Will "Killing In The Name" be Christmas #1?

[Bob The Skutter]

Why? You just called BS on the whole thing, but it takes away any sympathy for Joe?
You do realise there's no way that's true, right? No-one Joe's age could have got through their teenage years without being exposed to RATM, there's not way he'd never heard it before.

I'm not unhappy Rage won, in fact I think its hilarious, but I don't think Joe himself has done anything wrong.

I have nothing against Joe personally, but his expectation that he should be number 1 for simply being X-Factor winner makes me think he is a bit of a twat.

Of course, this being the attention-deficit 00s where we've had a different #1 song almost every week (at least especially before downloads were included in the charts) without any particular overreaching anthem dominating a particular time period (with some very notable exceptions, e.g. Rihanna's "Umbrella"), he would expect that sort of foregone conclusion having been brought up on this sort of chart behaviour.

And of course, this being the attention-deficit 00s, we can expect the teens to defy the weather and ensure Joe becomes #1 next week, once everyone stops buying RATM. It's a "climb"... of sorts.

I might just have to start buying singles...

 

[HappyDayRiot]

Good luck finding some singles to buy Bob - the CD single format has been dying for a while now. The high street carries hardly any other than the big pop names or charity songs. Even bands like Muse and Radiohead who could always be relied on for singles and b-sides have stopped bothering. Good grief, even Girls Aloud gave up on major CD single releases for the last 5 songs they put out. I used to buy singles nearly every week but haven't seen one worth having now for about 18 months.

5. The Sun. Yesterday's front page headline: we played Joe McElderry RATM for the first time and he hated it. He reacted by screaming how he hated it and insulted people who like it. Oh, and threw darts at a board with Zack de la Rocha's face on it. That drove me nuts. That isn't news or even average journalism. It is flat out sensationalism and, frankly, lying. A boy who's never heard of the band, let alone the song, has a spare dart set hanging around depicting them? For fuck's sake. Grow up - any sympathy for him losing the annual non-contest is obliterated by that immature reaction in my opinion.

Why? You just called BS on the whole thing, but it takes away any sympathy for Joe?
You do realise there's no way that's true, right? No-one Joe's age could have got through their teenage years without being exposed to RATM, there's not way he'd never heard it before.

Sorry should have been clearer - I didn't mean my sympathy, I meant generally. The whole Sun thing was bullshit and his screaming hatred reaction is very immature, not to mention the naivety of the whole 'Simon wouldn't like them, they won't get to Boot Camp' statement.

I sort of agree with you that he's probably heard it before, but I've met plenty of people myself who've never heard of either the song or the band before. It surprises me, but some people really do only ever hear chart music or songs from shows or musicals. Joe's statements here, though probably twisted to some extent by the Sun, indicate he's led a very mainstream, sheltered musical existence. Which I have nothing against, until he rages at other people for liking something he doesn't and acting as if a fully fledged rock band would ever be anywhere the X Factor's process.

What was also annoying to me was that before his single was released on CD he was very magnanimous towards to the alternative campaign to buy Rage and was accepting of other views and tastes.

 

[Roshi]

I'm proud to be part of the generation that flips the finger.

 

[TheGodBen]

So why not try to get the Peter Kay song to number one?!?
It's helping charity and a bit different then the run-of-the-mill songs...

Because I don't like Peter Kay. I've never found him funny, probably never will.

You do realise there's no way that's true, right? No-one Joe's age could have got through their teenage years without being exposed to RATM, there's not way he'd never heard it before.

I hadn't heard it until I was 18, and I used to hang around with guys who were into that sort of rock/nu metal crap while I was in school. The first time I heard of the song was when I was in college and someone had written "RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE KILLING IN THE NAME OF" onto one of the desks I regularly sat at in a lecture theatre. I thought it had something to do with killer robots that whole semester.

The only reason I even know the song is because it was part of the soundtrack of GTA San Andreas which was released later that year, so I can easily imagine that an 18 year old like Joe might never have heard the song.

 

[Roshi]

Whatshisname's target audience is 'grandmas'. We already know he's going to be a gerontophile...

 

[Bob The Skutter]

You do realise there's no way that's true, right? No-one Joe's age could have got through their teenage years without being exposed to RATM, there's not way he'd never heard it before.

I hadn't heard it until I was 18, and I used to hang around with guys who were into that sort of rock/nu metal crap while I was in school. The first time I heard of the song was when I was in college and someone had written "RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE KILLING IN THE NAME OF" onto one of the desks I regularly sat at in a lecture theatre. I thought it had something to do with killer robots that whole semester.

The only reason I even know the song is because it was part of the soundtrack of GTA San Andreas which was released later that year, so I can easily imagine that an 18 year old like Joe might never have heard the song.

