Who will top the Christmas charts?

A CAMPAIGN is afoot to get a little known song by Half Man Half Biscuit to the Number TWO position in the chart.

It follows the huge internet drive to get Rage Against The Machine's 1992 hit, 'Killing In The Name', to the Christmas Number One position, subverting X Factor winner Joe McElderry's bid with The Climb.

Simon Cowell has branded the Rage campaign stupid and cynical. Cue for a song! Cue for a crusade!

Facebook users are being urged to download It's Cliched To Be Cynical At Christmas, a 2007 track from Birkenhead's finest export, with a video shot around Liverpool.

Scottish chef Hamish Adams is spearheading the move and tells Liverpool Confidential that people in their droves have already purchased the 79p song from iTunes.

“There's nothing festive about Killing In The Name, Cowell is right. It's cynical. I'm a massive Half Man Half Biscuit fan, even though I've never met them. The title of the song is the perfect sentiment for all of this.

“It's Christmas. Let's have a festive song up near the top of the charts for a change. Mind you, just in the charts would be a win.”

More than 17m people stretched the National Grid on Sunday to watch Simon Cowell, self-styled Mr Christmas of pop, rubbing his hands in glee at the prospect of another big Christmas sack of lucre as his record label nabs the winner.

In recent years, an X Factor winner at the top of the Christmas chart is as much a dead cert as the Queen's speech.

But bookies William Hill have gone from a bit nervous to all bets off after the 723,000-strong Rage... Facebook group got its act together to wipe the smile off Simon's LA- tanned face. Odds against

Geoff Davis, supremo of Half Man Half Biscuit's Liverpool record label, Probe Plus, was pleasantly surprised to hear about the 550-strong Facebook group “FUCK RATM LET'S GET HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT TO XMAS NUMBER TWO”, formed by Mr Adams.

“It's one of the band's most sincere songs,” he says. “It was never released as a single, so I'm not sure if it could still technically count.”

The song, from the album Trouble Over Bridgewater, also includes classic titles from John Peel's favourites like The Ballad of Climie Fisher, Bottleneck at Capel Curig and 24 Hour Garage People.

“Says Geoff: “I took copies of the song into all the local radio stations at Christmas in 2007, thinking 'how can they resist this?' But they clearly could because it never got any airplay!

"If it gets there I will believe in Father Christmas. I might even get round to God."

Confidential thinks it's well worth 79p or 69p at these links, whether it does anything or not. So get your plastic out now for a little Christmas miracle! You never know, do you?Get it from itunes
or for 10p cheaper from Tune Tribe.