1993 all over again: 5 - Rage Against The Machine

5. Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name...

At the time, being the fifth-best single of 1993 as judged by the NME team seemed to be the peak of the achievement. Who knew we were listening to 2009's Christmas Number One single?

I've told this tale before, but it stands retelling: The real effect of the single is best summed up by the boy wearing a "Fuck You, I Won't Do What You Tell Me" tshirt. In Asda. Running up and down the aisles to fetch items for his mum.

As a statement, the chant was about as likely to achieve success as "fly me to the moon" was.



[Part of 1993 all over again]
[Buy: RATM]

Gordon in the morning: Rage Against... what were you raging against, dears?

Gordon's got a really weird interview with Rage Against The Machine this morning. Reading it - if you didn't know any better - you might assume that RATM had somehow come up with last year's Christmas number one campaign rather than just having been the recipients of other people's hard work.

Rather queasily, the band are now building on what happened last year as part of their promotional framework, thereby validating the idea that Simon Cowell is central to the music industry. You know, the idea that other people were supposedly buying their record to disprove:

Zack told The Sun: "I really hope there are no hard feelings with Simon.

"He seemed to think that it was a bullying campaign but the truth is the British people wanted a change.

"I don't think anybody has heard anything of that Joe guy since Christmas, but we have nothing against him.

It does get worse, though.

"The truth is Simon's shows occasionally produce talent.

"We love Susan Boyle, she is hot.

"To show there are no hard feelings we would like her to perform with us on stage this summer.

"She is a great vocalist and we would love to perform Killing In The Name with her. Everybody knows her in the US and she can add her vocals to anything. It would be an honour for us."

"... and Steve Brookstein's free, so there's that option."

I don't think anyone's ever really believed that RATM really were a counter-cultural force, but who knew they'd be pitifully trying to leverage a few ticket sales by jumping the Britain's Got Talent train?

Decade Null: 2000 - Atari Teenage Riot

If you had to make Tom Morello be number one at Christmas, why not this track instead? Morello does the old-style analogue instruments while Atari Teenage Riot Rage.



[Part of Decade Null: 2000]

Raging idiocy: RATM complain at BBC bias

After Rage Against The Machine broke their promise not to swear when they went on the Five Live breakfast show, Sheila Fogarty regained control of the situation with a small joke:

"Sorry, we needed to get rid of that because that suddenly turned into something we weren't expecting," Fogarty told listeners. "Well, we were expecting it and we asked them not to do it and they did it anyway ... So buy Joe's records."

An awkward moment deflected with a small piece of wit. Everyone's happy, right?

Well... no, not quite. Oh, it wasn't the swearing that upset people:

The BBC's complaints website said it had "received complaints from people who felt that Shelagh Fogarty urged listeners to buy Joe McElderry's song."

Perhaps these complainants hadn't noticed, but... it was a battle between one company to see who could sell most copies of a song. It wasn't the general election.

Good god, let's hope these listeners never grow up and start listening to Today - "dear BBC, your sports presenter clearly tipped New Year's Lad to win the 3.15 at Pontefract. This is obvious bias against the other horses and someone should do something."

The BBC, though, is slightly less robust in its defence:

Richard Jackson, editor of 5 Live Breakfast, said it was a "light-hearted spontaneous comment and ... should not be construed as a serious recommendation to buy a particular record".

He added: "This year, in a light-hearted way in keeping with the tone of 5 Live Breakfast, Nicky said he was backing Rage Against the Machine and Shelagh said she was backing Joe. This was in no way a serious endorsement and was never intended to influence anyone's buying habits.

"Regular listeners to the programme would have appreciated this was entirely in line with the banter that is part of the programme's style. We featured the debate on our phone-in and we have interviewed both Joe McElderry and Rage Against the Machine to ensure we have properly covered both sides of the story. David Cameron even gave his view at the end of an interview."

Oh, you asked David Cameron, did you? Why didn't you ask Gordon Brown, you biased gits?

Actually, Alex Salmond is probably already putting together a complaint for the Electoral Commission bemoaning the SNP's absence from the debate.

Gordon in the morning: The next battle

Having actually been able to report on a chart battle that actually involved two records going head-to-head, Gordon is keen to bring us another one. But, returning to form, this one is a bit more nebulous:

GIRLS ALOUD star NADINE COYLE will square up to bandmate CHERYL COLE in what is set to be one of 2010's most fierce chart battles.

