Monday 21 December 2009

Rage Against The Morons

I realise that X Factor is utter tripe, I really do. It has become glorified karaoke, as people say.

So Rage Against the Machine are the Christmas number one? Ok then. Well done.

Something I noticed when checking the singles chart was that a few spaces down the list was the BBC Children in Need single. Doesn't this make the whole pissing off Simon Cowell* thing seem a bit irrelevant? Why does no one else find this horrific that people are more concerned with this than helping a children's charity?

The sad thing is that it didn't really matter what the single was. Who decided that this should be 'Killing In The Name Of' to be coerced to the top? A vain moron. Yes, well done, you're very cool indeed, but really what did you achieve?

If the real reason was to prove that X Factor is a load of shite and the music industry is corrupt (which again, I accept that it is) then the single itself doesn't really have much importance. What's important is the general public grouping together and influencing the charts - showing the men -in-suits that ultimately, it is the public in the majority who create the charts, and nothing is ever a sure thing. The single didn't matter. What would have mattered, and made a difference would be if the money people had spent on this fandango went to Children in Need.

Whether it was a case of wanting to look cool by choosing Rage Against the Machine, or just simply not thinking, it was a really fucking stupid move in my eyes, and it makes me very angry to think that children will have missed out because of this.

*Who is actually not going to get money because of this, unlike what people say, because although RATM are with Epic which is part of Sony BMG, they are not with Syco, and so he shouldn't see any profits.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

WONT SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!

Sophie said...

Exactly!

Unknown said...

The single itself doesn't really matter, because it wasn't called 'Fuck you Xfactor' (which would have been better), but it was actually a masterfully selected song for it to reach number 1. Firstly, Rage are massive, and the single, which is still played regularly on music channels and at metal clubs is their most famous, appealing to people who don't even own a Rage album or would usually find themselves listening to that genre.

Throw in the ostensibly political nature of the lyrics, "fuck you I won't do what you tell me!" (ironically enough) and you've got all the makings of an anti-X factor campaign.

Just before this time The Chart Jackers were making a similar campaign to promote their Children in Need single 'I've got Nothing' which was cheesy and rubbish, and so was only bought by their youtube following (including me) to support the charity, and try and make a point (to small success) of the power of internet orchestrated campaigns.

Despite this, Rage only took the number 1 spot for one week, and the money that didn't go to corporate fatcats went to 'shelter' charity, which is nice.