This week's Top 40 ...

Braced for defeat
Friday - Simon Cowell is accusing the BBC of bias towards Rage because it doesn't want another X-Factor victory ... Eh? That's rich coming from Cowell. The man who smothered Strictly with his ruthless timing and programme extensions. The man who was so unbothered by the Beebs long established 'Children In Need' charidy, he sought to diminish it's potential by the same week releasing his own X-Factor Finalists charidy record ... even more cynical it was a Michael Jackson cover ...

We Brits are renowned for loving the underdogs, after weeks of having the tone deaf Jedward stuffed at us Joe was the underdog ... now Rage are the underdogs .. long live the underdogs.

5 Live Rage
Can't believe BBC Radio 5 Live asked Rage Against The Machine to perform 'Killing In The Name Of' with out swearing .... how stupid was the ill-informed dunce who made that request? I hope they're not as poor on real news.

Having myself years ago been won over to the songs uniquely endearing and enduring ability to allow it's listeners to release pent up frustration I would say it's pretty well impossible to perform without any one of it's fifty repeated 'F' word expletives ...

Anyways Ladbrokes have again made Joe 1/4 favourite favourite for Sundays Number One after yesterday backing Rage. Dare Radio One's Reggie Nice Boy play it?

This could become an annual challenge .. X-Factor establishment vs rebel sub-culture .. then again something important might intervene.
See Rage perform on BBC 5 Live here
Joe McEllderry talks about the battle on Radio One

Rage Race Joe
Ooooweee - Tuesday and it's close.. The Rage Against The Machine vs Joe McX-Factor race for Christmas No.1 is showing Rage narorrowly ahead of Joe McX-Factor. Joe's CD single of his Miley Cyrus cover is released on Wednesday and 19 million saw him win X-Factor on Sunday while 750,000 have signed up to the Facebook campaign to get Rage to No.1.

Rage's 17 year old dancefloor filling 'F*** you' anthem is cooler than ever while Joe's won a modern day Karaoke ... so Joe must be odds on mustn't he??? Four days sales to go and Sony are rubbing their hands - they own both recordings!!
Check Tuesdays BBC page here

Top 40 Sun 13 Dec 09
Well well Rihanna's beaten by Lady GaGa's 'Bad Romance' - her third UK chart-topper this year.

It's like Oasis vs Blur - Joe vs Rage. The battle lines are being drawn for Christmas Number One - Joe McX-Factor with 19 million X-Factor Final viewers all potential buyers is the bookies cert but the outsider of all time has to be Rage Against The Machine.

Their 'Killing In The Name Of' is still banned, isn't it? .... and it's game on - Mondays iTunes chart shows Rage at 2 just behind Joe with GaGa at 3... so fingers crossed!

The campaign to get this indie/rock alternative anthem to the top gathered pace with Channel 5's The Wright Stuff. Our Matthew telling us not to forget to buy our copy of this 1992 classic that Bruno Brookes inadvertently played on Radio One's Chart Show .. having not previously heard the tune and it's 50 expletives. While making Bruno kinda cool it contributed to him ultimately losing his job at the nation's then favourite and with a little more luck will become only the third number one ever to be banned from Radio One.

Four new tunes this week - Chuckie & LMFAO's dancefloor pounder the 128bpm 'Miami Bitch' storms in at 9, Radio 2's Terry Wogan & Radio Wales Aled Jones are in at 27 (both on their third hit), and The Saturdays 'Ego' makes a surprising lowly debut at 35.

The biggest selling runner-up ever.. George Michael / Wham's 'Last Christmas' returns at 29, so only three Christmas songs in so far. The million selling 'Last Christmas' would have been top on it's release in 1984 but for Sir Bob Geldof's idea to help the starving of Ethiopia with Bandaid. Strangely, no sign of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' returning this year ... the lyric looking ever more suspect with our increasing awareness that other religions/peoples may not celebrate Christmas.

