Good luck to them!

[Sean]

Campaign for silent song may wreck X Factor Christmas No1 hopes

The online campaign to make a silent charity single the number one record at Christmas - and overtake any X Factor challenge - is gathering pace.

The "Cage Against the Machine" campaign has already attracted a huge amount of support on Facebook, and by Wednesday 8th December more than 73,000 people had signed up to make the single the festive number one.

Musicians crowded into a small London studio on Monday to record a silent Christmas charity single they hope will reach the top spot.

Madness frontman Suggs, The Kooks, Orbital and singer Imogen Heap were among those who arrived at the Soho venue to record a cover version of experimental composer John Cage's silent work 4'33".

Luke Pritchard of The Kooks said: "It's a really cool thing to do, a lot of my friends are involved. It's definitely something close to the heart and also I wanted to do it. To try and be number one for Christmas is quite cool.

"It's quite interesting, it's a piece of art really. It's a conceptual piece rather than something musical. It's more of a statement really, isn't it?"

The winner of the X Factor is usually expected to be one of the strongest contenders in the charts but last year rap metal act Rage Against The Machine snatched the Christmas number one from Joe McElderry.

The band beat the X Factor winner with their 1992 hit Killing In the Name after an online campaign. The prospect of missing out on another No1 would be painful for X Factor supremo Simon Cowell. The final of X Factor is this weekend and the winner releases a Christmas single.

Asked if the Cage cover was a conscious attempt by some bands to beat the X Factor's hold on the charts, Pritchard added: "It is a bit, I think, but I don't think that's why everyone is here. You can make it a big deal if you want, the fact it's against X Factor.

"It's for charity, it's for a good cause. People want to do something they think matters. If it beats X Factor, that's brilliant."

With perfect timing Huddersfield Art Gallery's current exhibition Every Day Is A Good Day features the work of John Cage (1912-1992) - the first major retrospective of his work in the UK.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/musi ... hopes.html

[loCAtek]

What?

[Gob]

I'll buy a copy...

[Sue U]

What I wouldn't give for 4'33" of silence.

[Big RR]

In a world where white canvasses are "art" and hang in museums, why not a blank recording?

[oldr_n_wsr]

Mom always said, "silence is golden".

[Sue U]

Mom always said, "silence is golden".

What a cheap way to get a gold record!

[Big RR]

LOL, Sue. But can silence be platinum?

[Gob]

It's not as good as the original.

Is it available as a download?