Really? So what day do their records come out on, then?

Erm... well, actually, Nadine hasn't even started work yet. She's just putting together a team. And Cheryl? Well, no firm plans beyond the current stuff there, either.

Gordon's chart battle is a bit more 'who would win out a monster squid and a shark with an eyepatch' than an actual event, then.

In other non-news, Gordon runs a claim that the X Factor might end a week early next year:

A source said: "If a show that gets 19million viewers can't muster enough support to beat an online campaign of music snobs, then maybe there is no point aiming for a Christmas No 1 next year."

Oh, the "music snobs". Them again. Music snobs who'd buy Rage Against The Machine? Isn't that like gourmets who only buy Tesco's Finest?

The apparent lesson of the last few weeks - that ITV and Cowell shouldn't assume a number one as a right - seems to have been a bit mislaid:

ITV1's plan for next year means the winner would be guaranteed a No 1 for at least a week.

Would it? Why, exactly?

Gennaro Castaldo Watch: "The greatest chart upset ever"

That noise? That's the sound of the dislocated jaw of HMV Chart Wrangler Gennaro Castaldo, who literally cannot believe his eyes at Rage Against The Machine being number one:

Gennaro Castaldo, from high street retailer HMV, said it was a "truly remarkable outcome - possibly the greatest chart upset ever".

Elsewhere on the same BBC news page, cooler heads suggest Englebert Humperdink breaking The Beatles' run of number ones might be a little more of an upset. And, to be honest, wasn't Mad World by Gary Jules a lot more of a surprise number one than this?

And haven't we known it's been a close-run thing for almost the entire week? Surely the only people who thought it was still a shoo-in for Joe were the people who read the Star, where Gennaro was predicting an X Factor victory just twenty hours ago.

Still, always happy to react to the breaking news, Gennaro carries on:

"Everyone thought the momentum was with Joe going into the weekend, but, clearly, off the radar a whole load of people were downloading the Rage track right up to the last minute as they sensed they might pull off a shock.

"Off the radar"? Isn't the point about digital downloads that they're all happily clocked up in real time? Is Gennaro suggesting there's some sort of secret download store where the sales figures are delivered to the chart people in cipher and don't get de-encrypted until a few minutes before the show starts on radio one?

Still, it's not about winning or losing, is it? It's about how you play the game:

"It's not so much that Joe lost the race - sales of his single have matched those of recent X Factor winners, and he shouldn't take this personally; this is all about the stunning impact of the Rage Against The Machine internet campaign in galvanising music fans to protest against the dominance of the reality show in recent years."

Hang about: Joe didn't lose the race? What sort of everyone-wins-prizes soft-hearted viewpoint is that? It's bad enough he lost, Gennaro; you don't need to patronise the man as well.

Having said which: it would be nice for someone to draw Joe a lovely picture to show him that everyone loves him too, wouldn't it?

Gordon in the morning: Joe steps up

Joe McElderberry - winner of last week's Mickie Most showdown - has somehow put a brave face on his being bullied by the internets to pop in and "edit" Gordon's column for him. Obviously, it's a task he's fantastically under-prepared for, but that hasn't stopped Gordon for the last few years.

It gives Joe a chance to continue churning the marketing pitch talking about Rage Against The Machine. He says he hadn't heard it before - which is believable, he comes across so musically naive you could believe that he had to Google Robbie Williams before the final. He's heard Killing In The Name now, though:

"I wouldn't buy it. It's a nought out of ten from me. Simon Cowell wouldn't like it. They wouldn't get through to boot camp on The X Factor - they're just shouting."

Psst... Joe? I think the whole "it doesn't sound like an X Factor song" is probably the reason why it was chosen.

But Joe is worried about the prospect of this record doing well. Won't someone think of the, erm, elderly?

"They can't be serious! I had no idea what it sounded like. It's dreadful and I hate it. How could anyone enjoy this? Can you imagine the grandmas hearing this over Christmas lunch?

Well, frankly, no. Why would anyone play it over Christmas lunch? Does Joe think that's how the Christmas number one is decided - by the number of times a song is played over the sprouts?

Gordon steps in to remind us all of the Cowell line:

It turns out Joe is a sensitive lad and is really upset by the Facebook campaign urging people to download RATM's track to stop him getting to No1.