4 new entries – 10 up, 20 down, 6 non-movers

This Week ... Last Week ... Weeks In ... Artist ... Title

1 3 7 LADY GAGA Bad Romance

2 1 4 PETER KAYS ANIMATED ALLSTARS The Official Children In Need Medley

3 2 3 RIHANNA Russian Roulette

4 4 10 BLACK EYED PEAS Meet Me Halfway

5 7 6 KE$HA Tik Tok

6 9 2 TIMBALAND & NELLY FURTADO Morning After Dark

7 6 4 JASON DeRULO Whatcha Say

8 8 2 ALICIA KEYS Doesn't Mean Anything

9 new CHUCKIE & LMFAO I'm In Miami Bitch

10 19 3 CHIPMUNK & TALAY RILEY Look For Me

11 5 4 X-FACTOR FINALISTS You Are Not Alone

12 12 5 PIXIE LOTT Cry Me Out

13 10 8 CHERYL COLE Fight For This Love

14 25 5 CHERYL COLE & WILL I AM Three Words 129 UKUS

15 30 5 ROBBIE WILLIAMS You Know Me

16 11 13 JAY-Z & ALICIA KEYS Empire State Of Mind

17 18 4 50 CENT & NE-YO Baby By Me

18 31 2 POGUES & KIRSTY MacCOLL Fairytale Of New York

19 29 2 MARIAH CAREY All I Want For Xmas Is You

20 20 24 BLACK EYED PEAS I Gotta Feeling

21 17 7 WESTLIFE What About Now

22 14 7 JAY SEAN & LIL WAYNE Down

23 32 2 N-DUBZ & Mr HUDSON Playing With Fire

24 21 9 MICHAEL BUBLE Haven't Met You Yet

25 16 6 JLS Everybody In Love

26 26 9 ALEXANDRA BURKE Bad Boys

27 new TERRY WOGAN & ALED JONES Silver Bells

28 15 5 LEONA LEWIS Happy

29 24 7 FLORENCE & THE MACHINE You've Got The Love

30 13 3 SUSAN BOYLE Wild Horses

31 28 2 THIRTY SECONDS FROM MARS Kings & Queens

32 23 4 TAKEN BY TREES Sweet Child O' Mine

33 33 6 CHRIS BROWN I Can Transform Ya

34 27 5 N-DUBZ I Need You

35 new SATURDAYS Ego

36 22 5 BRITNEY SPEARS 3

37 34 5 SUGABABES About A Girl

38 40 4 SHAKIRA Did It Again

39 new WHAM Last Christmas

40 38 13 TAIO CRUZ Break Your Heart

UTV - Valleys again
Talk Sport owner UTV Media (ie Ulster Television) the company which closed Valleys Radio and handed the licence back to Ofcom earlier this year is repeating the exercise in the North. Preston's Central Radio is to close on Christmas Eve again leaving the community in dismay. This follows UTV closing Valleys and Talk 107 in Edinburgh. There must be a better way of awarding all important local radio franchises than the current system.

'Fecking' Radio 2
It's looking ominous for listeners who will miss Terry Wogan - Chris Evans is leaving his Drivetime show with a bang.
The DJ who infamously broadcast Happy Mondays Sean Ryder swearing to his hearts content on primetime TV in the mid nineties has had another exchange with blasphemy this week.
This time the perpetrator is George Michael.
Grog as he was nicknamed by his family has a delightful Christmas song out and missed the spirit of it completely by forgetting ... swearing's still not allowed.
Wogan's replacment, Chris Evans had to apologise to BBC Radio 2 drive time listeners after George Michael said the F word whilst talking about the television programme Top Gear.
George then tried to cover his mistake by saying he said Fecking instead, after asking if there was a delay in operation.
The two were in conversation on Wednesday afternoon when Chris asked George if he'd ever appear on the Top Gear programme: "You'd love that programme," Chris said. To which George Michael replied: "Other than the fact that I'd be afraid of coming last on that fucking programme......". Chris then interrupted advising him not to swear, which promoted them both to say sorry.
And just prior to the conversation about Top Gear, the singer was heard clearly saying and getting away with words such as Rat-Arse and Pissed-Off.
Happy Christmas George.

Bye Bye TOGs
Terry is waving Bye Bye ... In 1972 Terry's Old Geezer's Fought The Flab with Wogan's recommended Playtex 18 hour bra, girdle or corsette ... from Friday they'll Fight on without their leader....

Do Digital or else!
ITV's 17 year old Teletext service ends this week as does Terry Wogan's 37 year old Radio 2 Breakfast Show. CeeFax next.

America's Hot 100

Stateside and Jay-Z's awesome rap anthem to New York is topping Billboard's Hot 100 for a second week. Eight years on since the definitive trigger event of the decade, the terrorist attack on New York's World Trade Centre and this record seems to sum up a mood of absolute defiance.

As the attacks happened in September 2001 I was DJ'ing Red Dragon FM's afternoon show, in the middle of three in a row from Whitney Houston when at 2.10pm the feed from the Big Apple flashed through the horrifying pictures. The almost slow motion destruction of the Twin Towers.

Americans sought to defend and demonstrate their love of their way of life - succinctly visualised with Malcolm Glaser's brilliant 'I Heart NY' design which originated in New York tourism 1977 becoming especially prominent after 9/11. Much copied and recently updated...

This Week ... Last Week ... Weeks In ... Artist ... Title

1 1 13 JAY-Z & ALICIA KEYS Empire State Of Mind

2 2 6 LADY GAGA Bad Romance

3 5 9 KE$HA Tik Tok

4 5 16 IYAZ Replay

5 4 16 OWL CITY Fireflies

6 6 17 JASON DeRULO Whatcha Say

7 8 18 DAVID GUETTA & AKON Sexy Chick

8 7 12 BLACK EYED PEAS Meet Me Halfway

9 10 9 BRITNEY SPEARS 3

10 9 23 JAY SEAN & LIL WAYNE Down

Barfly's coming out
Good luck to Cardiff Barfly with it's two new experiments. In February, the launch of their new Count Lasher presents Reggae Fridays ... (it was accordiing to BarflyClub.com originally advertsied as a monthly Sunday Reggae night). This Friday they're introducing 'Hell's Bent' .... a Gay club night featuring Radio One DJ & former Cardiff University Student Radio Programme Controller Jen Long.

Every little helps...
Many experts expect the economy to seize up big time in the new year, with the unstoppable intrusion of increasing bills and taxes.
One commentator estimates twenty three High Street chains are on the verge of folding. 23!
It's a good idea to have a coherent plan.
Our view is businesses most loyal to their existing customers will be the ones most likely to survive.
Where possible we are supporting the roots of our community by buying from worthy local shops and garages rather than massive money making multi national chains like Tesco and Asda/Walmart. We've nothing against the big chains but this is the only way to thank smaller traders for being there and hopefully keep them trading through this recession 2009 that's quite possibly heading into depression in 2010.

New New Year
Just over two weeks til a new decade ... a new crop of bills ... and Phoooey ... Jaffa and myself will be at Ten Feet Tall Dancing Off The Naughties on New Years Eve through til 5am on New Years Day 2010 .... here's a small selection of the latest present..