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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think the Christmas Number One has gone tacky and downhill?

287 replies

SoniaFouler · 25/12/2021 10:53

I just saw that LadBaby has had its 4th Christmas number one single. Based on what? Tik tok and streaming views on YouTube? I haven’t heard the song and not going to bother but does anyone else think music these days is just low effort, cheap and bland? What about real Christmas number ones, like Spice Girls 2 Become 1 for example.

Also saw that they had a rivalry to get to number one with a band called “The Kunts”. Really? I have no problem with the word cunt but I also don’t think this fits in with the whole Christmas theme. Can you imagine a child saying “who reached number one, mummy?” And she replies “it was The Kunts darling”??

OP posts:
funinthesun19 · 27/12/2021 09:52

I agree with you OP.

I think at first Youtubers and the like started trying to take a stand against the X-factor number ones because I seem to remember Youtubers making noise about how they were sick of it or something. Confused

Boring and shite either way 😴

Shallwegoforawalk · 27/12/2021 10:13

@SoniaFouler have you actually read the lyrics of 2 becomes 1? It's about shagging. Two people planning to fuck. "I had a little love, now I'm back for more". Even the "be a little bit wiser, put it on" means putting a condom on. Such a classy Christmas song! Confused

The foodbanks need all the help they can get so I'm happy if they raise funds for them.

SoniaFouler · 27/12/2021 10:21

[quote Shallwegoforawalk]@SoniaFouler have you actually read the lyrics of 2 becomes 1? It's about shagging. Two people planning to fuck. "I had a little love, now I'm back for more". Even the "be a little bit wiser, put it on" means putting a condom on. Such a classy Christmas song! Confused

The foodbanks need all the help they can get so I'm happy if they raise funds for them. [/quote]
The video is Christmassy and classy and so is the song and music in general, it’s not in the league of sounding like some football hooligan type song like the offerings of LadBaby

OP posts:
youvegottenminuteslynn · 27/12/2021 10:41

Someone asked you in what way 2 become 1 your favourite song is christmassy and your first response was:

Well just one example:

Candlelight and soul forever
A dream of you and me together

And another:

Set your spirit free, it's the only way to be

How are those things Christmassy though?!

DrSbaitso · 27/12/2021 10:54

There's also "be a little bit wiser baby, put it on, put it on". I remember scandal in the playground when someone's older sister told us what that was about.

Very responsible, of course, but Christmassy?

It's a fun pop song, but nobody associates it with Christmas.

OldHip · 27/12/2021 11:26

At least it avoids having babies in stables out of wedlock.

LittleRoundRobin · 27/12/2021 11:28

I think the point the OP is trying to make, is that '2 become 1' by the Spice Girls, is a shitload better than the piece of garbage that's currently dominating the Christmas No 1 position.

Even the Pop Idol/X Factor songs were decent songs. It may have been annoying that they dominated the No 1 position every Christmas, (for virtually a decade,) but at least they were decent songs, mostly from someone who was fairly talented.

The Lad Baby ones are painfully bad, and my hamster has more musical talent than them. And as for the 'it's for charideeee' comments, as a pp said, I bet most of the money made doesn't go to the charity at all.

SoniaFouler · 27/12/2021 11:48

@youvegottenminuteslynn

Someone asked you in what way 2 become 1 your favourite song is christmassy and your first response was:

Well just one example:

Candlelight and soul forever
A dream of you and me together

And another:

Set your spirit free, it's the only way to be

How are those things Christmassy though?!

The music and the video is Christmassy themed
OP posts:
SoniaFouler · 27/12/2021 11:49

I think the point the OP is trying to make, is that '2 become 1' by the Spice Girls, is a shitload better than the piece of garbage that's currently dominating the Christmas No 1 position.

Exactly, thank you @LittleRoundRobin . How anyone can listen to the two songs and not think one of them (2 becomes 1) sounds Christmassy over the other is beyond me

OP posts:
ReformedWaywardTeen · 27/12/2021 11:52

[quote Shallwegoforawalk]@SoniaFouler have you actually read the lyrics of 2 becomes 1? It's about shagging. Two people planning to fuck. "I had a little love, now I'm back for more". Even the "be a little bit wiser, put it on" means putting a condom on. Such a classy Christmas song! Confused

The foodbanks need all the help they can get so I'm happy if they raise funds for them. [/quote]
But not all the money goes to food banks. You're far better off supporting them by directly donating food or money
I saw a tweet that suggested that despite the sales of the first one being huge, 26k went to the Trussle Trust after costs and expenses and the cut of Ladbaby and his team.
If you're going to do it, donate all money, get a team in to record, promote and stuff for free. It smacks of self promotion by using a charity otherwise.

slashlover · 27/12/2021 12:19

I've googled everywhere but I can't seem to find what percentage of the 99p goes to the foodbanks.

