Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name Of... moshed its way to the festive number-one slot this time five years ago. In a reflexive revolt to the X Factor Christmas single, the little Facebook campaign that could went on to remind us that Christmas is really a time for bringing down the man.
Cascades of spin-off campaigns have endeavoured to do the same in every year since (at a conservative estimate, there’s at least 15,000 of them) but invariably they’ve spilled themselves on the proverbial ice while trying.
Somewhat crushingly for the droves of chart-resisting revolutionaries, 2010 X Factor winner Matt Cardle covered Biffo Clyro's Many Of Horror. But it was a watered-down studio version, nauseatingly renamed When We Collide, so Biffo Clyro fans challenged him to the number one slot with the original. They only got it to number eight, but it's the thought that counts.
Most popularly, the Smells Like Christmas Spirit effort in 2011 hit number six in the charts. Other top campaigns have been for John Cage, Motörhead and the Trashmen, but the truly inspiring attempted challenges have come from the spoofers.
Quasi-fictional musical enigma Count Tornado had a respectable following last year, and the Bleep test was a favourite in 2010, making the best possible comeback that any aspect of the PE curriculum could hope to achieve in the Irish singles charts.
This year, a decent bid has been put in by Iron Maiden fans – they’re at 40,000 followers, but are anticipated to fail spectacularly. ‘Tis the season to fail better, all the same.
