Every week I crib the US charts off Billboard and the UK charts off The Official Chart Company website and today I found their contenders for the annual (duh) Christmas single of the year. You remember, Rage Against The Machine won in 2009.
Now I am not a betting… well actually, I am a betting man and my money is on the Justice Collective. The Hollies "He Ain't Heavy… He's My Brother" sung by a gang of UK pop stars, including Robbie Williams looking spritely but concerned, Neil Tennant looking very old and Paul McCartney with his patented dye job join ,together to raise money for the Hillsborough Victims.
According to Wikipedia the 1989 Hillsborough disaster was: "A human crush which occurred during the FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest football clubs on 15 April 1989 at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England. The crush resulted in the deaths of 96 people and injuries to 766 others. The incident remains the worst stadium-related disaster in British history and one of the world's worst football disasters…In September 2012, the Hillsborough Independent Panel concluded that up to 41 of the 96 fatalities might have been saved had they received prompt medical treatment.[8] The report revealed "multiple failures" by other emergency services and public bodies which contributed to the death toll. In response to the panel's report, Attorney General for England and Wales, Dominic Grieve MP, confirmed he would consider all the new evidence to evaluate whether the original inquest verdicts of accidental death could be overturned."
The Justice Collective is trying to raise money to prosecute the emergency services and public body. A worthy cause and I am not trying to make light here when I wonder what the hell the people behind this song were thinking choosing a song with the word "brother" and "weight" in it when they had nearly any other song to choose from. The disaster was due to the weight of people crushing other people. How could they choose that song?
Plus, the song was a maudlin piece of schmaltz to begin with and the snippit I've heard, it is released in the UK December 17th, is unfit for human consumption. Which makes it perfect for the season and assures it a # 1 hit this Christmas.