RATM winning X-Factor race

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JackT

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Thu 17th Dec, 2009 in International News

As avid NME-watchers will know, it’s anarchy in the UK right now. We’re referring of course to the battle between Rage Against The Machine fans and British talent show X-Factor.

A Facebook campaign started a couple of weeks ago to propel RATM’s rabble-rousing anthem Killing In The Name to the Christmas Number One chart position, ahead of the latest X-Factor winner Joe McElderry. McElderry’s cover of Miley Cyrus’ The Climb (yes, the one booted from the Grammys) was expected to sit comfortably at #1, but the de la Rocha devotees are not going down without a fight.

According to figures reported last night by The Official Charts Company, Killing In The Name is beating The Climb by 65,000 copies. Sadly, though, a mega-shipment of McElderry’s single is about to hit stores. X-Factor figurehead Simon Cowell has told The Daily Star newspaper, “We’ve got half a million singles going out. Joe will be Number One.”

Regardless, RATM guitarist Tom Morello is pretty chuffed the chart war is even happening. “My hope is that one of the results of this whole Christmas season is there’ll be a new generation of rockers who will take on the establishment with the music they write,” he told the BBC.

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The Fool

The Fool said on the 17th Dec, 2009

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/5576/thefool.jpg

sarahanne

sarahanne said on the 17th Dec, 2009

deanoss

deanoss said on the 17th Dec, 2009

It's still available as a single?

Dexter Ramone

Dexter Ramone said on the 17th Dec, 2009

People are covering Miley Cyrus?

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 17th Dec, 2009

Killing in the Name of Christmas 2009.

Fuck you I won't eat my Christmas Pudding.

ThatDude123

ThatDude123 said on the 17th Dec, 2009

Greatest thing ever.

Got out my credit card and bought two copies through 7digital in the UK. Everyone else shoudl do it as well.

ThatDude123

ThatDude123 said on the 17th Dec, 2009

also, add the facebook link Jackie O http://bit.ly/inthename

Stefan Beck

Stefan Beck said on the 17th Dec, 2009

Aren't the X-Factor dudes and RATMs material on the same label so the money goes into the same pockets?

spintheblackcircle

spintheblackcircle said on the 17th Dec, 2009

and we bought what they told us

ThatDude123

ThatDude123 said on the 17th Dec, 2009

this is correct

tyler07

tyler07 said on the 17th Dec, 2009

Mad shiz, this idol/x-factor business has got to stop.

grattan

grattan said on the 17th Dec, 2009

The saddest thing here is that Rage fans give a shit about X-Factor at all.

say_aha said on the 17th Dec, 2009

i had never paid attention to christmas singles race but i always assumed they were christmas themed songs. the race is much less exciting now. hives and cyndi lauper should get there

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 17th Dec, 2009

Buying lots of CD singles is really sticking it to the man.

The Fool

The Fool said on the 17th Dec, 2009

People are buying the single off iTunes...

freo43 said on the 17th Dec, 2009

and the winners? the record labels and apple (itunes profits)

JackT

JackT said on the 17th Dec, 2009

THE WINNER IS ANARCHY!

And Miley Cyrus.

BTIazza

BTIazza said on the 17th Dec, 2009

clashpalace said on the 17th Dec, 2009

I'm barracking for X factor.

disco

disco said on the 17th Dec, 2009

morello is donating all proceeds from the rage single to two charities.

lukey26

lukey26 said on the 21st Dec, 2009

At least they are still stocking singles at all. Digital download sucks.

blox_party

blox_party said on the 21st Dec, 2009

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 21st Dec, 2009

Living in the past much?

clashpalace said on the 21st Dec, 2009

This is my take on things, Im STILL cynical about it. Moreso because of slowly acquired contempt for ratm.

Sure I was an angry teen in the 90's and thought they were fucking great.

But the facts as they stand:

-they stopped making music to go dwell on their million dollar yachts. Fans ie; 99% of typical white people who were into them couldnt give a shit about their activism.
-their comeback tour was obviously a money making thing and I wasn't impressed, both times i saw them they played the songs at a snails pace.

