Some of those that were forces...
The BBC Radio 1 chart show yesterday confirmed the impossible had been achieved: a piece of mass-produced, formulaic schmaltz has been prevented from becoming Christmas number one by a 17 year old rap/metal anti-establishment anthem. It restores your faith in human nature.
Just to remind you, a Facebook campaign was launched earlier this month by a couple that were sick of the monopolisation of the Christmas number one spot by whichever act has won the X Factor talent show. So they suggested anyone who shares their sentiment buy Killing In The Name by Rage Against The Machine - chosen because it represents precisely the kind of anger they felt.
In the intervening week, thousands of people must have bought Killing In The Name because, in an apparently very close race, it was named number one yesterday. RATM lead singer - Zack de la Rocha - was woken up by Radio one to get his thoughts on the achievement. "We would like to congratulate Joe and Simon on having the number two single for the Christmas Charts," he said.
A short time ago, RATM guitarist Tom Morello made the following comment on Twitter: "Quite a day! Thanks again for making Rage part of this historic campaign. Changing the charts or the world: together we can't be stopped." He also reminded us that money was being donated to homeless charity Shelter every time the single was bought.
With the music chart now being a feeble shadow of its former self, thanks in large part to the failure of the major record labels to cater for all but the most mainstream of music tastes, it's great to see so much air time being given to a track that is in so many way the antithesis of all that Simon Cowell and his kind stand for.
On top of that, this episode serves as a reminder that the Internet enables disparate individuals to work collectively, at a moment's notice, and actually make a difference.
