Group Hopes to Make The Smiths’ “How Soon Is Now?” Number One

Facebook helped Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name” upset The X Factor as the U.K.’s Christmas Number One. Now, another group on the social network has launched asking fans to purchase the Smiths’ hit “How Soon Is Now?” between January 28th and February 6th to make the single Number One on the British charts to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the band’s Meat is Murder, TwentyFourBit reports.

While the “Rage Against The X Factor” group that helped push “Killing in the Name” to Number One had a million-plus friend army on Facebook, the “The Smiths How Soon Is Now? for No1 Meat Is Murder 25th Anniversary” group currently counts a scant 6,500 members, so they’ll have a lot of recruiting to do between now and January 28th. “If anyone deserves a UK No1 it is The Smiths. Their contribution to British culture is outstanding,” the creators of the Facebook page write.

This Smiths campaign marks the third music-related Facebook group story in as many months: Before the Rage Against The X Factor campaign, as Rolling Stone reported, John Mellencamp’s son tried to lobby a million fans in the hope of convincing his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame dad to quit smoking (he’s currently at 291,500).

Interestingly enough, even though this Smiths Facebook group materialized over in Britain, the original U.K. version of Meat is Murder didn’t even feature “How Soon Is Now?” The song was released as a B side to the single “William, It Was Really Nothing” in August 1984. So it’s actually the 26th anniversary of the song itself, but who’s counting?

Related Stories:
• Rage Against the Machine Win U.K. Christmas Single Battle
• Tom Morello Supports Rage’s “Killing in the Name” in U.K. Christmas Sales Battle
• John Mellencamp’s Son Starts Facebook Group to Convince Dad to Stop Smoking