Now onto x-factor and charting;

-Xmas songs should always be shit, theyve been shit and soppy historically and rightfully so.
-Songs that chart and get #1 these days are generally shit.
-Since when has getting to #1 been important for good music? I'm from the class of kurt cobain and If theres one thing Ive learnt via him (which he learned from punk) is that charts / the industry / the labels / the man can go fuck themselves... it's a necessary means to be heard and not a means to be driven by. Music isnt a competition.

-More hypocrisy; People have taken what they will from RATM's song but generally it has become the cry of the white kid against the system, against everything it stands for.
-How does not only caving to capitalism (not a bad thing) but rather purposefully over consuming (buying 2 copies?) help any cause whatso ever other than the following; Make Morello and his fellow band members sit back and laugh a they rake in the cash and lazily refuse to make any new music? (honestly if they were still making music I wouldnt be typing any of this) but they've retired it, gotten bored of it and now sit back and nudge us on to buy buy buy?
-The competition probably got people who hate RATM (ie the clueless) to buy more xfactor singles. Hence cowell and x factor has gotten more press and sales then they ever would have.
-RATM are signed to Epic (SONY) incase you guys don't know. The label is laughing its ass off at all this.

Yes morello is 'donating' all it to charity or a % of it, who will ever know what fraction is donated. And it'd only be the small cut that they get from Sony anyway.

FINALLY most of the sales have apparently been over iTunes. Apple generally gets anywhere form 20 - 30% of the price paid. So the winners here are Apple, Sony, Epic, who will probably get 70% total and RATM on their yachts, and the charity's when they eventually get the moneys (like 50cents per sale)

Morello should have said: 'all RATM fans donate $1.69 to 'this' charity, its xmas, do it guys' and then we'll play a free concert if the charity grosses more than the x factor single. And not perpetuated this chart bullshit.

So Morello, fuck you I won't do what you tell me!

And I'll go not give a shit, not listen to charts and listen to music in my room.

/end cynical rant.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 21st Dec, 2009

Tom Morello released an album this year under his new band Street Sweeper Social Club.

Amusing rant though.

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 21st Dec, 2009

And albums in 2007 and 2008 as the Nightwatchman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nightwatchman

So yeah, sitting back doing nothing? Not quite.

I didnt realise Nightwatchman had a 2nd album, might have to grab that...

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 21st Dec, 2009

Maybe he has a recording studio on his yacht then.

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 21st Dec, 2009

I assume he would. And probably a golf course too. The songs are probably just random words he spat out in between martinis on the back 9.

vesperteen

vesperteen said on the 21st Dec, 2009

-since when has getting to #1 been important for good music?

-more hypocrisy; people have taken what they will from ratm's song but generally it has become the cry of the white kid against the system, against everything it stands for.

i do like your cynicism - and as anybody worth their weight in vinyl knows, the singles charts have never ever been a barometer of good music (exception: the beatles) -
but you gotta appreciate the simple underlying aim: letting the masses (& the man, who, granted, could care less due to the windfall of cashola this campaign has flung at sony & itunes) know that shitty, super-commercialised, blatantly money-spinning 'music' ain't cutting it & never will.

i also love how ratm (bless their dirty socks) are now synonymous with the image of indulged white kids who engage in poser-activism...why are white people always mocked for giving a shit? or even pretending to give a shit? <-- its better than apathy, you know...

anyway, your rant was enjoyable, and i give it 4 stars (which is about 3 stars more than i gave both audioslave albums...)

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 21st Dec, 2009

AVClub has a write-up:
http://www.avclub.com/articles/internet-1-simon-cowell-0,36547/

My favourite part is the quote from the X-Factor winner who was defeated (who, by the way, was attempting to have the number 1 single with a fucking Miley Cyrus cover, so if you think thats not worth blocking, then there's something wrong with you) about the RATM song:

“I wouldn't buy it. It's a nought out of ten from me. Simon Cowell wouldn't like it. They wouldn't get through to boot camp on The X Factor - they're just shouting.”

vesperteen

vesperteen said on the 21st Dec, 2009

avclub has a write-up:
http://www.avclub.com/articles/internet-1-simon-cowell-0,36547/

my favourite part is the quote from the x-factor winner who was defeated (who, by the way, was attempting to have the number 1 single with a fucking miley cyrus cover, so if you think thats not worth blocking, then there's something wrong with you) about the ratm song:

“i wouldn't buy it. it's a nought out of ten from me. simon cowell wouldn't like it. they wouldn't get through to boot camp on the x factor - they're just shouting.”

