Keep X Factor off the British Xmas No 1

If you do, let me know. Am trying to buy it - I can only get so far with a UK-based proxy (places like play.com and Tesco want a UK address before I can download the song ... what fucking business of it is theirs? :mad:)

I bought it again for you! :D
 
Actually one of the things that always annoys me the most is when they do a cover version of a Beatles song. I don't care who it is, but no one should cover a Beatles song, period.

That's the sort of thinking that reminds me of why I hate the Beatles so much in the first place. Not everything they do is necessarily sacred and raised on a pedestal to the extent that any mortal that dares do anything with their music is deemed "sacrilegious." (Now if the cover sucked ass, that's another story...)

The Boingo/Danny Elfman cover of "I Am The Walrus" kicked the crap out of the original so hard it's not even funny. For starters, everyone sounds sober in the song, which is a huge improvement.
 
Whoop!

Rage Against The Machine has made it to Number 1, the X factor nonsense is number 2.

This means :
The money from the single going to charity (Shelter, iirc)
RATM doing a huge free gig in London
...and Simon Cowell having the grin wiped off his face
 
They did it?! awesome!
congratz to all those who purchased the song and contributed to wiping the smile off Cowell.
proof that the music corporations don't run the charts.
 
YAHOOOOO! RATM FTW :D
 
from the BBC News website

Rage Against the Machine beat X Factor winner in charts

Rock band Rage Against The Machine has won the most competitive battle in years for the Christmas number one.
The band's single, Killing In The Name, sold 500,000 downloads beating X Factor winner Joe McElderry's The Climb by 50,000 copies to clinch the top spot. Their success followed a Facebook campaign designed to prevent another X Factor number one.
One retailer said it was a "truly remarkable outcome - possibly the greatest chart upset ever".
Speaking on the Radio 1 chart show, Zack de la Rocha from Rage said: "We are very, very ecstatic about being number one." He added it was an "incredible organic grassroots campaign". "It says more about the spontaneous action taken by young people throughout the UK to topple this very sterile pop monopoly," he said.
McElderry, 18, praised the campaign, adding: "It's been exciting to be part of a much-hyped battle and they definitely deserve congratulations." Thanking all the fans who bought his single, he said: "This time last year I never thought for one minute that I'd win The X Factor, never mind about having a debut single out, so I'm just delighted to be in the charts.
"It's been such an incredible couple of months and I got the best Christmas gift I could ever have asked for in winning The X Factor." He later told BBC Radio 1 he did not believe the internet campaign was a personal attack.
He said: "It's more against the show than me and I think if any other person had have won, the same thing would have happened, because the petition was going on before the winner had been announced."
Despite earlier in the week calling the campaign "stupid", X Factor judge Simon Cowell offered his congratulations to the couple behind it, Jon and Tracy Morter.
He said: "I am gutted for Joe because a number one single meant a lot to him but I have to congratulate Jon and Tracy, who started the Facebook campaign. "I called Jon on Saturday to congratulate the two of them that, win or lose, they turned this into a very exciting race for the Christmas number one. "I am proud of Joe - he worked really hard this week, but he has a great year ahead of him."
The Los Angeles rock band's hit also set two records: it is the first single to reach the top of the charts on download sales alone and has achieved the biggest download sales total in a first week ever in the UK charts.
McElderry's song was only released digitally after his victory in the X Factor, giving it less time to rack up sales than Rage Against The Machine.
On Friday the band's lead was just 9,000 copies, but sales then soared by 200,000 to secure victory. Rage Against The Machine are signed to Epic Records, which is part of Sony BMG, the same label as McElderry. Mr de la Rocha said the band would perform a free concert in the UK in 2010 to celebrate their chart win.
The past four Christmas number ones have all been by X Factor winners; Alexandra Burke's version of Hallelujah last year was one of the biggest selling festive singles ever.
Guitarist Tom Morello said it had "tapped into the silent majority of the people in the UK who are tired of being spoon-fed one schmaltzy ballad after another".
He added that proceeds from the single would go to homeless charity Shelter tying in with the Morters' Facebook campaign which includes an online link to give to the charity, raising nearly ?70,000 so far.
The last big Christmas battle on a similar scale was between the Spice Girls' Goodbye and South Park character Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls in 1998. The Spice Girls won with 380,000 to their rival's 375,000.
Despite losing out on the single top spot, Cowell kept a hold on the album chart, with Susan Boyle's I Dreamed A Dream remaining at number one for a fourth week.

CHART ANALYSIS
Colin Paterson, BBC News entertainment reporter

It is simply one of the biggest shocks in chart history.
The common belief was that the race for Christmas number one had been destroyed by the X Factor.
This year the corporate might of Simon Cowell has been defeated by a husband and wife's Facebook campaign.
This chart shock is right up there with Spiller's 'Groovejet' derailing the start of Victoria Beckham's non-Spice Career in 2000 or crooner Engelbert Humperdink ending The Beatles' run of 11 number ones in a row.
Two other points - this could become an annual event - the public deciding on a track with which to take on the X Factor winner.
Secondly there is still every chance Joe will reach number one next week.
The Rage Against Machine campaign was designed for one week only so Joe could get the top spot, saving him the indignity of being the first ever X Factor winner not to hit number one with their debut single.
 