Is he, though? What does Joe actually say?

He said: "I think people are jumping on this to have a go at Simon and The X Factor rather than me. But Simon gives people a shot."

So, even Joe understands that the campaign isn't a personal attack, and aimed more at the man who is making money off him rather than himself.

But, like the rest of the corporation, Joe seems to have confused the Christmas number one with the prizes for the series:

Joe added: "I will be really disappointed if it doesn't go to No1 after all the effort I've put in to this and winning the show."

I'd be less worried about the prospect of being number two this Christmas, and more about trying to sort out a role for panto next year, son.

Earlier in the year, the united users of Twitter were outraged that Jan Moir could take the death of Stephen Gately, filter it through her worldview and use it to push a hugely partisan line of belief. Isn't that, though, what Shane Lynch has just done?

Shane, also 33, said: "I've got faith and respect for God - God doesn't make mistakes. So therefore, I've got to understand that it's all for a reason. If I don't understand why then one day I'll be told - but not right now."

Gordon in the morning: Running edicts direct from Simon Cowell's desk

The further suspicion that the Rage Against The Machine for Christmas campaign is the best thing to happen to the X Factor continues with Gordon running angry statements from Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole, apparently without any sense of irony:

SIMON COWELL has blasted the campaign to get RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE to the festive top spot - branding its supporters "a hate mob".

Really, Simon? You think a little bit of festive fun is on a par with a hate mob, do you?

Still, it's lucky that Joe's already been through a much worse ordeal, when you made all the auditioning types on your programme do so in front of a baying crowd. That wasn't a mob, though, was it? Just good telly, right?

Music mogul Simon is so angry he interrupted his hols in Barbados to ring me yesterday.

Good lord - he's so annoyed he's spending a couple of minutes on the phone? This is serious.

He raged:

... against the machine?

"All these musical snobs have ganged up against Joe."

Well, hardly, sweetcakes. No musical snob worth their disdain glands would suggest that putting Rage Against The Machine's grumpy teenage thumpbox to number one, now, would they?

And since the campaign actually started before Joe won the X Factor, it's clearly aimed at the corporation, not the individual.

"If you take me out of the equation, you have a teenager with his first single being attacked by a huge hate mob on Facebook."

Actually, Cowell, if you are taken out the equation, Joe would still be earning his Christmas money passing packages to a man pretending to be Santa. And had Joe somehow managed to get a single out into the Christmas market without the X Factor, and if it had somehow been in with a chance of being the Christmas number one, most people would probably wish him well.

"It almost feels like a little kid being bullied."

And bullying is only funny if it's done by a man in an open-necked shirt on ITV at teatime.

It feels like a spiteful campaign aimed at an 18-year-old who won a talent competition.

No it doesn't, it feels like a misguided campaign aimed at a couple of large media companies which dominate the chart landscape.

After all, it's not like the X Factor is anything like a talent show, is it?

"It's David versus Goliath and it's not fair on Joe. It's getting out of hand."

David versus Goliath? What do you actually mean by that? Are you suggesting that Joe is a plucky little David taking on the Goliaths of a few people on Facebook?

But that can't be - what with Joe having had hours of TV exposure in front of millions and millions of people, and the full marketing might of Cowell, ITV and Sony behind him. And being the bookie's favourite by quite a distance.

Although David did have God on his side, so maybe Cowell is suggesting that parallel.

Mind you, Goliath was the most famous Philistine in history. So perhaps that's what Simon means. Though you can't, surely, simultaneously be a musical snob and a Philistine, can you?

But it's not just Cowell who is pretending to be angry, is it, Gordon?

Mild-mannered CHERYL COLE, Joe's mentor on the ITV show, is none to pleased either.

Mild-mannered? She's got a conviction for assault.

Chezza thundered: "I would be devastated to see Joe lose out. He put his heart and soul into every single week of The X Factor.

"I cannot bear to see him lose to a mean campaign that has nothing to do with his efforts.

"If that song, or should I say campaign, by an American group is our Christmas No1 I'll be gutted for him and our charts."

What's that, Cheryl - you're suggesting that there's something wrong with an American act being number one in the UK? Like it's somehow unpatriotic? In which case, shouldn't you hand yourself in as some sort of collaborator for trying to get WillIAm to number one last year?

