This isn’t a new subject for
me, but as it was something I was rather evangelical about right at the
beginning then I should be excused another production of my ‘I told you so’
card. In 2007 the rules changed regarding single sales, allowing (legal)
downloads to count as sales and therefore the placing of a song in the charts. I
stated in a number of blogs and articles that this was a good thing to happen
to music, this was the revolution that would squash the big record companies. Not
long after this ruling came in an unsigned band, Koopa, managed to get into the
lower reaches of the Top 40 on fan power alone, thanks to campaigning directly
to their fans on Myspace. It seems daft now, but before Soundcloud, Facebook,
Twitter, Bandcamp and everything else, Myspace was the only social networking
site of note, (if they hadn’t done away with the 1.0 and 2.0 profiles we’d all
still be using it) and it was primarily a music showcase site before the public
took hold. As a music site, Myspace was perhaps the most significant
development in music since the birth of pop culture. Combined with the download
ruling, the public had the power to take the piss and see how far this rule
could be subverted. In theory we could have clubbed together and got ‘The Birdie
Song’ into the charts for no other reason than because it would have been a
laugh. The mischief failed to materialise sadly, although in December 2007 the
charts did contain a large number of Christmas favourites. That same year the
first of a now traditional social media campaign took place to try and get ‘Fairytale
of New York’ to Christmas number one. In 2007 people didn’t get it, certainly
not the majority, so the campaign didn’t work. I wasn’t proved right until 2009
when ‘Killing in the Name’ found itself at Christmas number one. That year’s
Christmas chart was an event in itself as the entire nation gathered round
their radios in a spirit of togetherness not seen since the Coronation.
The reason I bring up my
brilliant foresight and one of several occasions where I have simply been too
far ahead of my time is that the wheels are in motion again. A campaign has
gone live to try and get a song by the late Rik Mayall into the charts.
Released in 2010 for the World Cup, ‘Noble England’ failed to chart on its
first outing. Listening back to it now it is hard to figure out exactly why it
didn’t work. I remember at the time that it wasn’t exactly released amid a
blaze of publicity, in fact I only got to hear about it thanks to a sidebar
advert on Facebook (it was 2010 and Facebook was still good). Not only does it
showcase what a brilliant Shakespearian actor Rik could have been, but also as
an England football song it stands shoulder to shoulder with ‘Three Lions’ and ‘World
In Motion’. It would be a lovely tribute to Rik if the song charts at all, and
it would be truly magical if he gets a number one hit out of it. This Sunday’s
chart will be like 2009 all over again.
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