Shamik Das


Sunday, December 11, 2011

Wanna choke off Cowell’s X Factor single from the Xmas number one? Here’s how!

Simon-Cowell-gimpANOTHER Christmas, another seemingly inexorable march to the number one slot for Simon Cowell’s latest fame-hungry karaoke coverer, with the winner of X Factor 2011 set to be unveiled tonight.

But it doesn’t have to be this way - the man who’s ruining music was knocked off his perch in 2009 and can be beaten again.






This year, following in the beats of Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name is the Nirvana classic Smells Like Teen Spirit, as 21st-century anti-Cowell hero John Morter - the man behind the campaign to get Rage to the number one two years ago - explained on Radio Five Live last night, on the eve of the X Factor dénouement.

Listen to the interview, with Saturday Edition’s Chris Warburton:

Xmas No 1 X Factor alternatives (mp3)

This year’s campaign, though, is slightly different, as Morter explains:

“There’s a lot of differences really, it's not really the same sort of campaign, to be honest with you, it doesn’t feel the same, it feels very different in a good way. The Rage campaign was really, you know, a ‘have a go’, this monopoly had kept on keeping our Christmas number ones every year and we stopped that, which was brilliant, and...”



But it doesn’t say anything about the might and power of the pop music industry, does it, that you’re able to then have a campaign to get something else to number one, it’s not done organically, I don’t think it kind of redresses what you see as a bigger problem does it?

“Well, it depends how you mean, in the very long term, possibly not, it's one minor event on a massive, massive spectrum of musical history, so, to answer that, probably no, but, y’know, it was something that, that people could get hold of and could get behind and say, ‘look, we’ve had enough of this’, and that was a tangible way of doing it, and it also, it was a way of hitting them where it hurt, because the Chrismas Number One, to all intents and purposes, is the big one, y’know, it's the one that they all wanna go for.”

And, even better, even more than the satisfaction of getting one over on Cowell and propelling a proper tune to the number one slot, the Nirvana campaign is raising money for Rhythmix, which, as we reported on Left Foot Forward last month, is the music charity that’s being screwed by Cowell and his Big Music overlords.

In his interview, Morter adds:

“The Nirvana campaign is also raising money for the charity Rhythmix, which is a children’s charity, does a lot of great work for bereaved children, and for children with music as well, and, erm, yeah, they’re doing quite a bit for that too, so, y’know, would I feel bad, well no, not really, cos it’s still doing some good...

Rhythmix was the one, Rhythmix was - there’s no coincidence here is there? Cos Rhythmix was the name of the band that had to change their name in X Factor cos it shared the same name as the charity and then they had to change their name to Little Mix on the show, etc, etc...

“That’s the one, yes, that's correct.”

It’s a no-brainer, right? Surely there is no competition, either line Cowell’s pockets and buy the X Factor winner’s cover of Damien Rice’s Cannonball, or help out a music charity, turn the screw on Cowell and buy Nirvana, which you should do anyway ’cos it’s by far the better tune!

Don’t believe me?!


Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello...


The story of Rhythmix and the corporate greed of S. Cowell
Anti-cuts song battles X Factor winner for Christmas No. 1
Facebook: The Nirvana For Christmas No.1 campaign
July 2011: Amy Jade Winehouse, 1983-2011, RIP
June 2011: Ed Sheeran shows ’em how to strum
February 2010: Rowntree savages the BRITS
December 2008: Hallelujah: It’s showtime!

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