It used to be that in order to get into the UK top 40 singles chart, you needed to sell tens of thousands of copies of your record, which generally need the marketing muscle and budget of a big record company.
These days, you don’t need to sell that many – about 4000 will get you into the top 40. And you don’t need a big record company either, as Rage Against The Machine have shown, you just need a lot of people on Facebook to get behind you.
My hometown, Shrewsbury, hasn’t had a band go top 40 in years since T’Pau, except in 2006 when Sunshine Underground scraped a 39 placing. A local band called The Insults are hoping to change that using Facebook – – see their facebook page – by motivating the locals (and anyone else) to spend 80p. I pre-ordered back in December and my £1.50 got me the 4-track EP, which counts 4 times as they are all version of the same song (radio edit and 2 remixes).
All purchases between now and Sunday 17th of January will count towards the chart position. I don’t expect you to go out and buy a copy – but you could! – but it would be cool if this bunch of 19 year olds could get into the charts on the basis of a Facebook campaign, and even cooler if T’Pau wasn’t the only Shrewsbury band to make it big.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
What? Why Bother? 
Nice one for blogging about the band, just a small but important correction, Buying the 4 tracks bundled as an EP only counts as one sale, its only when you click to buy each track individually that it counts as four sales.
Thanks for your support…Up The insults !!!!
xxx
I didn’t know about the bundle not counting at the time I bought it, it’s only pennies so I’m not that fussed.
Have since purchased the single again (iTunes), and will probably get it from HMV also.
It’s a bit late now, but Steve Lamacq has a show on 6Music,and this is his kind of music – but don’t know how you’d get a copy to him in time…
Ahhh T’Pau…..such fond memories. I have a picture somewhere of a gig, with Carol in her Leotard and thigh high boots……
Have you died ?? – or are you just stupidly busy ?? or can’t you give a rats arse anymore ?? Did the dog eat your keyboard ?? Your computer blow up ?? You got abducted by aliens ?? There’s a government conspiracy that know you know something, and now they’re after you ?? Your girlfriend handcuffed you the bed and didn’t leave you the keys and nobody found you for a month ?? The government doesn’t like your type of blog and so they’ve blocked all posts from anyone named cotterill ?? Somebody’s seen your shorts and you’re now a top movie director / producer who doesn’t have time for a blog anymore. ( note : that’s shorts as in films, not as in clothing. Anyone who gives a job based on a mans shorts ( clothing ) is probably insane. )
My Gods, I didn’t realise I’d left it so long…
I have a number of half-written blog posts that I never got around to finishing – I could finish them, maybe?
I have an inkling for a glimmer of a concept of a post about BBC 6Music – that shouldn’t be too much work.
I’ll see what I can come up with.
New post. About Star Wars.