Tom Morello Supports Rage's "Killing in the Name" in U.K. Christmas Sales Battle

In case you haven't been keeping track of this year's fight for the Number One Christmas Single in the U.K., a Facebook campaign has been launched to help Rage Against the Machine's 1992 hit "Killing in the Name" defeat the latest X Factor winner Joe McElderry's "The Climb." As we inch toward December 25th and sales continues to be tight between the two competitors, Rage guitarist Tom Morello has lent his support to grassroots campaign, writing on his Twitter, "Rage's Killing in the Name & the X-Factor's goofy Christmas single are neck and neck for num one spot on UK chart. England! Now is your time."

The X Factor has been responsible for the last four Christmas Number Ones, thanks to winners Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson and Alexandre Burke. The movement by RATM fans to end the Simon Cowell-produced juggernaut's streak has already gained 767,500 fans on Facebook, which provides links to download "Killing in the Name" so its digital sales count toward the Christmas Number One. "Are you getting fed up about the possibility of ANOTHER X-Factor Christmas No.1? ...us too...so we're going to do something about it," the Rage Against the X-Factor group writes on their Facebook page.

The winner will be announced this Sunday, December 20th, so there's still time to aid Rage. Cowell has already spoken out against the Facebook group, calling the plot to land "Killing in the Name" Number One "stupid" and "cynical," NME reports. Cowell's harsh words haven't prevented "Killing" from storming to Number One on both iTunes U.K. and Amazon.co.uk's Singles Chart. If Rage win the 2009 Christmas Number One, they'll join Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2" in 1979, Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" in 1991, four Beatles hits (1963-65, 67) and two versions of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 1984 and 2004.

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

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