Rubbish. There are dozens of new "singles" released in this week.

Really? And where has been the airplay to give them reasonable exposure to give the public a fair chance of hearing, enabling them to purchase?

I know of two, one by the Petshop Boys and another, whom I can't remember both of which I have heard once. I would consider myself above the norm when it come to radio listening.

A [irealistic [/ichoice though? RATM had to compete against huge media coverage of the X Factor manufacturerd pap, including but not limited to 3 months of ITV primetime coverage.

Other singles don't stand a chance sadly.

Absolutely.

If this campaign had championed a song by a new or new-ish artist, then I would have been much more able to understand the point of it. That a 17-year old song by a mediocre American band was chosen completely destroys this variously posited claptrap that 'this is all to save British music'.

Moreover, that they picked this one with its 'F-you I won't do what you tell me' refrain makes the whole thing even more pathetic - look at us, we're rock and roll rebels, and we've made Simon Cowell a little bit annoyed. As someone wrote somewhere in the press today, it's rather reminiscent of the 'Yes, we are all individuals' bit in Life of Brian.

I wonder whether all these people who have participated in this could be bothered to mobilise themselves in such a way for something slightly more important than the Xmas Number One single.

The X Factor thing will be Number One next Sunday anyway.

Even if Joe was played every hour, there's still time for 7 or 8 more songs per hour.

What were the Christmas 1s in the ten years before X Factor? I think I remember one good contest - Gary Jules vs The Darkness. The rest of time it was Westlife, Spice Girls or Take that's latest.

Ironically (

), the people who kept Fairytale of New York off number one in 1987.

Yes, Rage Against The Machine are "mediocre". You're absolutely right.

They are. Two good songs ever. I'd have had more respect for them if they hadn't allowed themselves to be involved in all this nonsense.

They're not mediocre they are absolute crap. I'd rather that loveable Geordie lad Joe had been number one, at least he's English, young and trying to do something positive with his life. Now we're going to have to put up with RATM (WTF) thinking they're popular and touring the UK and subjecting this country to even more US crap. Where is this free concert going to be held, there aren't many public phone booths left suitable for their fan base.

I bet Cowell is really broken-hearted as he sips his pina-colada on the beach at Sandy Lane. The money he's made exploiting some nutty woman from Scotland makes the race for Xmas number one in the single chart pale into in-significance. Why didn't renta-mob off Facebook (whoo that's a really anti-the-establishment tool to protest from) lead a campaign against Subo or can't the bunch of crusties stretch their budget to paying for a whole album.

About as radical as the Tuffty Club.

ermmm.. hang on, wasn't the other song dictated to the people who bought it as well? Hardly free choice.

They headlined Reading and Leeds festivals less than eighteen months ago (and T In The Park earlier that summer I think too). Probably around 60,000+ would have watched them on those nights so it might require quite a large phone booth.

I love how divisive this is.

Don't listen to Paul Youane, he was too busy prancing around joining the mindless masses bumming the hugely overrrated Stone Roses when rage were selling millions of the album that features this song.

It's not about the song. The people that seem to disagree with this are the ones that just don't like Rage. If it would have been some mind numbing middle of the road early nineties british indie band everyone would have loved it!

It's them Bob The Builder Allstars I feel sorry for, coming in at number 4. I bet they've dreamt of having an xmas number 1 since they were kids.

Aye but still not as criminal as Joe Dolce's "Shaddap a you face" keeping ultravox's "Vienna" off the top spot in 82(ish)

And all those 60000 folk turned up to those multi-artist festivals just to watch them, of course

i think it just shows how this campiagn has gripped everyone.7 pages in and we are still talking about it.

Am i right in saying RATM were not aware of the FB group when this all started.

Or Robson & Jerome keeping Pulp at number 2 in '95, ...(not sure which track, either 'Common People' or 'E's & Whizz', but which ever it was criminal, and ironically it was all the evil doing of Mr Cowell...

)

Obviously not, but you don't headline the main stage at festivals like that if no one likes you do you?

I've been to the last nine Readings and of the 27 main stage headliners in that time I have watched less than half of them (none at all this year in fact) because they have been of no interest to me. Nonetheless I can hardly say their fanbase would fit in a phone box because they wouldn't be up there in that slot if that were the case.

Or Englebert Humperdink 'Please Release Me' keeping the genius of the Beatles double A side 'Strawberry Fields/ Penny Lane' off the No 1 slot. Surely the most shocking of the lot.

It's Cheryl Cole I feel sorry for, can't imagine what she's going through. To her, Joe was "like a littaal bruthaa ...".

I'm with JWP on this. You can't help but like the girl and feel for her. Of all the celebrity racists out there she's always been my favourite.

Paul you must be purposefully missing the argument. Like me deconstruct your comments one by one as per the norm.

Assertion: RATM are crap
RATM are a Grammy award winning band. Tom Morello is voted in the top 50 guitarists of all time and also a grammy award winner as a musician. You may not like them but to say they are "crap" does no credit to your argument.

Assertion: RATM are not popular
Bit of a daft statement considering their previous album sales and the fact they are the Xmas Number 1. This time next year you will be hard pushed to remember Joe's surname.

Assertion: Cowell being broken hearted
No-one ever said this 'initiative' would deminish his wealth and why should it. Does that mean it didnt work? The objective was to keep an XFactor finanlist from being No 1 at Xmas. It succeeded. I bet he is enjoying his pina colada but I bet privately he is concerned about the level of antagonism towards him.

Assertion: Facebook is an anti-the-establishment tool
No one said it was. However, Facebook is currently the worlds largest social networking website. Would you care to suggest a better forum for this intiative?

You may have some more respect for RATM if you researched a little more about del la Rocha's support of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and how much cash this has raised for Shelter.

yeah much more classy than the late Jade Goody

Winning a Grammy does not mean they are any good - how many Grammys has Mariah bleeding Carey, for example, won, FFS?

Morello may well be one of the greatest guitarists of all time - that does not hide the fact RATM's lyrics are, in general, rather sixth-form-esque.

RATM have not been especially popular for a number of years - they broke up years ago IIRC, and that they have had some success touring lately is more down to the public's appetite for nostalgia than anything else. I'm yet to see their earth-shattering 5th album.

Cowell probably does not give a shiny $hite - Joe will be number 1 next weekend, and may very well sell more records due to this than would otherwise have been the case.

They aren't giving all the proceeds to Shelter, incidentally, merely an undisclosed 'large proportion'...