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Rage against the X Factor wins
THE COVETED UK NUMBER ONE Christmas single spot has been won by ageing rock band Rage Against the Machine, thanks to a Facebook campaign.
The campaign was started by a couple called Jon and Tracy Morter who have both a Facebook account and a desire to inject a little anarchy into what has become rather predictable chart battle. Thanks to a groundswell of support, they won, and a nation that doesn't really buy singles anymore ruined Christmas for Simon Cowell by choosing to put a song called "Killing in the Name of" at number one instead of the winner of his latest television talent show.
The X-Factor, for those that don't know, is a sort of nightmareish television experiment that sees a lot of unprofessional singers flung into the spotlight for us to gawp at. Of course some have more talent than others and despite a lot of apathy and incredulity, one is deemed at the end of a seemingly random process to have the X Factor. An intangible something that apparently separates us from them.
This year's winner was the boy-faced Joe McElderry who has since released an over-produced dirge called 'The Climb' that we can't even bring ourselves to link to. Winners, given the general sheep-like quality of the British population, are usually a shoe-in for the Xmas number one spot, unless that is, a couple decides to start a social networking campaign to stop that from happening. Which is what happened this year. Oh, and last year when the pair tried to get Rick Astley to number one.
This year they had more luck though, and although readers in the US may think that we are missing a few 0s here, Rage Against the Machine sold 500,000 copies of its single, 50,000 more than young Joe.
Although this guarantees disappointment for a lot of 12-year old girls, and some tricky decisions for future Christmas album compilers, Zack de la Rocha, the band's lead singer was pleased, telling the BBC Radio chart show, "We are very, very ecstatic about being number one."
If you can't put a song to the name, then this is the one with the anarchic "F*** you, I won't do what you tell me" chorus. Rage Against the Machine is signed to small, indie punk label Epic, which is part of Sony, which lists Simon Cowell's Syco as one of its subsidiaries.
So Sony doesn't much care, it would have won either way, but Sid Vicious must be pogo-ing in his grave. µ
L'Inq
Rockpit - Warning, uncensored and definitely Not Safe For Work (NSFW)
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personally as a fan of rock music i would not have chose ratm to pit against the xfactor when ther is so many better tracks with a more relavant message. i do agree that syco music (cowells label) should not take xmas number 1 as a given and shouldnt spit there dummy out when another act wins it ratm has just as much right to win it as cowells latest karaoke star who is shot to fame. ratm have a long spanning career and a strong long term fan base, where will geordie joe (even tho he is from south shields so should be sand dancer joe) be this time next year? bargain basket at record shops or singing a huge chorus of "do you want fries with that" at the local burger shack! people arguing that he was robbed seriously get a grip!!!
Damn it is good to see Zach, Tom, and the boys reunite for any reason! :)
Now to go back to Roger Waters' "This Species Has Amused Itself to Death".
"we go round saying were the most intilectual animals on this wonderful planet. Paracites, and the worst sort is what we are!"
I would definitely say that I am and 'intilectual' animal..... Not a 'paracite' though, that would be awful!
He says he is "a heterosexual, but not a practicing one". What is that then?
If I was 18 and good looking then I'd be practicing quite a lot! Which is what I did do, even though I was only average looking (modesty) ;-)
He said he thought Cheryl Cole was hot but now he's gotten to know her he doesn't fancy her. WTF? I would expect to feel that way if she was a PITA, but if she's that good looking and has an "ok" personality then I'd fancy her even more once I got to know her. Who wouldn't?
Good looking woman you work with, you get to know her and she's nice, do you fancy her more or less now? Pretend you are 18 and she's about 25 and looks like Cheryl Cole. Exactly.
Coincidentally, I DL'd the album form PLay the night befor emy gf told me about the whole campaign :)
Anyhow, I love the 'anti-conformity' side swipe from Harry "non-conformists have finally conformed".
It's not about anti-conformity dumb-ass. Everyone conforms to some ideal, unless you are a real life hermit with no social interaction.
This was a simple anti- X-Factor protest vote, nothing more, nothing less.
It gave some cheer to the thousands out there sick of the public's fascination with what is essentially a cynical marketing ploy from Cowell.
This alterntaive campaign was not a marketing ploy as RATM didi not instigate it, therefore rendering the whole episode a protest.
The artist is irrelevant in this instance - it could have been Pulp for all we care.
The important point is, smart asses like you, waving the ironic 'non-conformists conforming' missed the point.
There is no such thing as non conformity and the message RATM spread back in the 90's was about social inequality and morally inept political systems.
So there, here endeth the lesson.
A great victory for good rock music, with real instruments, played by those who wrote the song, with a real message.
Regarding Ian's comments, Humanity is a parasite on the planet, but a truly evolved parasite wouldn't kill its host.
With the music industry, as with politics and so many ares of life, the rich and powerful get the media to manipulate the public into doing what THEY want you to do, whether that is thinking Guinness is good for you, lets go blow up Iraq because they're a military threat, or buy manufactured pop music squirting continuously out of the festering holes of Louise Welsh and Simone Bowell.
Keep on Raging
Gary
Now all we need is to rally the people into war against pos ""news"" sites like TI & SA.
So the non-conformists have finally conformed to buying music the already own in a different format.
F**k you I won't do what you tell me? You did exactly as the internet told you, in your thousands, some of you even bought it twice
Everything about this is perthetic! Facew**k which I like to call it as only 2 functions, massage peoples ego's and advertising tools as people give away all there info to who knows who on there from what I can see. Anyone who as any kind of clue about music from whatever genre, classical, electronic whatever knows that it's all a giant advertising tool and Simon cowell is at the top of that pathetic ladder. Getting side tracked anyways, sorry.
What I really wanted to say was if only people stopped worring about what jordon is doing, equivilent to Paris Hilton if your from the USA, make-up, diet and all the other crap that takes up everyones time which is deliberately forced on us to stop the people coming together and actually taking care of importnant things such as the corruption all over the world! Bilderburg group, wiki it if you don't know. They know what's going happen with unpresidented accracy cause there the familys that truely rule the world. It's all a game to them and they don't marry into other familys outside of the group. Anyways, if people rallied together like they have to put a stupid song at the number 1 for Christmas maybe the world would be a better place. Although ALL religions are bull crap as it's just a means of control over the populous, which can only fail, I have no problem if people want to believe that but people need to wake up and see that it's all there to keep us apart so and all the entertainment and the problems with race differences are all part of the game for these people at the top controlling things as if it were monopoly.
Sick species we are when you look at what we do. The only species I know that activly slows our development and we go round saying were the most intilectual animals on this wonderful planet. Paracites, and the worst sort is what we are!
If people don't react soon we won't be able fight back at all against these powers that be, 1984!
Roll on next year, lets continue this battle! Don't stop at 1 win, I want to see a continuation! What song next year will be picked? I vote Serj Tankian - The Unthinking Majority!
Before the X-Factor's domination of the Xmas charts it used to be fun guessing who would be at the top. Great to be able to do that again.
simon cowell changes the very soul of music into personal cash leaving a shrivelled prune-like husk in its place.
nothing good can come of it.
mark my words, it'll all end in tears!