“With the nation in a Rage, Christmas loses it's X Factor” Marketing piece

On Sunday the 20^th of December 2009 it was announced to the nation that Rage Against the Machine had won the battle for the Christmas number one spot, breaking the tradition of the X Factor winner, Joe McElderry in this years case, jumping straight in at the top spot.

Now considered the greatest Christmas chart battle in history, the American heavy rock band’s single “Killing in the Name” out sold 18 year old Geordie Joe’s debut single “The climb” by 50,000 to clinch the number one spot.

This unpredicted success has come from a Facebook campaign started up to rebel against the X Factor’s almost guaranteed Christmas number one. Simon Cowell was also being targeted as the creator of this predictable regime and for taking the excitement out of our festive chart shows.  It’s not the first rebellion of its kind to take place, last year a similar campaign tried to get Jeff Buckley’s version of “Hallelujah” to number one, but lost out to X Factor’s Alexandra Burkes new recording of the same song.

The big difference this year that seems to have split the nation is the style of song chosen to ride on high at Christmas. Rage’s “Killing in the Name”, initially a number 25 hit in 1993, contains heavy swearing and violent rock tempo, therefore doesn’t exactly strike a chord as being suitable around this primarily religious holiday.  Then on the other hand, McElderry’s “The Climb” seems to be just another cheesy inspirational cover version manufactured to seal his title as the X Factor winner, not ideal for those among us who are not fans of the show.

The main point raised by this chart feud needs to be the realization that as a nation we are not thinking for ourselves and buying the music we personally enjoy, we seem to be following like herds the ideas and tastes dictated to us by other people that have chosen to make a stand. So even though the Rage Against the Machine rebellion won out over the domination of X Factor, it still promoted conformity and started a dictatorship of its own. It is doubtful that anyone who purchased Rage’s single really thought this was a suitable Christmas number one, and even if they are against the success of the X Factor, why not just opt out of buying any record? Or purchase another recent single that you enjoy; Michael Buble and Lady Ga Ga to name a few both had very strong original pop records in the Christmas top 10, yet were also beaten by the 90’s rock song and its obedient following.

So next year let’s all make a conscience effort to think for ourselves! Indeed, purchase the X Factor single if you like it, but don’t be afraid to look elsewhere for music you love. The chart is meant to be a fair record of what songs are most popular in the current market, so there’s no need to drag out singles from decades ago, today’s music really has got a lot to offer if you just take the time to listen and choose for yourselves.