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Interviews & Media Articles

Interviews & Media Articles
BBC Chart Blog: Delirious? - 'History Maker' (BBC)
Last modified: 31 Mar 2010

Source: BBC
Author: Fraser McAlpine
Date: 31 Mar 2010

It's always nice to give presents, isn't it? Everyone loves getting a gift, but the look of joy on a dear friend's face when you surprise them with a package they weren't expecting, and it turns out to be the perfect thing, well that's unbeatable.

So you can't blame the fans of Delirious? - who split up last year - for wanting to give their boys a lovely send-off, in the shape of a No.1 hit single. Not just ANY No.1 single either. No this is the much-coveted (no commandment pun intended) Easter No.1, which as any fool knows, is second only to the Christmas No.1 in the hearts and minds of the chart-watching public...kinda.

Actually, it's less to do with Easter being big with chartwatchers, and more to do with the band's faith, as expressed through their music. The thought being that a devotional song might be closer to the commemoration of Jesus Christ's final days better than, say, 'Telephone' by Lady GaGa.

So, Christian campaigners and Delirious? fans alike set up a Facebook group, as is the nowadays way of things, and started campaigning. They're doing pretty well with it too...

(No official video. It's not really the point)

As with the Christmas Rage Against The Machine campaign, it's not the purity of the original intention which is troubling, it's the occasionally silly rhetoric and desperation to succeed that comes with it. When John Otway got his fans to work together to get him a second Top 40 hit in 2002, it was a private joke crossed with an early Christmas present, nothing more, nothing less.

The Rage thing got slightly sidetracked by people claiming all pop music that they personally didn't like was about to tremble and die under Rage's mighty boot, which didn't happen, of course. What did happen was a band got a song to the top of the charts as a result of a special campaign targeting a specific chart position and date. Which is how street teams operate. And you know who has a really good street team? McFly.

(Yesyesyes, I should really have let that one go by now...)

Delirious? have massively devoted fans, and they are very passionate about their band and about how they have been handled by the media in the past. What I would hope is that this gesture, this seasonal gift, is left unspoiled by any sense of righteous vengeance, or desperate Facebook spamming. It's not what this kind of thing should be about.

The chart success of 'History Makers' is just a really nice gift to give some people who made some music together, and made a lot of people very happy. And it's a neat way of reminding everyone else that Easter isn't just about chocolate eggs.

That should really be enough, no matter what the song's final chart position.





Related Pages:
Singles: History Maker