I'd heard of them, and the song seems familiar, but this is the first time I've ever actually stopped to listen to it, or any of their stuff, and I quite like it. So I would say just because he says he's never heard of them doesn't mean it has to be literally, it could just be that neither he nor anyone he knows listen to their stuff.

 

[Roshi]

Wow, just wow! Seriously? That song is constantly played in clubs over here. Admittedly at the end, but still.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Wow, just wow! Seriously? That song is constantly played in clubs over here. Admittedly at the end, but still.

Yeah, but out club music is as shit as our chart music is.

 

[MNM]

I dont care for either track and dont care who got to number one, but I'll be honest. I found the entire "campaign" to get Rage Against the Machine to number one to be laughably pathetic. The vast majority of people who went and bought the single did it not because they liked the song, but soley in an attempt to stop the x-factor one getting there and because they thought it would piss off Simon Cowell. If the campaign had chosen a different song, they would have all gone and bought that one and no one would even have mentioned Rage this christmas.

Simon Cowell doesnt care in the slightest about the empty acomplishment of a christmas number one, which hasnt meant anything of significance in years, he would have enjoyed the "controversy" as it meant more sales for his act and gives next years x-factor single a built in extra marketing push, and at the end of the day, the people who think they are "rebelling" are just giving their money to a slightly different huge record label.

The amount of self-congratulatory praise I have seen on the web today makes me laugh.

 

[Pingfah]

^ God, it was just a bit of fun

I love RATM anyway, and it makes me happy to think the number of people who have now been exposed to this fantastic song.

 

[MNM]

^ God, it was just a bit of fun

Of course it was. Originally. However, many, many people took it beyond just a bit of fun and turned it into something very annoying.

It's the christmas number one, it doesnt mean anything, and yet the amount of people who tried to turn it into something important, or how it was a strike for creativity etc... total nonsense.

 

[TheGodBen]

Simon Cowell doesnt care in the slightest about the empty acomplishment of a christmas number one, which hasnt meant anything of significance in years, he would have enjoyed the "controversy" as it meant more sales for his act and gives next years x-factor single a built in extra marketing push, and at the end of the day, the people who think they are "rebelling" are just giving their money to a slightly different huge record label.

The amount of self-congratulatory praise I have seen on the web today makes me laugh.

You miss the point then. This isn't about making money for one record label, or one band, over another, it is a backlash against the sort of manufactured, soulless music that shows like the X Factor produce. Yes, any song which involves talent and emotional involvement on the behalf of the performers would have done, Killing in the Name happened to fit because it sounds particularly passionate and it has an anti-authority message.

Who knows, maybe next year's X Factor will open itself up to contestants who have more talent than being able to sing other people's songs on stage, and then the show will finally have earned the right to use its name. It wont, but maybe...

 

[barnaclelapse]

I think it is good to see a Christmas number 1 that is not the X Factor just a shame it is artificial it would have been nice to see a new song do it just by enough people liking it the most.
That said it is still nice to see Simon Cowell take a little knock. The Real winners are Sony who get money from both songs.
I wonder what song the campaign will choose to stop The X-Factor next year though I would not be suprised if Cowell uses Facebook et al to fight back.
I hope next Christmas a real band get to number 1 with a song they wrote themselves which is also a new song. Can't see it though.

Agreed, although this was a nice surprise.

 

[startrekrcks]

not to my taste I hate the song and the band Joe don't worry you will get to no 1 someday please be respectful that my view is different.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I think for next year, the anti-X Factor download campaign should be Steve Brookstein's "Against All Odds". Just because.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

Nah - next year's anti-X Factor song campaign should be... The Climb as performed by Joe McElder.. ummm would you believe I've already forgotten the kid's name? I know it's not Elderberry...

So yeah. *Frankie Boyle* "Welcome... to Operation MINDFUCK".

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Incidentally, this is what happened when RATM played live on national breakfast radio during the battle:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/5live/2009/12/rage-against-the-machine-on-br.shtml

 

[HappyDayRiot]

I love it. They ask the band not to do the swearing bit. This band who once stood naked and gagged on stage for fifteen minutes in protest at something (I forget what it was exactly). Don't think they believe in censorship somehow

Top of the Pops Christmas will be interesting - it's tradition for the show to introduce the Christmas no.1. Over to you, Reggie and Fearne!

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I love it. They ask the band not to do the swearing bit. This band who once stood naked and gagged on stage for fifteen minutes in protest at something (I forget what it was exactly). Don't think they believe in censorship somehow

The best part is when Shelagh Fogarty then concluded with "Buy Joe's record!" at the end. In hindsight, isn't that an overt showing of partiality from the BBC that could lead to disciplinary action? (I mean, look at what happened to James Whale at talkSPORT re: the London mayoral election.)

 

[HappyDayRiot]

I just read that yeah - I demand action!

I still don't quite get why of all the times of day and channels to put Rage on TPTB chose 5live's breakfast show though. Odd choice. I only wish I'd been tuned in at the time!