The bottom line is this strange assumption that being number one at Christmas is part of the prize for the X Factor, like some sort of divine right.

The Rage campaign is silly. But, frankly, in the face of this nasty marketing push from ITV & Cowell trying to make it sound like bullying - which is unfair on the organisers and belittling of people who actually are bullied - you can't help but wish them well.

Oh, and the profits from Rage are going to help Shelter, which is a good thing.
[UPDATE: To clarify and correct: The Rage campaign are asking people to make a separate donation to Shelter; Tom Morello is donating his profit to charity, but that will be a different one.]

Gennaro Castaldo Watch meets Gordon in the Morning: It's a special Christmas episode

It's like David Bowie turning up on the Bing Crosby show, as the two titans of filling media space come together to mark the most magical time of the year. Even Gordon Smart knows that if you need an inarguable but unilluminating quote about record sales, it's a call to HMV you need:

Gennaro Castaldo, of music chain HMV, said: "Rage has taken a slight lead, as you'd expect given the size of the Facebook campaign.

"But we believe Joe's cover of The Climb will come storming back over the next few days.

"Chances are that the best part of half a million copies of the X Factor single will be sold over the rest of this week."

Gordon has headlined his piece about the Rage v X Factor sales drive "exclusive", despite consisting of nothing more than mentioning Joe is behind at the moment but expected to catch up tomorrow, quoting Castaldo, and giving the latest odds. All of which everyone was reading yesterday. Apart from the Castaldo quote. Perhaps Gennaro has now become a celebrity who The Sun is buying up.

Tom Morello makes web stunt look tacky/tackier

There was something to be said for the Rage Against The Machine Christmas campaign - it felt like a genuine, grassroots attempt to organise people into a 'none of the above' vote for a Christmas number one.

Sure, it was utterly pointless and contained a nub of self-defeat about its very existence, but anything that was making people hyperventilate and send emails saying it makes you seem "like a grouchy spoil sport" couldn't be all bad.

But today, Tom Morello has joined in, squishing the last specks of joy out of the campaign:

Morello has lent his support to the campaign, using Twitter to voice his approval.

"Rage's 'Killing In The Name' & The X Factor's goofy Christmas single are neck and neck for num one spot on UK chart," he wrote. "England! Now is your time."

Oh, for god's sake, Tom, it's not about you. The point was meant to be it's 'anything else', not your specific song. On the same label as the goofy Christmas single.

There are a few moments joy to be wrung from wondering how Fearne and Reggie on the Christams Top Of The Pops would cope with the awkward gear change from the Christmas number one to warming up audiences just switching on for the Queen's Christmas Message, but that's about as far as the joy goes.

Meanwhile, in a room somewhere in London...
- You mean our plan worked?
- It worked.
- People really are talking about it as a battle?
- They really are.
- And buying loads of copies of Rage...
- In similar quantities to the number of copies of Joe, thereby doubling Sony's Christmas sales? Yes.
- And it looks like a real race?
- It does, yes.
- Well, it's true. Just a couple of weeks after we were putting articles in the paper bemoaning how nobody voted on the Christmas number one any more, this has totally changed things. People are rushing through our doors to make wagers.
- We're selling double singles, when Joe wins the number one he'll look like someone winning a battle rather than a gameshow contestant who's won a prize... and...
- ... we're making millions on wagers.
- Everyone's a winner. All for something I got one of my interns to knock up on Facebook in a lunchtime, and a couple of calls to the press
- You, sir, are a genius, Mr. Cowell.
- And, you, sir, are a pleasure to do business with, Mr. Ladbrokes.

[awkward pause]

- You know that I'm not actually called Mr Ladbrokes, don't you?

Joe McElderry: Quick, before he melts

Steve Brookstein ("Joe McElderly"), the winner of the latest X Factor, is enjoying his moment while journalists around the nation write his name on their hands in a desperate bid to try and remember it. Joe has been talking to Telegraph:

The 18-year-old from Tyne and Wear said: "Oh, who doesn't fancy Cheryl Cole? Come on!"

He hailed her as the "best mentor" a boy could have and said she was like a big sister to him throughout the competition.

So she's like a sister who you fancy? Isn't that... you know, a little wrong?

Actually, Joe is very confused indeed:

X Factor's Joe McElderry: I fancy Cheryl Cole and I want to be George Michael

Very, very confused.

