Just last month, AC/DC fans were gathering en masse to make a big push to top the U.K. charts at Christmas, but those plans have now changed somewhat, with a new goal in mind.
The “Christmas No. 1” is a big thing in the U.K., as it is typically the record sales peak volume for the year, making whatever song tops the chart that week have a little extra prestige. And it’s not been uncommon for fan campaigns to launch in the U.K. to achieve the goal. One of the most notable ones came when fans rallied to send Rage Against the Machine‘s “Killing in the Name” to the top of the charts in 2009 as a form of rebellion against having an X Factor vocalist take the title.
Back in 2013, AC/DC fans first rallied for one of these campaigns, and managed to get “Highway to Hell” all the way to No. 4 at Christmas, and the goal was to replicate that success this year with multiple AC/DC fan groups on social media getting together and deciding they would try to push “Thunderstruck” to No. 1 after fan voting across multiple sites.
Why Has the Campaign Been Postponed?
AC/DC Facebook fan page administrators Steevi and Jon reached out to Official Charts with a statement on the campaign, explaining why their goal has changed for this year.
“After a vote across three separate AC/DC groups, including the original 2013 campaign group of over 100,000 members, we have decided to put back the campaign week to Friday 29th December to Thursday 4th January. By choosing to delay by two weeks, we’ll also avoid being caught up in the Christmas songs that will no doubt be prominent the week after Christmas as well.”
Why was the decision made? There was a two-fold answer. They explained, “Why? Because it focuses more on the band’s 50th anniversary itself rather than being caught up in the Christmas mayhem, in which we feel many would love to see [The Pogues] ‘Fairytale of New York’ top the pack for reasons we all know well. When polled, 83% of AC/DC fans agreed so that’s what we’re going to do.”
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What This Means for the Campaign
While AC/DC fans are no longer trying to top the charts for Christmas in the U.K., they still do want to top the charts, but just in a different week. So rather that pushing fans to purchase downloads or ramp up their streaming of “Thunderstruck” over the charting week that yields the Christmas No. 1, they’re now aiming for the top on the week after.
That means that the new goal is to focus all efforts to take place between Dec. 29 through Jan. 4, with the incentive to get “Thunderstruck” to No. 1 on the Jan. 5, 2024 chart date.
There could also be a residual effect on the Christmas No. 1 race with AC/DC fans now backing out of the campaign. With the organizers suggesting that many would like to see The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York” at No. 1 after the recent death of Shane MacGowan, some of the AC/DC vote could sway that way. The race is expected to be wide open as novelty song artist Ladbaby, who has topped the Christmas No. 1 chart multiple times in recent years, did not issue a new song this year.
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Gallery Credit: Loudwire Staff