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Enjay

UK people - RATM for no.1

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If you live in the UK you have probably heard about this but it seems a worthwhile, and inexpensive thing to do. Yes, I know that, from many points of view it is futile, that Simon Cowell has shares in the companies that will benefit etc etc. However, it still amuses me, successful or not and it does feel like being able to raise the finger at... something.

The background: For years, the X-Factor TV "talent" show has taken dreadful middle of the road wannabe power-ballad singing non-entities and changed them into overnight sensations. The timing of the show and it's popularity with the mindless element of the British public has ensured that, ever since it started, the winner is guaranteed to have the number one single at Christmas, thus ensuring the continuation of dirge music and the format for the following year.

However, this year, a Facebook group started to try and get Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" to number one instead. Initially, when I heard about it on the news, I thought "no chance" but now it seems as if there really might be a possibility that it will succeed. Aside from anything else, not since the Sex Pistols somehow magically "lost" a whole bunch of sales preventing their "God Save the Queen" getting to number one in the Queen's Jubilee week in 1977 will there have been a tune riding high in the charts that is so embarrassing for the various broadcasting companies to have to deal with.

So, if you have a mind to do it, go out and buy one or two copies. Apparently more looks suspicious and your purchase will not be counted. Today, the 19th, is the last day possible. I know that most of you will probably already have it but, hey, its only a few pence right?

Facebook Group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=mf&gid=37655682127#/group.php?v=info&ref=mf&gid=37655682127

Possible purchase links:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001I4NZP4/ref=dm_dp_trk2?ie=UTF8&qid=1260789106&sr=301-1

http://www.play.com/Music/MP3-Download-Track/4-/6773090/Killing-In-The-Name/Product.html?aid=6771851

http://www.tunetribe.com/product/rage_against_the_machine_killing_in_the_name?id=2030200

http://www.tescoentertainment.com/store/mp3/rage-against-the-machine--killing-in-the-name/2%3a33498805/

http://hmv.com/hmvweb/digitalProductDetails.do?productId=10561810&ctx=-1%3b8%3b-1%3b-1%3b-1

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/killing-in-the-name/id266798993?i=266799000#

http://www.7digital.com/artists/rage-against-the-machine/rage-against-the-machine-3/02-Killing-In-The-Name/

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Purchased from play.com, who are "experiencing a delay", wonder if the actual time of download counts as the "purchase" and the delay will be solved tomorrow?

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Bah, humbug!

deathbringer said:
Purchased from play.com, who are "experiencing a delay", wonder if the actual time of download counts as the "purchase" and the delay will be solved tomorrow?

It must be the same magic that caused the loss of Sex Pistol sales back then.

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Should have been something less completely mainstream and extremely well known than Rage Against the Machine. Nothing wrong with mainstream music and all, but this would have been more powerful to me if it were a relatively unknown band. And probably more impossible.

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deathbringer said:

Purchased from play.com, who are "experiencing a delay", wonder if the actual time of download counts as the "purchase" and the delay will be solved tomorrow?

Yeah man, it's probably the Illuminati beaming their pink laser beams into the play.com servers to make the X factor guy win.

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I'm somewhat conflicted. On the one hand, I really couldn't give a flying fuck what's in the charts at any time of the year. But on the other hand, Simon Cowell is a collosal twat and anything that annoys him has to be a good thing.

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Beating the talent-free manufactured song to Chrimbo no.1 is always good, but on the other hand the RATM song is on Sony. So it won't really change anything, the majors will still own the charts as they always have. But still, gl to the anti-Cowell brigade and I hope it wins anyway.

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As I posted on another forum, any respect I may have had for Rage Against thew Machine was destroyed when they had a tour sponsored by Nokia. They're corporate whores just like any other band that may be on top of the charts, but they pretend their not. That, to me, seems far worse than being a corporate whore and admitting it, or at least not pretending that you aren't. Now maybe when Against All Authority are in serious competition for a top spot I might support it.

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I don't really care one way or the other about RATM and, even though I like "Killing in the Name" I agree that there could have been a far better band and/or song to pick. But that's not the point. The song they picked is almost irrelevant.

To me the fun of it is raising a finger to Cowell, getting an indication of how many people are fed up with the dreary manufactured pop scene and the amusement of having a very rude song riding high in the charts.

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I don't listen to pop music, the radio (let alone British radio), or bother to pay attention to music charts. To be honest, getting upset about a shitty song on the charts is laughable at best, pathetic at worst.

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You may not be, but there are surely a lot of people that are in a huge tiff over this, and it really is laughable. And pathetic.

Also, Simon Cowell is pretty funny, and an asshole. He got where he is because he knows what the hell he's doing. Evil or not, he's not stupid, that's for sure!

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Agreed. The man is a genius who knows how to play the public brilliantly. He is a very rich man as a result and, ironically, this campaign will almost certainly make him richer.

It still amuses me though.

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Enjay said:

To me the fun of it is raising a finger to Cowell

Enjay said:

The man is a genius (...) this campaign will almost certainly make him richer.

Way to stick to your guns there buddy. What's next, you gonna stop whining about Steam?

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Jello said:
As I posted on another forum, any respect I may have had for Rage Against thew Machine was destroyed when they had a tour sponsored by Nokia. They're corporate whores just like any other band that may be on top of the charts, but they pretend their not. That, to me, seems far worse than being a corporate whore and admitting it, or at least not pretending that you aren't. Now maybe when Against All Authority are in serious competition for a top spot I might support it.

Ah, the good old "political correctness" technique. Compare any attempt at morality to ultimate saintliness, and upon spotting a stain, decry them to be worse than the devil.

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Yeah, really. If RATM really gave a shit about "sticking it to the man," they wouldn't have signed to a major label. It's a persona.

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Yeah, really. If RATM really gave a shit about "sticking it to the man," they wouldn't use potable water, electricity, or most forms of public transport. It's a persona.

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myk said:

Ah, the good old "political correctness" technique. Compare any attempt at morality to ultimate saintliness, and upon spotting a stain, decry them to be worse than the devil.


I never said they were worse than the devil, but when your message is anti-corporate and anti-capitalist, then it seems very hypocritical to have corporate sponsors. Yes, bands might need sponsors to afford their tours, but if your message is that corporations are bad then you should probably stay away from them as sponsors. They're the hypocrites, I just called them on it.

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That devil I referred to is corporate whores. If you wanted to call RATM hypocrites you could have done it from their very start since they've about always been in the commercial music market. It happens that they became particularly successful, at least for a band with their lyrics and statements (which you might find more often underground) and were approached by business executives willing to finance their tours or distribute and promote their albums. To really be hypocrites they should be compromising their work and message to comply with corporate demands or ideals. I don't really see much of that.

To make a parallel, a journalist with, let's say, a Marxist take on things doesn't become a hypocrite just because he gets some opinion columns or articles published in a mainstream commercial newspaper or magazine, unless he genuinely adapts his writing to that publication or its general ideology. He might be doing it simply because he thinks it's more imperative that more people get to hear his opinions or reports than to attempt to act like some kind of grassroots example many won't find out about. At worst, he'll be making the publication some extra profit, a sin which doesn't seem so cardinal when his message gets through or possibly even grants him enough cash or exposure to fund an activist or journalist project of his own.

In this context, the "political correctness" technique I defined above serves the purpose of attempting to undermine their activist stance itself, rather than really questioning it.

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Enjay said:

Agreed. The man is a genius who knows how to play the public brilliantly.

To be fair, it's not exactly difficult to play the British public, heh. Most footballers, tabloid columnists and Z-list celebrities can do it.

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