Thursday, November 08, 2007

The Battle for the Christmas Number one is Go!



OK, folks, listen up.

Yesterday evening, I received an email from Mike at Manic Pop Thrills. Mike is getting a campaign going to get Malcolm Middleton's third release from the A Brighter Beat album to no.1. Most importantly, the Christmas no.1.

The single will be released on December 17, and available as a digital download -which means it can be bought from iTunes for 79p.

Oh yes...did I mention the single's name? it's called 'We're All Going To Die.'

Before anyone starts on the 'But people won't buy a sad record at Christmas, let alone get it to No.1' I would like to point out that in 1995, the Christmas no.1 was 'Earth Song' by Michael Jackson, and in 2003 it was 'Mad World' from Gary Jules. Neither of which were very upbeat, were they? And the Malcolm Middleton song is at least jaunty and upbeat (musically!), and a great song.

Also important is the fact that the song will be up against X-Factor winners, whoever they will be, and so this is also about the battle for good against evil, socialism versus capitalism, the scottish cult indie musician versus a global terror perpetuated by Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell.

Apparently it may also be up against a release by Led Zeppelin. Now, Zep were great, but, let's face it, if the Wedding Present still refuse to do encores in 2007, then Page and Plant and Jones should still be refusing to do singles in 2007. No sell out!

The odds at the bookies are 1000-1 on 'We're All Going To Die' getting to no.1 for Christmas. So let's mess with a few heads...
To paraphrase Bill Nighy's character in Love, Actually: 'Wouldn't it be great if this year the Christmas no.1 wasn't some muppets that have won a TV 'Talent' show or some aging rockers on their comeback, but a guy from Falkirk who deserves far more recognition than from just bloggers and indie kids?'

And spread the word. Today is November 8, so we have about five weeks.

Let's get going.

To whet your appetite, here are some Malcolm Middleton tracks:

From A Brighter Beat

Malcolm Middleton -'A Brighter Beat.' mp3 (via Yousendit)

Malcolm Middleton -'Fuck it, I Love You.' mp3 (via Yousendit)

Malcolm Middleton -'Beep Beep, Love You.' mp3 (via Yousendit) (for people not grown up enough to cope with swearing)

From Into The Woods

Malcolm Middleton -'Beak My Heart.' mp3 (via Yousendit)

From 5:14 Fluoxytine Seagull Alcohol John Nicotine

Malcolm Middleton -'Devil and the Angel.' mp3 (Via Yousendit)


Malcolm Middleton's site is here and his Myspace is here, you can hear the single at the latter.

8 comments:

So It Goes said...

Dear Ed, my i-tunes site is in Japan (IN JAPANESE), I don't have a credit card, and (as you know) live in South Korea. However, I would love to support Malcolm in his campaign to beat the fucking bastards (yes, I can more than cope with swearing) who foist crap Christmas Number Ones that I have to cover as part of IWICBCE, so tell me how to buy this and I gladly will. Don't forget, South Park included 'Dead Dead Dead' on their Mr Hankey's Christmas Album, so this is well in the spirit of the season.
PS When do I get your votes for my poll? Hmmmm???? (frowns disapprovingly)

Ed said...

since you posted this, less than half an hour ago, I have stuck my votes on your poll.

I will do my level best to to work out how to do this, the biggest barrier may be the lack of a credit card...will try and figure it out.

Glad someone pointed this out to me five weeks before release!

Ed

The Pop Cop said...

I'll get something in The Pop Cop about this soon!

Cheers,

Jason, The Pop Cop

So It Goes said...

Thanks Ed, you're wonderful!

Unknown said...

If everyone bought a copy for everyone on their Xmas list....it could just happen.

Ed said...

Well, let's see what happens. JC at the vinyl villain is now on board too...

Jon said...

Hope this helps your campaign.

Just a little love from the ol' US of A

http://your-moment-of-zen.blogspot.com/2007/11/im-on-bandwagon.html

Ed said...

Hi Jon, have seen your post, let's see what we can all do. Thank you for your support!

Ed