Actually, the George Michael reference is his plans for the musical direction he wants his career to be moving in - and why not? George Michael started taking himself way too seriously, neglected to make any good records and wound up as little more than a perpetual punchline. You're well on your way, young McElderly.

Meanwhile, Joe's offering good wishes to Rage Against The Machine:

His debut single, The Climb, is favourite for the Christmas number one but is threatened by an internet campaign urging people to spoil Simon Cowell' Christmas by sending Killing In The Name by Rage Against The Machine to the top of the chart.

A diplomatic McElderry said: "I haven't heard the song yet, but I just think it's healthy competition. Everyone's obviously battling for the top spot, so I'd just say good luck to them.

"That's like a dream come true, if I could get a Christmas number one. I'm crossing my fingers that it's giong to happen but whether or not it will, we'll see. It's a massive deal."

Bless him, it's like he doesn't really have any understanding of what's going on, does he? Does he think that this band have written a song and are challenging him? Are the people who are managing his career just not telling him about the groundswell of public opinion?

Gordon in the morning: Can 400,000 people be wrong?

You could almost feel sorry for Gordon this morning. Normally, his job is quite simple: you cheer for the popular, boo the unpopular, and effectively reflect back the reader's prejudices. Breasts? Hurrah! Druggies? Booooooo!

But what when approaching half a million people are organising to try and get Rage Against The Machine to block the X Factor number one?

The X Factor is popular.

But this is popular.

What side do you come down on?

Quick, Gordon. Can you find a way to have a pop at the BBC while you decide what to do?

On its release in February 1993 then Radio 1 DJ BRUNO BROOKES bungled by playing an uncensored version of it during his Top 40 countdown show.

The BBC were flooded by complaints from listeners stunned by the sheer volume of F-words the track contains.

Really? "Hello, BBC? I'm ringing to complain about the number of times the word 'fuck' was on the top 40. I wouldn't have minded a half dozen, maybe even ten, but this is just too many."

Still, Gordon has had some time to think: can you fudge your way out of this, not upsetting Cowell's PR team, while not appearing to side against a popular uprising?

I'm a huge fan of X Factor. It's a fantastic TV show which unites families around the box.

But it is a shame we've lost the traditional race for the festive No1.

I love you, Mr Cowell, but... oh, Christmas is a time for the kids, isn't it?

And Simon Cowell has picked MILEY CYRUS tune The Climb for the winner's song this year. It could be a WESTLIFE reject.

But I'm still betting that JOE McELDERRY will be the one releasing it.

... and that's the end of the piece. It's like he kind of forgot to come to a conclusion about the story he was actually writing and just switched back into X factor mode.

You've got to love the complaint that the song sounds like a Westlife reject, though - by the time it's gone through whatever sausage-meat-and-cosmetic unit gets to sing it, anything would sound like a Westlife reject. Look at the dead-fish song from last year.

No more Rage - ever

Tom Morello has either dashed your hopes or reassured you - depending on if you have an interest in the machine continuing unmolested or not by confirming that there are no plans for new Rage Against The Machine records.

At least, not unless Palin sets her hat at 2012.

Staff announcement: Raging against the machine required aisle 6

I've always cherished the memory of seeing a Rage Against The Machine fan helping his Mum do the weekly shop in Asda, wearing his "I won't do what you tell me" tshirt while his mam sent him up and down collecting Dairylea Dunkers and Bisto granules.

So it's with some delight to discover that Asda and Rage Against The Machine have come together again, as a member of the electronics department in the Fulwood store decided to stick on Killing In The Name during shopping hours.

Customers were not amused at hearing "fuck" quite so often as they shopped.

Which, of course, would be quite enough of a story for most people - Asda looked awkward and said 'sorry', plans to get Peaches to perform in the coffee shop hastily dropped. Everyone happy?

Well, not really. This is a storm in a teacup, and so it needs some stirring. I mean, won't someone think of the children?

a song peppered with foul language was blasted out yards from a children's aisle.

Just yards from the bit of the store where the crayons are sold? Will the f-bomb now be ingrained in those crayons, perhaps leaking out every time a curly-haired nipper draws a picture of Jesus?

That's good, but what sort of fuss is it if there isn't a completely spurious parallel drawn by a councilor desperate to get their name in the local paper? Could the Lancashire Evening Post find one of those for us?