RATM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


In your face Cowell and your pop machine!

Do feel sorry for Joe though. :( He'll get No. 1 next week, last year Alexandra Burke held the charts for literally an eternity.

Listening to both of them back to back: is it just me or does Killing In the Name have some cowbell at the start? Needs more cowbell.
 
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Fuck yes! Nice to see we didn't do what they told us.


The bloke who set up the group should get free backstage passes to Rage for life.
 
Annoyingly, a mate has just made ?400 from a ?5 bet, after he put the money on RATM coming #1 during one of the periods of ludicrous ods.
 
Fuck yes! Nice to see we didn't do what they told us.

Actually....one could argue that a lot of people DID what they were told to do by buying the RATM single. ;)

I bet we'll see them doing butter ads and fronting a bugs documentary in 20 years time too! :lol: Protest my arse.

john-lydon-butter-ad-20081001-154850.jpg
 
after my earlier comments about how people shouldn't cover beatles songs, well after seeing this i am going to have to eat those words, now where's that tomato ketchup....

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gLWTtlMwo4[/YOUTUBE]
 
I know I'm a bit late but - WOOOOOH! RATM!

TOM MORELLO :love::love::love::love:
The guitar riff in Killing in the Name :love::love::love::love:
The voicebox solo in Wake Up :love::love::love::love:
TOM MORELLO :love::love::love::love:
 
Actually....one could argue that a lot of people DID what they were told to do by buying the RATM single. ;)

I was expecting that reply. Maybe you are right, but I do like RATM and at least they are a proper band with their own songs. Lesser of two evils, if you must.
 
Fucking RAGE.

God this is awesome. Way to not suck UK. Bravo.

Fight the Power.
 
more media coverage goodyness to warm your heart, this time from the pages of the Sun.

So Here it is, Merry Xmas... but it's not Joe.
By CARL STROUD
Deputy Bizarre Editor

JOE McELDERRY was sensationally beaten to the Christmas No1 spot last night - as foul-mouthed rockers RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE pulled off the biggest chart upset EVER. The X Factor champion took second place after HALF A MILLION Brits backed a wacky Facebook campaign to buy the US band's ranting track instead. Joe - hot favourite to top the chart like previous winners of SIMON COWELL's ITV1 talent show - sold 450,000 copies.
It meant the golden-voiced Geordie's poignant ballad The Climb was No2 to Killing In The Name - which boasts the refrain: "F*** you, I won't do what you tell me!" Music mogul Cowell was "gutted" for the 18-year-old. But he paid tribute to the Essex couple behind the Facebook crusade, saying they turned this year's Christmas No1 into "a very exciting race".
The multi-millionaire even phoned JON and TRACY MORTER to tell them so before the chart was announced on Radio 1.
Afterwards he texted them from his holiday bolthole in Barbados to say: "It was a good battle." Bookies were left facing a monster ?1MILLION payout after Rage Against The Machine - a 100/1 shot for the Christmas No1 just a fortnight ago - came out of nowhere.
Shocked William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said: "We discussed never taking bets on Christmas No1s again because X Factor seemed unbeatable. "It's hard to say right now how much we've lost. But the industry will definitely be paying out six figures. It could easily be over ?1million.
'I'm gutted for Joe, but I congratulate the internet campaign. It was a good battle' ... Simon Cowell talking from Barbados "We started the day with festive cheer, which turned into festive fear and now we are just in a festive rage."
The web campaign started out as a JOKE - but was last night hailed as a seismic cultural shift and a victory for people power, thanks to the growing dominance of the internet. Rage Against The Machine's track was available for download only - unlike Joe's which was also out on CD.
The Los Angeles band's guitarist TOM MORELLO beamed: "Killing In The Name is an anthem of rebellion and of liberation. It is an honour that it was picked to end the status quo. This campaign had nothing to do with Joe personally, who I'm sure is a very nice young lad. It was about breaking the stranglehold these insipid X Factor ballads have had on the UK and this idea of a guaranteed No1 pop single as a prize on a TV show. Now they've been taught a lesson they'll never forget."

