Mon The Biff This Christmas

 

Last year the battle for the UK Christmas Number One racked up an impressive amount of column inches detailing the biggest chart upset in years. This was most notably due to the online Facebook campaign urging people to challenge the mainstream X-Factor (or Karoke Colosseum as Blur front man Damon Albarn recently dubbed it) single, by opting to purchase Rage Against The Machine's 1992 track Killing In The Name instead. Over half a million Facebook users flocked to the page to pledge their support for the anti-X-Factor cause and sure enough by 20 December they had claimed the top spot, triumphing over 2009 winner Joe Mcelderry's The Climb by 50,000 copies. Of course he went on to enjoy the Number One slot the following week, outselling the campaign overall. But the statement had been made. People had nothing but contempt for the stranglehold the televised reality contest had consecutively gripped the British music charts with for years. And the lyrics of the chosen alternative strongly emulated this: "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me." Indeed, let's just rally together and do what everyone else on our friend list is doing instead.

Despite my vehemence for the The X-Factor I didn't pledge my support for this cause. As I didn't agree with the premise of trying to quash an innocent persons chance of securing widespread success. It seemed unfair to punish Joe Mcelderry for a collective discontentment a group of people felt towards Simon Cowell.  The campaign wasn't trying to give credence to Rage Against The Machine, it was simply tailoring its political message to destroy a normal person who was currently being revered by other normal people. X-Factor  contestants have an expiration date on their careers as it is. The likes of  Shayne Ward and Steve Brookstein have been sent to the reality television scrapheap and forgotten about in half the time it took to build them up. And sure enough the endless saturation of Joe Mcelderry quietly dropped off and has now been replaced with that of another name, 2010's newly crowned winner: Matt Cardle.

Sadly, he's just as forgettable as the rest and presumably his career will be just as fledgling and short-lived as his predecessors. His single which is currently 2/7 to top the festive chart, is a cover of Biffy Clyro's 'Many of Horror' retitled 'When We Collide'. When asked his thoughts on Cardle's version, Biffy drummer Ben Johnston commented in a radio interview, "It's an X-Factor version of the song." So, I take that to mean they think it's a watered down version. Which is certainly what they've said about the concept of the show as a whole. In a previous interview with NME the band had stated they didn't think the X-Factor was a threat to 'real' music. Front man Simon Neil commented, "It's always just been Saturday night entertainment - The X Factor is for people who buy fucking Robbie Williams calendars."

Nevertheless several Facebook Campaigns have sprung up over the last few months, hoping to replicate the same success as last year. All have the same premise of preventing the X-Factor from achieving the coveted Christmas top spot. All that is, save one.

A worthy campaign, and one which I'm backing this year is that of Let's Get Biffy Clyro's 'Many of Horror' To Number One For Christmas 2010. I was fortunate enough to watch Biffy Clyro perform live at this years Reading Festival and was completely blown away by them. (Also, it's not very festive or particularly appropriate of me to note, but if I were given the opportunity I would ruin front man Simon Neil in several positions based on his stage presence alone). So, the reason I'm staunchly for this cause, like that of the creator, is because I believe the Scottish trio deserve to be in the Top Ten with their original version and that they should take the credit for it, not Matt Cardle. At the time of writing this Many of Horror  is expected to reach Number Seven in the UK Chart and will be a significant achievement for the band, as to date it will only be preceded by their 2008 single Mountains, which peaked at Number Five.

So, if like me, you're a Biffy fan and your musical tastes are rarely catered for in terms of contenders for the seasonal accolade - then spare a mere 49p in favour of this Facebook Campaign, which is in support of musical talent achieving success instead of simply causing anarchy for the sake of it. With only a mere 50,000 people supporting it at the moment, it could do with a lot more help. And also, for anyone who has clicked like, but hasn't yet downloaded the single, then shame on you. There's still time to redeem your bystander behaviour though. The final chart positions will be announced on Sunday, so what are you waiting for?

You can download Many Of Horror at any of the following websites:

• PLAY: http://bit.ly/g3jvn8 
• iTunes:http://bit.ly/fbW6O8 
• HMV: http://bit.ly/eHIBJA 
• Amazon: http://amzn.to/fH49QE 
• 7digital: http://bit.ly/dUfWlN

And also, if you email a proof of purchase to the following: biffy@nsdpowerballs.com. I believe a donation will be made to the charity http://www.invisiblechildren.com/

You can Like the campaign here: Lets Get Biffy Clyro's 'Many of Horror' to Number One for Christmas 2010

So, pledge your support and MON THE BIFF this Christmas 2010.