Preston City councillor Jennifer Greenhalgh, for Garrison ward, said: "I am absolutely appalled. They have got to take responsibility, and that is not being responsible in any shape or form."

Coun Greenhalgh said the supermarket's gaffe is comparable to the recent scandal involving Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross, who broadcast a lewd answerphone message on BBC Radio 2.

She said: "It is insupportable and, like the BBC, somebody has to be held to account. Children now are open to all sorts, but to get it from Asda is ridiculous.

Yes, it's exactly the same as Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand, as someone who wasn't there is calling for heads to roll on the basis of a sense of wounding they can't quite justify. Children shouldn't have to have all sorts thrust at them in an Asda. Except in the sweets aisles, of course.

But look: the outrage is starting to wane - can't we add some confused self-appointed guardian of the nation's morals to try and keep this going?

John Beyer, director of Mediawatch UK, said: "Asda should issue a policy statement to say this kind of music should not be played. I have never heard of this before."

Yes, come on Asda: do as the bloke from Mary Whitehouse's old gang says - remove that policy which encourages staff to play songs featuring profanities. He has never heard of "this" (what? the song? people choosing their own music at work with unfortunate results? supermarkets? the 21st century?) before.

Naturally, Lancashire Evening Post readers - god-fearing clean-living types to a man - probably won't have heard of the Raging Machine band. Can you bring your readers up to speed?

In September, Rage Against The Machine, sparked protests after they were not allowed to perform at a political rally in Minnesota.

The left-wing rockers had planned to play at a convention called the Ripple Effect all-dayer, which was held to coincide with the Republican Party Convention. When prevented from playing the band marched through the streets with a megaphone, as fans chanted their songs.

Very, very possibly, those people chanted the song with the rude word in. Sadly, the Associated Press coverage of these incidents don't record how close the chanting crowds came to the children's aisle - nor, indeed, if they might have been secretly funded by Wal-Mart.

I'm not sure the Lancashire Evening Post believes that Zac and his mates will react to being thrown off the shuffle on the electronics store CD player by marching on Fulwood, yelling rudeness through a megaphone like some sort of fuming Ty Pennington, but they do seem to imply that might be a risk here.

Luckily, though, the paper indulges in a spot of investigative journalism: has Asda learned its lesson, or have they added Touch Me I'm Sick to the playlist?

When the Evening Post visited the supermarket, Asda FM – which broadcasts to all its UK stores – played a variety of family-friendly songs on the PA, including Love Me Do by The Beatles and We've Got Tonight by Bob Seger.

Isn't that Seger song about having a one night stand? Would MediaWatch approve of children having their ears stuffed with a song like that? I can't believe that at the crucial moment, the Post suddenly goes soft on premarital sex.

[Thanks to Simon T for the story]

Revenge against the Machine

Following on from the Rage Against The Machine march on the Xcel Centre and the RNC, it looks like last night, the police were out for revenge.

The band were playing a proper, legal, ticketed gig at the Target Centre in Minneapolis (for now, let's leave aside the question of how they're playing a gig at a venue which is a marketing tool for a major Republican Party Contributor as that might just make my head pop). As Coldsnaplegal's Twitter feed witnessed, the cops were waiting for revenge:

Concert goers @the rage against the machiene show are taking to the streets. riot cops on every corner, 1 arrest. need legal observers.

Front of target center cleared. 7th & Hennepin blocked by riot cops. Pepper spray deployed.

folks from after show protest are being arrested and ordered on to city busses at 7th and marquette in minneapolis. arrest numbers unknown.

riot cops have left 7th st. and 2nd ave, 31 people confirmed arrested and taken.

On MnIndy's Twitter, there was a suggestion that media attention might have increased the tension:

I'm hearing the omnipresent buzz of overhead helicopters in Minneapolis. Media's hyping violence threat as Rage lets out downtown.

Rage is not yet letting out. The crowd is mostly looky-loos anticipating violence and beating drums

But, clearly, even before the concert started the police were looking for confrontation:

spp just ticketed everyone here for parking facing the wrong direction icluding the guy parked in his own driveway. huh? -robin

Is the McCain - Mayor McCheese ticket really so petrified of Rage Against The Machine they need to send police out to pepper spray young people who actually show an interest in the political process?

