Rage Against The Machine Christmas No 1 in UK

OK, so I know all the stuff about Sony winning whoever won, and all that, but this is still pretty impressive:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20091220/tuk-uk-britain-charts-fa6b408.html

Having a Christmas No 1 is a big deal in the UK, they all go down in history basically. So this is quite an interesting chapter in the history of the internet, in the UK at least.

X-Factor based Simon Cowell propelled songs have been Christmas no 1 here for the last 4 years.

The bookies lost out big time as well:

  Quote

"We were of the opinion that the X Factor was unbeatable but it looks like we will be proved wrong," said Rupert Adam, spokesman for bookmaker William Hill, said before the chart was announced.

 

"The industry will certainly be paying out a six figure sum, perhaps seven."

Some chap from Metafilter can explain it to those of you in the States better than I can:

  Quote

...Well, yes. But when hippybear said "in Britain having the Christman No. 1 is some kind of magic which is hard to understand unless you live there. The idea that there is enough support for this idea to actually take down the (basically pre-selected) pap which was "supposed" to win means something, I think," he's basically spot on.

 

The Christmas number one is – for anyone under about the age of 45, and who has even a passing interest in British culture – so bound up with Christmas itself in a way that probably seems a bit weird to Americans (or to many other nationalities, for that matter). Maybe this is because Britain is a smaller country, with a much more centralised set of media organisations, and hence a much more strictly defined/controlled set of cultural signifiers that surround Christmas. People invest in the Christmas number one because – less so for kids now, but certainly for two or three generations of their older siblings/parents – it's part of Christmas in the same way that turkey, sneering at the Queen's speech, and falling asleep in front of another showing of The Great Escape is.

 

I'm not sure if there's an American equivalent; the closest thing I can think of off the cuff is the importance people in the US place on the half time performances and big new ads at the Superbowl – the latter of which, for us in the UK, probably seems as odd a cultural construct to get exicted about as the Christmas number one does to you. In both cases, it isn't about the things in themselves – the ads or the number one song – it's about the ways in which both of them are part of a shared cultural experience which has, for better or worse, helped define a country's interaction with that one event, and what that means to people.

lol simon cowell's a twat

but who gives a fuck what's number 1 anyway in all honesty lol

i think its kinda cool.

i mean the fact christmas number 1 has the lyrics, fuck you i wont do what you tell me, over and over again is mildly interesting.

but yeah, i dont exactly sit up at night wondering what christmas number 1 is.

I dont care about Number Ones normally, but this is a bit more significant, being social media based.

and also because we got a very sweary song to Christmas No 1

i literally live for christmas no.1 - the rest of the year is awful

were you routing for simon cowell or for the internet rambo?

soo hungover but I tried to understand this.... RATM xmas album... top of the UK billboards??? what?? im soo confused

Simon Cowell of course

1. He's really handsome

2. He's cool and i like him having money

3. Christmas

4. Have you noticed how good his posture is

5. I don't want him to be depressed

6. He could beat up Zach de la rocha if he wanted but he wont because he's so laid back

lol that's sweet.

plus, just look at his expression. its permanently full of the pure goodwill and warmth that only success can bring you. he brings happiness to millions.

  On 12/20/2009 at 10:12 PM, Blanket Fort Collapse said:

soo hungover but I tried to understand this.... RATM xmas album... top of the UK billboards??? what?? im soo confused

A Facebook group launched a campaign to get everyone to download copies of RATMs 1992 single 'Killing In The Name', in order to beat Simon Cowells chosen one to the top of the UK singles chart. The chorus of said single is "Fuck you, I wont do what you tell me", which I think is why it was chosen.

They broke all kinds of records (first ever download-only no 1, largest downloads of a single track in a week etc) and won.

For comparison, here are the Christmas No 1s in the UK for the last 10 years:

2000 Bob The Builder "Can We Fix It?"

2001 Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman "Somethin' Stupid"

2002 Girls Aloud "Sound of the Underground"

2003 Michael Andrews & Gary Jules "Mad World"

2004 Band Aid 20 "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

2005 Shayne Ward "That's My Goal"

2006 Leona Lewis "A Moment Like This"

2007 Leon Jackson "When You Believe"

2008 Alexandra Burke "Hallelujah"

2009 Rage Against the Machine "Killing in the Name"

And think of it this way - we are all pricks and he's amazing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiiQPqmYE1A

Fuck you we won't do what you tell me except saying Simon Cowels a sleezy salesman of shite cos he's quite important to the record company thats making us more money than the last time this single was released.

The internet has made the 'po(o)p' charts obsolete hence the axing of Top of the Pop's and Mr Cowell has just exploited the left over mass market of clueless sheep by making shite seem less like shite by comparing it with utter shite.

'Killing in the Name of' had meaning when it first came out but at the end of the day its all just recycled shite from a big shitty corporation on both sides of a shite curtain.

For serious though, i love how the internet gets things done that would be almost impossible otherwise.

its easy to work out though, most years almost no-one except 14 year old girls give a shite and buy singles, one year a bit of fun comes along and loads of people who havent bought one single in the last decade pay 29p to have a laugh. the same amount of 14 year old girls still probably bought the x-factor single.

  On 12/20/2009 at 10:30 PM, messiaen said:

its easy to work out though, most years almost no-one except 14 year old girls give a shite and buy singles, one year a bit of fun comes along and loads of people who havent bought one single in the last decade pay 29p to have a laugh. the same amount of 14 year old girls still probably bought the x-factor single.

yeah - I think RATM sold 500,000 to the X-Factors 450,000 - thats still a massive number of X-factor sales (the 14 year old girls must have also mobilised all their troops). In a normal Christmas year, 450,000 sales would have secured the number one slot by miles.

So, Sony are the big winners here. But the Facebook group also raised a load of money for a homeless charity.

Overall, I think this is good news. But its obviously not the end of the x-factor industry or a huge blow against capitalism or anything. Its a bit of fun and a sweary song going down in history.

I'm not sure if it still happens, but the BBC used to play the Christmas No 1 on telly at lunchtime on Christmas day, before or after the Queens Speech. It'll be fun if RATM get to play this year, while I'm working my way through christmas dinner.

the whole thing would have been funnier if the internet had picked an anal cunt song or something

cheryl cole is angry.

record label win,

you lose.

(i bought it too)

i bet cowell et al got a payoff. they don't give a fuck about joe nobody.

"Bookmakers had believed that the popularity of the show, with some 20 million viewers tuning in to see McElderry win last week, would mean his debut single, a cover of a song by American Miley Cyrus, would come out on top."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WTF BRITAIN GODDAMN

Well i didn't end up shelling out £0.50 for an mp3 but it turns out everyone else had me covered.

Am looking forward to Cowell's reaction in the press this week, and NO MORE EGGS FACTOR on the TV

thankyou internets

simon cowell has already released a statement saying he thinks it was good fun and that he applauds ratm. i read that anyway.

shut your mouth about simon imho