. During the run up to Christmas that year, the official chart had all the classic Christmas songs in; Slade, Wizzard, Andy Williams etc. See for yourself. There was even a facebook movement, (possibly the first of the kind) to subvert the traditional domination by the winner of X-Factor by downloading ‘Fairytale of New York’ to Christmas number one.
The problem as I look back on it is that it was all too early. I was ahead of my time thinking that people would fully understand the concept of the download as a source of power. I have said it before and I will say it again; the download rule was THE most important thing to happen to music.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO HAPPEN TO MUSIC.
This ruling should have ended the dictatorship of the Simon Cowells, Don Ardens and Colonel Tom Parkers of the world. The possibilities were endless, yet we the public have let them get away with it. What we had was the power to subvert. There should have been all sorts of delightful nonsense going on in the charts in the name of irony; ‘Agadoo’, ‘The Birdie Song’, Anita Dobson’s ‘Anyone Can Fall in Love’ or the entire back catalogue of Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers. On a more serious note, unsigned bands should have made more of this rule, especially given the rise in social networking websites in the last three years.
Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!
The strongest contender for this years undermining of The X-factor is a song from 1963 that did not enter the British charts until 2008, when it hobbled up to number 50. the reason for the popularity of ‘Surfin’ Bird’ by The Trashmen is of course due to it featuring in four episodes of Family Guy, the most famous one (that everyone remembers) being I Dream Of Jesus. As someone who has always been a fan of this song from before the bandwagon came rolling into town, I do find it a touch irksome that it is now seen as ‘that song from that episode of Family Guy’. On the other hand, as it didn’t chart in 1963 then it is lovely to see a supposedly obscure song receiving the attention and accolades that it deserves.
At the time of writing, the facebook group devoted to this cause has 570,447 members. Providing that everyone downloads ‘Surfin’Bird’ once, then there is a good chance that The Trashmen will be this years Christmas number one.
So finally, the public have spoken up against The X-Factor and made a stand. Last year was remarkable as the nation gathered around the radio on that Sunday afternoon to listen to the charts, mostly people who hadn’t done so in years which made it all the more special. Even more special by the way that twitter and facebook kept the whole country in touch with each other, as we set about making a mockery of mainstream pop music. As soon as the opening DAAAANG! of ‘Killing in the Name’ kicked in, we cheered an event worthy of a street party.
As I wrote here, the history of the Christmas number one is a strange and varied one. The rose tinted glasses brigade tend to lament the lack of an actual Christmas song in the top position, but if you go through the list you see that non-Christmassy songs far outweigh the sound of sleigh bells.
The facebook campaign to choose an alternative Christmas number one has entered into our collective conscious as a festive tradition in its own right. Along with turkey, tinsel, trees, the Coca-Cola lorry and It’s A Wonderful Life, if you were to compile a book The I-spy Book Of Signs That Christmas Is On The Way, you have to mention facebook.
Now that my prophecy of 2007 has become true, and everybody now understands how the download rule works now, is it not time to have a Christmas song at the top? We have a lot to choose from after all, and not just the obvious ‘compilation album’ favourites of Slade, Mud and Shakin’ Stevens. Now that Doctor Who is big news (and appropriate given how the BBC rests the Christmas day schedule on it), why not ‘I’m Gonna Spend My Christmas With A Dalek'? Or how about Bing Crosby? Judy Garland? Something from Muppets Christmas Carol, such as this lovely song? Something from the legendary Phil Spector’s Christmas Album?
Or, a new song altogether? Surely, a Christmas song can be written to top the festive hit parade. Would that not work?
As long as it isn’t Cliff!