"can you imagine the grandmas hearing this over christmas lunch?"

haha! oh dear....

alexjordan

alexjordan said on the 21st Dec, 2009

why the fuck would RATM even care about a pissing contest with a wannabe pop star?

icutmyownhair

icutmyownhair said on the 21st Dec, 2009

This is my take on things, Im STILL cynical about it. Moreso because of slowly acquired contempt for ratm.

Sure I was an angry teen in the 90's and thought they were fucking great.

But the facts as they stand:

-they stopped making music to go dwell on their million dollar yachts. Fans ie; 99% of typical white people who were into them couldnt give a shit about their activism.
-their comeback tour was obviously a money making thing and I wasn't impressed, both times i saw them they played the songs at a snails pace.

Now onto x-factor and charting;

-Xmas songs should always be shit, theyve been shit and soppy historically and rightfully so.
-Songs that chart and get #1 these days are generally shit.
-Since when has getting to #1 been important for good music? I'm from the class of kurt cobain and If theres one thing Ive learnt via him (which he learned from punk) is that charts / the industry / the labels / the man can go fuck themselves... it's a necessary means to be heard and not a means to be driven by. Music isnt a competition.

-More hypocrisy; People have taken what they will from RATM's song but generally it has become the cry of the white kid against the system, against everything it stands for.
-How does not only caving to capitalism (not a bad thing) but rather purposefully over consuming (buying 2 copies?) help any cause whatso ever other than the following; Make Morello and his fellow band members sit back and laugh a they rake in the cash and lazily refuse to make any new music? (honestly if they were still making music I wouldnt be typing any of this) but they've retired it, gotten bored of it and now sit back and nudge us on to buy buy buy?
-The competition probably got people who hate RATM (ie the clueless) to buy more xfactor singles. Hence cowell and x factor has gotten more press and sales then they ever would have.
-RATM are signed to Epic (SONY) incase you guys don't know. The label is laughing its ass off at all this.

Yes morello is 'donating' all it to charity or a % of it, who will ever know what fraction is donated. And it'd only be the small cut that they get from Sony anyway.

FINALLY most of the sales have apparently been over iTunes. Apple generally gets anywhere form 20 - 30% of the price paid. So the winners here are Apple, Sony, Epic, who will probably get 70% total and RATM on their yachts, and the charity's when they eventually get the moneys (like 50cents per sale)

Morello should have said: 'all RATM fans donate $1.69 to 'this' charity, its xmas, do it guys' and then we'll play a free concert if the charity grosses more than the x factor single. And not perpetuated this chart bullshit.

So Morello, fuck you I won't do what you tell me!

And I'll go not give a shit, not listen to charts and listen to music in my room.

/end cynical rant.
I like you. Carry on.

lukey26

lukey26 said on the 21st Dec, 2009

I like having the physical copies of CD's over digital. The amount of detail that goes into Great album artwork, and having something to keep forever.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 21st Dec, 2009

He meant physical copies of CD singles.

A lot of us buy lots of albums, but seriously... CD Singles.

I thought that teenage girls were the entirety of the market for CD singles.

Stefan Beck

Stefan Beck said on the 21st Dec, 2009

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 21st Dec, 2009

im yet to see a band put that much effort into the artwork for a cd single.

albums yeah, but singles? No thanks, I'll take my $1.69 itunes version any time...

clashpalace said on the 21st Dec, 2009

sorry just to verify, i am aware of both Tom's projects and Zach's guest MCing and recent stuff something something Lion.

I meant sitting back and not doing anything ratm... but anyhoo.

I SUPPOSE it was good to read Cowell have a whinge about it... blah

spintheblackcircle

spintheblackcircle said on the 22nd Dec, 2009

This is my take on things, Im STILL cynical about it. Moreso because of slowly acquired contempt for ratm.

Sure I was an angry teen in the 90's and thought they were fucking great.

But the facts as they stand:

-they stopped making music to go dwell on their million dollar yachts. Fans ie; 99% of typical white people who were into them couldnt give a shit about their activism.
-their comeback tour was obviously a money making thing and I wasn't impressed, both times i saw them they played the songs at a snails pace.

