Rage Against the Machine… Almost There for Christmas Number One

In two days, the war that has waged for dominance of the Christmas singles chart in the U.K. will be decided. In the blue corner, “X-Factor” reality pop T.V. show winner Joe McElderry, with his Miley Cyrus cover (Yes, Miley Cyrus cover) “The Climb”, stands shaking at the knees a few thousand copies behind, according to HMV. In the red corner, pulsing with ’90s angst, Rage Against the Machine can almost smell victory with their 1992 semi-hit “Killing in the Name”. The two songs are as different as ebony and ivory, but without the harmonious relationship. In fact, the feud is more a contest of “cool” versus “cushy”: those who are willing to drop an “F” bomb 17 times versus the teary-eyed and inspired.

But what makes this battle so interesting isn’t the contenders themselves. It’s the rallying of the troops. Every year the “commercial” hit is pitted against a niche, cooler underdog. The tidal wave of music consumers are more-often-than-not barely slowed down by “real” music lovers who, unfortunately for their much-loved bands, are more inclined to swap, create, or “acquire” than flock to the shops. This time, however, a neat little Internet gimmick known as “social networking” has allowed the conventional greasy-haired, black-shirted unconventionalists to band together in the virtual realm and take on the beast of popular music (even though, it might be said, Rage Against the Machine isn’t exactly obscure or unpopular…)

The campaign to oust Simon Cowell’s pop machine has been steadily growing on Facebook since December 13th, thanks to the group “RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE FOR CHRISTMAS NO.1“. “Fed up with Simon Cowell’s latest karaoke act being Christmas No.1?” asks the group. Then buy “Killing in the Name” as a “protest to the X-Factor monotony”. The group has attracted more than 400,000 members (2 percent of the U.K. Facebook population) in the two weeks of its existence.

If Rage Against the Machine, do, in fact, get the Christmas No.1 spot, a salute is owed to Facebook for its ability to organize the disorganized. Simon Cowell and his music manufacturing machine will be reminded of the fact that no one man decides the fate of the music industry. It is a democratic process. At least, that’s the idea, right?

However, like most attempts to stick-it-to-the-man, the effort is futile in the long run. Cowell will not be cowering if his grand scheme is undone. As one Facebook RATM group member points out, “Rage Against the Machine is under Simon’s Sony deal anyways, so no matter what, he’ll still be getting money.” Come to think about it… bringing another Sony band under the radar at Christmas time is an excellent idea for the record label. No matter who wins this battle of music ideology, the profits are mounting. For Sony, and Cowell, and Rage Against the Machine (who, let’s face it, originally only got to number 25 in the charts with “Killing in the Name” and will find an ever-appreciated popularity boost in their stocking this year) Christmas has come early. Thanks Facebook!

Today is the last day for Brits to buy their way to victory. By midnight GMT, that’s 4pm PST and only a few hours from now, the votes will all have been cast. At this point, it could go either way… the RATM group states that “some indications are putting us BEHIND by 10,000 copies”. Others claim the opposite. Tom Morello told the Sun newspaper: “This really does seem like the biggest ‘which side are you on?’ moment in the history of UK music.”

A nice idea, Tom. But in the end… we’re all on the same side. Perhaps ebony and ivory, “cool” and “cushy”, live together in perfect harmony after all.

Tags: Christmas, No.1, Rage Against the Machine, U.K.