[via Boing Boing]

Taking the Rage to the Machine

Yesterday's planned "secret" gig outside the Minnesota State Capitol got closed down by police - whose handling of anything that might seem like dissent outside the Republican National Convention leans towards the 'my god, these people are enemies of the State and must be subdued before they murder my family in the bed and establish some sort of worldwide caliphate, whatever that might be' heavy-handedness.

The band instead embarked on a march towards the Xcel Center. It's not clear if the police who fired tear gas at the more determined members of the group were also sponsored by Xcel.

Kerrang Awards: You've all done very well

Last night, at a venue that clearly couldn't be too fussy about dress code, the Kerrang Awards 2008 were given out.

So, who won what?

Best International Newcomer: Black Tide
Best British Newcomer: Slaves To Gravity

The future is looking rubbish, then.

Kerrang Icon Award: Trivium

Icon? Icon?

Best Video: Coheed And Cambria - Feathers

This is, perhaps, the most obscure collection of awards handed out this year. This is what happens when your readership retreats to its hardcore...

Best Single: 30 Seconds To Mars - The Kill

... well, up until a point

Best Album: Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold

They picked up this award from Cristina Scabbia, which is a bit like asking Michael Phelps to give out a ten metres swimming certificate.

Best Live Band: Machine Head

Enter Shikari won this last year. Much good it did them.

Classic Songwriter: Def Leppard

Ah, yes: "I suppose a rock's out the question". It's not a Kerrang award they should be getting, surely that sort of songwriter deserves the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square?

Spirit Of Independence: Dillinger Escape Plan

We have no idea what this award is meant to be rewarding them for. Is it that they paid for their own tickets?

Best British Band: Bullet For My Valentine

You can tell they're classy, as Jo Whiley voiceovers their ads.

Best International Band: 30 Seconds To Mars

That'll show EMI...

Hall of Fame: Rage Against The Machine

Happily being inducted into an award promoted by an international media conglomerate...

Inspiration: Metallica

Well, yes: they certainly inspired the RIAA a hell of a lot...

Crush against the front

The Rage Against The Machine set at Lollapalooza almost turned into the wrong sort of historic last night: Despite the best efforts of security and band, the crush was out of control.

Matters weren't helped by a number of fence-jumpers:

There was also at least one reported security breach of the venue's perimeter fence, according to both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, resulting in an unknown number of fans without tickets rushing into the park and reportedly injuring some security personnel in the process. Spokespeople for the festival could not be reached for comment at press time, and a Chicago Police Department spokesperson said that officials had not received calls for help from the festival, despite multiple reports that police on horseback had responded to the fence breach.

Chicago Fire Department spokesperson Larry Langford said that as of 12:30 a.m. Sunday (August 3) his department had not received any calls for assistance from the private firm handling emergency services for the festival; MTV News is attempting to reach that firm. It was unknown at press time how many injuries occurred during the show, but an MTV reporter near the front of the stage witnessed at least a dozen dazed, limping and panicked fans being escorted to the medical tent, including one who was taken out on a backboard.

It seems a bit odd that the Police don't seem to have been called while police were responding - let's hope that's down to the fog of war rather than a sign of inadequate communication.

But, of course, he'd have to believe that, wouldn't he?

T in the Park is making noises in Scotland this weekend, and the great headline debate which hung over Glastonbury has turned up there, too. To be more precise, the 'Rage Against The Machine? In 2008? Playing a large beer commercial? Seriously?' question, which organiser Geoff Ellis has attempted to answer:

"For me, getting Rage Against The Machine back to T was a great coup," he said. "They are just as relevant now as they were in 1994 at the first T festival, which was when they last played here."

We did wonder if this was a back-handed complement - perhaps Ellis was suggesting that the band had already compromised itself into being a Sony BMG t-shirt marketing scheme painted as political activists; we suspect, though, he meant it.

T in the park's weak brew a national outrage

Drowned In Sound are suggesting that this year's T in the Park line-up is an affront to Scotland, with its Rage Against The Machine and Shed Seven and Newton Faulkner.

It might also just be an indication of how very, very thin the talent jam gets spread around the multiple festivals - especially if you sideline a couple of bigger acts with drugs problems, for example.

On the other hand: surely there's no schedule vacuum wide enough that would allow an excuse for having The Hoosiers and Bowling For Soup on a public platform, surely?