Now onto x-factor and charting;

-Xmas songs should always be shit, theyve been shit and soppy historically and rightfully so.
-Songs that chart and get #1 these days are generally shit.
-Since when has getting to #1 been important for good music? I'm from the class of kurt cobain and If theres one thing Ive learnt via him (which he learned from punk) is that charts / the industry / the labels / the man can go fuck themselves... it's a necessary means to be heard and not a means to be driven by. Music isnt a competition.

-More hypocrisy; People have taken what they will from RATM's song but generally it has become the cry of the white kid against the system, against everything it stands for.
-How does not only caving to capitalism (not a bad thing) but rather purposefully over consuming (buying 2 copies?) help any cause whatso ever other than the following; Make Morello and his fellow band members sit back and laugh a they rake in the cash and lazily refuse to make any new music? (honestly if they were still making music I wouldnt be typing any of this) but they've retired it, gotten bored of it and now sit back and nudge us on to buy buy buy?
-The competition probably got people who hate RATM (ie the clueless) to buy more xfactor singles. Hence cowell and x factor has gotten more press and sales then they ever would have.
-RATM are signed to Epic (SONY) incase you guys don't know. The label is laughing its ass off at all this.

Yes morello is 'donating' all it to charity or a % of it, who will ever know what fraction is donated. And it'd only be the small cut that they get from Sony anyway.

FINALLY most of the sales have apparently been over iTunes. Apple generally gets anywhere form 20 - 30% of the price paid. So the winners here are Apple, Sony, Epic, who will probably get 70% total and RATM on their yachts, and the charity's when they eventually get the moneys (like 50cents per sale)

Morello should have said: 'all RATM fans donate $1.69 to 'this' charity, its xmas, do it guys' and then we'll play a free concert if the charity grosses more than the x factor single. And not perpetuated this chart bullshit.

So Morello, fuck you I won't do what you tell me!

And I'll go not give a shit, not listen to charts and listen to music in my room.

/end cynical rant.

You do make some very good points here, and i agree with most of it in principle, but seem to have missed the whole point of the exercise.

It wasnt a campaign run or organised by Tom Morello or RATM, but once they heard about it, they supported the idea. This was also supported by many artists, Paul McCartney included.

The campaign was organised by the same guy that tried to get Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up to number one last year. That failed, but this one didn't, most likely due to the message portrayed by the song. The whole point of it is a big 'fuck you' to the terrible state of the music industry and these manufactured X factor and Idol winners and the bullshit that goes along with it.

I for one was a huge RATM fan back in the day and enjoyed seeing them when they reformed, but nowhere near as much as i loved them the first time around. Therefore i agree with your points on the whole ' Rage doing it for the money reformation.' But i think this whole campaign was a great idea and a victory for those of us that have had enough of having these bullshit manufactured pop acts constantly giving us tinnitus and making us want to throw up every time we hear them.

This was never about the money, it was all about saying 'fuck you we wont listen to what you tell us.' And i'm glad that Killing In The Name won. I hope they do it again next year, Anarchy In The UK by the Sex Pistols.

vesperteen

vesperteen said on the 22nd Dec, 2009

^ or maybe they could use a good song...like anything not by the sex pistols

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 22nd Dec, 2009

Audioslave had three albums.

vesperteen

vesperteen said on the 22nd Dec, 2009

they did, too - my bad

i tend to repress the more traumatic moments in life, you see

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 22nd Dec, 2009

Revelations wasn't ear-bleedingly horrible, but it was easily the worst thing Morello and co. have put their names to.

Also, what's up with your capitals?

vesperteen

vesperteen said on the 22nd Dec, 2009

revelations wasn't ear-bleedingly horrible, but it was easily the worst thing morello and co. have put their names to.

also, what's up with your capitals?

i don't know...i do include them!

punctuation rules

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 22nd Dec, 2009

you were right to repress the 2nd and 3rd, but I loved their 1st album...

vesperteen

vesperteen said on the 22nd Dec, 2009

the first was ok...but i feel like audioslave marked the start of the sad decline of chris cornell, therefore i can't feel any loyalty to any part of it

David_Grr said on the 29th Dec, 2009

note to jack t at faster louder: wrong album cover.