Jon Morter, a part-time rock DJ who is a huge fan of the band, previously tried to give the music industry a jolt with a campaign to make RICK ASTLEY top the chart last year.
The dad of three, 35, grinned: "No one's got a divine right to be Christmas No1 and I think we've proved that. Joe's more than welcome round my gaff whenever he likes for a cuppa. We can have a chat about music." He said of Cowell: "He was genuinely pleased we'd given the Christmas No1 a shot in the arm. He even invited us out for a drink when he's back from holiday."
Wife Tracy, 30, said: "We remember when we were young the charts were really exciting. We just thought, 'Wouldn't it be funny if that song got to No1'."
Jon, who works for a hi-fi firm, is now considering another assault on the charts to coincide with the World Cup. But he admitted: "What can top this? How can you top putting one of your favourite bands at the top of the charts at Christmas?" Joe, whose single was a cover of a MILEY CYRUS song, was magnanimous in defeat. He said of the Morters: "They definitely deserve congratulations."
It is the first time in four years an X Factor winner has not been the Christmas No1. Joe's X Factor mentor CHERYL COLE had admitted she would be "devastated" if he did not clinch top spot. Cowell, 50, who went jetskiing yesterday, said: "I am gutted for Joe because a No1 single meant a lot to him. But I have to congratulate Jon and Tracy."
Rage Against The Machine fuse heavy rock and rap with acutely political lyrics. Killing In The Name originally limped into the charts in 1993 - making it only to No25.
Jon & Tracy Morter of South Woodham Ferrers, Essex celebrate Rage against the Machine going to number one this Christmas instead of the X Factor entry from Joe McElderry. They pledged a "large portion" of the single's proceeds to homeless charity Shelter. As thanks for getting to No1, they are to play a free concert here next year. Last night the Facebook group backing the band had swelled to a million.
But as it was bombarded with messages, not all were jubilant.
Sam Frost wrote that Simon Cowell would always be quids in, adding: "The only person that this has gone against is Joe. "For that reason I personally think this was a nasty and vindictive thing to do to someone."
HMV's Gennaro Castaldo said of the Christmas No1: "This is a truly remarkable outcome - possibly the greatest chart upset ever. It's not so much that Joe lost the race - sales of his single have matched those of recent X Factor winners. This is all about the stunning impact of the Rage Against The Machine internet campaign."
Radio 1's website CRASHED as music lovers around the world flocked to learn the Christmas No1. Chart presenter SCOTTMILLS said: "I've never known anything like it."

By LOUIS WALSH
YOU always have novelty records at No1 for Christmas and Killing In The Name is nothing but that. Joe has nothing to worry about at all. With all the fuss about Rage Against The Machine, people might fail to realise that Joe has still sold 450,000 records, which is phenomenal. He only lost by a tiny 50,000 sales.
He will sell a million singles. I think The Climb will be one of the biggest-selling singles of next year. Besides, it's all about having a career - look at the albums chart. ALEXANDRA BURKE, JLS and LEONA LEWIS have all come from X Factor and sold millions.
Joe will go on to sell a lot more albums than Rage ever have done. He's going to have a huge career. Missing out on No1 this week will not make a difference to his life. Rage Against The Machine couldn't fill Wembley now. I think Joe will.

TOM MORELLO
Rage Against The Machine guitarist

THIS is such a historic moment. A grassroots campaign of non-conformists has overthrown the pop charts at Christmas. It represents a great victory for cutting-edge music and the voice of the people. They decided they'd had enough with saccharine-sweet corporate pop acts ruling the airwaves.
It's not like the band put this forward, it was the people. But the members of Rage Against The Machine are so thankful that they chose our song to be the flagship. The band want to make it very clear that this is not something that we intend to profit from. We are donating a substantial portion of the proceeds to homeless charity Shelter. Whatever sympathy is there for Joe, use it to leave your donations for Shelter. Those are people who deserve sympathy and support at Christmas, not the latest X Factor poster boy.

also some comments from sun readers

whatever - you are all losers - I like X factor I liked Joe on X factor - I didnt buy the single wasnt crazy about it.. So what! The RATM single has been out for donkeys you could have bought it at any time if you were bothered - all you have proved is that you are very easily manipulated by going out and buying a song you never really wanted in the first place in the name of a facebook campaign - who are the losers here? not me - I never parted with any money - I dont really give a TRA who gets xmas no 1 and I never fell for hte marketing from either side. And next year I will watch X Factor all over again and luv it!

I would guess that 25% of those who downloaded the Rage single won't play it all the way through more than once.And some never at all. By what stretch of the imagination is that taking music forwards?!! RATM had the better song but neither is up to much. Does anyone think this will lead to RATM enjoting success again, I mean for the first time, in Britain?
The idea of a protest issound but there are dozens of fab records they could have chosen instead of what is guaranteed to win every 'worst ever Xmas single' poll from now til Domesday. Not that i'd blame the band, though.

RATM only won because they offered a free concert if they did Simon Cowell owns the record label that both Joe and RATM sing for so he has won either way i think this has all been very unfair on Joe he is only just starting out and RATM have been around for years the internet campain was just so unfair and everyone that supported it should be ashamed of themselves

Seems the Rock brigade can't hack it that their songs don't regularly top the UK charts - on their own merits - at ANY time of year. So they decide to hijack Christmas instead. The band aren't even British! Nor, I suspect, are many of the people downloading them. What a hollow victory. Perhaps next year someone should come up with a stunt to sabotage their Thanksgiving in a similar fashion. See how they like all the swearing and ranting.
 
Oh good, Sun readers. They're the perfect people to tell me how manipulated I can be.
 
Think you just gave us next year's song...;)

This could turn into a Christmas tradition...

I propose REM's "End of the World" song thing for 2012 and London Calling for 2011 to get people into the Olympic spirit.
 
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