It's Christmas week on the UK singles chart and a surprise Christmas #1 from... Rage Against the Machine!
1. Killing in the Name - Rage Against the Machine
2. The Climb - Joe McElderry
This has to be the most exciting Christmas #1 battle of the decade. And to think that last week we were all so sure it would be another boring Christmas chart with the #1 single we expected to see. I'm of course referring to Joe McElderry's "The Climb," the victory single from the winner of the 6th season of The X Factor. Although nobody knew it would be Joe McElderry who would win, the foregone conclusion for the last few years has been that whoever wins The X Factor gets Christmas #1. That's the way it's been the last four years, with Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson and Alexandra Burke topping the chart each Christmas with their victory singles (The show's first season winner, Steve Brookstein, didn't release his single until after Christmas, staying out of the way of the Band Aid 20 remake of "Do They Know It's Christmas").
And there was really no reason to assume it would be different this year...or was there. All through the fall, The X Factor has dominated the singles chart, with most #1 hits being songs performed on the show. Starting with Alexandra Burke, and continuing with Cheryl Cole, JLS, Black Eyed Peas, The X Factor Finalists, and Lady GaGa, every #1 hit except for the Peter Kay charity record have been songs performed on the show, and many other top 5 singles have arrived there too because of the show (Whitney Houston, for example). Each has also sold over 100,000 copies, a run of 100K+ chart toppers that hasn't been seen in many years.
But there have also been some signs of The X Factor fatigue. Last year's X Factor finalists single was #1 for quite awhile, but this year's release, "You Are Not Alone," managed only 1 week at the top, unseated by Peter Kay's Animated All-Star Band, which spend 2 weeks at the top. When Joe McElderry won last weekend, it seemed like a fine choice, but using Miley Cyrus's "The Climb" as the winner's single seemed like a really poor decision, especially given that it was a hit for Cyrus just months ago.
Timing was ripe then for a backlash, and with applications like Facebook making national, even international organizing easier than ever, it was inevitable that something like this would happen eventually. Those tired of The X Factor's chokehold on the singles chart banded together and chose a very unlikely song to champion for Christmas #1, "Killing in the Name," the 1992 first single from British alternative band Rage Against the Machine. "Killing in the Name" peaked at #25, the first of six top 40 hits for the band, the biggest of which was the #8 single "Bulls on Parade," which was their only top 10.
Simon Cowell went public declaring the whole thing a dumb idea, announced that the backlash was targeted toward him personally (what ego he must have to make that assumption), and said it would hurt only Joe. Hurt Joe? One can hardly say it is so. Yes, he's not Christmas #1, but isn't selling 450,000 copies of your debut single still pretty darn good? I'd say so. In the end, Rage beat Joe by a healthy 52,000 copies (502,672 to be exact). That puts Joe well ahead of Leon Jackson's 275,000 copies sold Christmas week of "When You Believe," but well behind the 500,000+ Leona and Alexandra moved (and the 700,000+ that Shayne did).
It is because of all this that we have this week the most unusual Christmas #1 of the decade. Here's a quick rundown of all the Chrismas #1s of the decade and the number of copies they sold Christmas week:
2000 - "Can We Fix It" - Bob the Builder, 360,000
2001 - "Somethin' Stupid" - Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman, 210,455
2002 - "The Sound of the Underground" - Girls Aloud, 213,140
2003 - "Mad World" - Michael Andrews feat. Gary Jules, 227,547
2004 - "Do They Know It's Christmas 2004" - Band Aid 20, 231,929 (this would likely have been much higher, had it not already been out for 3 weeks, during which time it sold over 200,000 copies each week)
2005 - "That's My Goal" - Shayne Ward, 742,180
2006 - "A Moment Like This" - Leona Lewis, 571,253
2007 - "When You Believe" - Leon Jackson, 275,742
2008 - "Hallelujah" - Alexandra Burke, 576,046
2009 - "Killing in the Name" - Rage Against the Machine, 502,672
5. Starstukk - 3Oh!3 feat. Katy Perry
3Oh!3 hit #21 earlier this year with "Don't Trust Me," and improve on that song's chart performance quite a bit with their second single, "Starstrukk," which debuts at #5. The appearance of Katy Perry may have something to do with it. This is Perry's third top 10 hit, following her #1 "I Kissed a Girl" and #4 "Hot N Cold."
6. You Know Me - Robbie Williams
Robbie climbs 9 notches to #6, scoring his 28th top 10 hit. Robbie appeared on the Saturday night X Factor finale, performing this song. It's the second single from Reality Killed the Video Star following #2 hit "Bodies."
7. 3 Words - Cheryl Cole feat. Will.I.Am
Cheryl Cole climbs 7 spots to #7, scoring her second top 10 hit following recent #1 "Fight for This Love." "3 Words" gets its physical release tomorrow. As I've mentioned before, I really love this song. I hope it does well next week, but I imagine #1 is a real longshot.
9. Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
Journey's '80s classic returns to the top 10. This song was already #19 recently when Joe McElderry performed it a couple of months ago, and now it goes even higher following his performance of it in the final. It's been interesting seeing The X Factor cause these old songs to appear in the chart again. I wonder they don't make the actual X Factor performances available for purchase like they do with American Idol?
14. December Song (I Dreamed of Christmas) - George Michael
George offered this as a free download last Christmas--his gift to us all. This year, being the recession and all, you got to pony up if you want it. Despite many of us getting it for free last year, enough of you didn't do so and bought it this year, making "December Song" George's first top 40 hit in 3 years. Last time on the charts, he hit #15 with Mutya Buena with "This Is Not Real Love."
29. Stop Crying Your Heart Out - Leona Lewis
Leona Lewis lands her 7th UK top 40 hit (8th if you count "Footprints in the Sand" as separate from "Better in Time"). "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" is a remake of the 2002 Oasis #2 hit. This isn't the official follow-up single to "Happy," but Leona performed this song on The X Factor finale. Incidentally, the "Happy" follow-up in the US is "I Got You," but I don't if that will be so in the UK (it could be "Outta My Head").
31. The Climb - Miley Cyrus
Joe send the Miley original back into the top 40. This single peaked at #11 in May.
32. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen and the Muppets
It's a remake with the Muppets. Only at Christmas.
36. Broken Heels - Alexandra Burke
Alexandra Burke, selling early on downloads, scores her third top 40 hit, following recent #1 "Bad Boys." This single is out early next year.
40. Christmas EP - Pet Shop Boys
And rounding out the Christmas top 40 is the special EP from the Pet Shop Boys featuring a new version of "All Around the World" and "It Doesn't Often Snow at Christmas." Too bad this didn't chart a little higher, but it does give them a third top 40 single for the year.
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