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 29th Dec, 2009

meh, he was probably drunk on christmas schnaps - the twelve days of christmas has a different meaning for Jack.

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 29th Dec, 2009

Rage Against The Machine fans begin to topple the Evil Empire that is 'X-Factor'.

Coiuldn't possibly think it was pun-related?

JackT

JackT said on the 29th Dec, 2009

Indeed, wasn't related to the album it appeared on, but yes, was perhaps confusing. Plus, RATM press shots are all quite boring.

dream_brother

dream_brother said on the 29th Dec, 2009

This is my take on things, Im STILL cynical about it. Moreso because of slowly acquired contempt for ratm.

Sure I was an angry teen in the 90's and thought they were fucking great.

But the facts as they stand:

-they stopped making music to go dwell on their million dollar yachts. Fans ie; 99% of typical white people who were into them couldnt give a shit about their activism.
-their comeback tour was obviously a money making thing and I wasn't impressed, both times i saw them they played the songs at a snails pace.

Now onto x-factor and charting;

-Xmas songs should always be shit, theyve been shit and soppy historically and rightfully so.
-Songs that chart and get #1 these days are generally shit.
-Since when has getting to #1 been important for good music? I'm from the class of kurt cobain and If theres one thing Ive learnt via him (which he learned from punk) is that charts / the industry / the labels / the man can go fuck themselves... it's a necessary means to be heard and not a means to be driven by. Music isnt a competition.

-More hypocrisy; People have taken what they will from RATM's song but generally it has become the cry of the white kid against the system, against everything it stands for.
-How does not only caving to capitalism (not a bad thing) but rather purposefully over consuming (buying 2 copies?) help any cause whatso ever other than the following; Make Morello and his fellow band members sit back and laugh a they rake in the cash and lazily refuse to make any new music? (honestly if they were still making music I wouldnt be typing any of this) but they've retired it, gotten bored of it and now sit back and nudge us on to buy buy buy?
-The competition probably got people who hate RATM (ie the clueless) to buy more xfactor singles. Hence cowell and x factor has gotten more press and sales then they ever would have.
-RATM are signed to Epic (SONY) incase you guys don't know. The label is laughing its ass off at all this.

Yes morello is 'donating' all it to charity or a % of it, who will ever know what fraction is donated. And it'd only be the small cut that they get from Sony anyway.

FINALLY most of the sales have apparently been over iTunes. Apple generally gets anywhere form 20 - 30% of the price paid. So the winners here are Apple, Sony, Epic, who will probably get 70% total and RATM on their yachts, and the charity's when they eventually get the moneys (like 50cents per sale)

Morello should have said: 'all RATM fans donate $1.69 to 'this' charity, its xmas, do it guys' and then we'll play a free concert if the charity grosses more than the x factor single. And not perpetuated this chart bullshit.

So Morello, fuck you I won't do what you tell me!

And I'll go not give a shit, not listen to charts and listen to music in my room.

/end cynical rant.

Excellent. Would read again. A+++

anxious0

anxious0 said on the 30th Dec, 2009

hang on, do you all realize this is the same xmas #1 race that popular, serious musicans such as 'Bob The Builder' have won in the past? Its just all a bit of fun

that would be totally rad

Morello should have said: 'all RATM fans donate $1.69 to 'this' charity, its xmas, do it guys' and then we'll play a free concert if the charity grosses more than the x factor single. And not perpetuated this chart bullshit.

So Morello, fuck you I won't do what you tell me!

dont recall morello telling anyone what to do, he just added his 2 cents to the situation and was just the recipient of a sweet royality cheque?

Also found it mildly amusing the xfactor winner was dumb enough to admit he'd never heard of rage against the machine in his life

dream_brother

dream_brother said on the 31st Dec, 2009

He covered a Miley Cyrus song.. Can you honestly say you're surprised?

gardensalad

gardensalad said on the 14th Feb, 2010

“my money hope is that one of the results of this whole money christmas season is there’ll be a new generation of money rockers who will take money on the establishment with the money music they write...money"

gardensalad

gardensalad said on the 14th Feb, 2010

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 14th Feb, 2010

"I am the girl anachronism"
- Amanda Palmer

Stefan Beck

Stefan Beck said on the 14th Feb, 2010

"Wu-Tang is for the children"
-Ol' Dirty Bastard