DrSbaitso · 27/12/2021 12:30

The music and the video is Christmassy themed

Are they? What's Christmassy about the music? And the video is just them standing looking wistful in a city road with the footage sped up.

CodenameEgg · 27/12/2021 12:30

It bears repeating:

100% of the PROFIT goes to charity.

That could be a few pence. Since that isn't clear in any way how much profit from this single goes to charity I'd always refuse to buy it and donate directly.

DrSbaitso · 27/12/2021 12:30

26k went to the Trussle Trust

Is that not a good result?

Has the Trussel Trust refused the donation?

Cornettoninja · 27/12/2021 12:33

@slashlover

I've googled everywhere but I can't seem to find what percentage of the 99p goes to the foodbanks.
I googled yesterday and couldn’t find anything either. Anyone who doesn’t particularly like the song handing over cash would be better off donating to the Trussell Trust directly. It isn’t like comic relief or children in need where a pot is shared out and smaller charities benefit when they wouldn’t have necessarily made similar gains independently.
FangsForTheMemory · 27/12/2021 12:34

Bollocks. It was always crap and irrelevant.

CodenameEgg · 27/12/2021 12:34

@DrSbaitso

26k went to the Trussle Trust

Is that not a good result?

Has the Trussel Trust refused the donation?

That depends. How many of the people would have purchased the single if they knew it was 100% of the profit not 100% of the 99p they thought it was? How many of those people would have instead donated £1 directly to the Trussle Trust?

Obviously thats something that we can never know £26k is a good result, but there is always the possibility it could have been a lot more.

PartyPrawnRingGames · 27/12/2021 12:35

It's a sign of the times that the top songs are a charity song supporting a food bank and a very strongly worded protest song against the government. Things will move on in a few years time.

Cornettoninja · 27/12/2021 12:36

@DrSbaitso

26k went to the Trussle Trust

Is that not a good result?

Has the Trussel Trust refused the donation?

26k from a Christmas no 1 seems on the low side on the face of it.

First result in Google says they made 136,000 sales. 99p a sale and 26k isn’t a fat lot is it?

I’m sure the TT did accept it gratefully, I’m not sure that everyone who bought the single for reasons of charity would be quite as pleased though.

DrSbaitso · 27/12/2021 12:38

Of course it COULD be a lot more. We could all have forgone all Christmas gifts and roast dinners and donated that money instead if we were truly motivated by raising as much as possible.

As it is, it's 26k more than the TT would have hot otherwise. Is the Trust offended?

ReformedWaywardTeen · 27/12/2021 12:53

@DrSbaitso

26k went to the Trussle Trust

Is that not a good result?

Has the Trussel Trust refused the donation?

Mediocre for the potential sales of the download. I have seen the guy behind Ladbaby asked what percentage he took and what amount actually went to the TT. Rather tellingly, he and his wife seem to block people for asking, which may be for many reasons but whilst he stands accused of using the TT to profiteer and raise his own profile from mediocre and tedious youtuber to self styled saviour of people from poverty, he would be mindful to just say "X went to TT, Y and Z went here and why". And as someone else pointed out, if I was to download a charity single I think I would want to know if it's profit or full amount going to the charity. There have been other charity singles where fees and costs were waived. I can't see why at this point and 4 singles in, especially with Sheeran and Elton on it, they couldn't have negotiated the same?
Cornettoninja · 27/12/2021 12:54

@DrSbaitso, but that’s the point isn’t it? It’s not about the charity aspect is it? Why people are using that to defend a shit song by opportunistic people is beyond me.

It is what it is, it’s just promotion of a wider ‘brand’ that people buy into (influencers in a nut shell). It’s mildly irritating that some want to make it something it’s not by making out dropping a few crumbs from their sausage roll in an envelope to a food bank is a charitable act. It’s not and it’s worth pointing it out because it’s a marketing schtick used by lots of quarters to get people to part with their money. Slapping ‘for charity’ on something doesn’t make it altruistic.

It’s still a good thing for the charity, of course it is, but people should understand that’s not where the majority of their money is going. There is at least one poster on this thread who stated they didn’t like the song but bought it because the money was going to charity. I would argue they were hoodwinked personally.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 27/12/2021 13:00

And some of the best Christmas No1s have absolutely nothing do,with Christmas (Bohemian Rhapsody

Don't be ridiculous: a song about a man being shot in the head NOT Christmassy?! Grin

They played Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West) on Radio 2 yesterday. I never realised that it had been the Christmas Number 1 in 1971 - not at all Christmassy, but as novelty songs go, much more cleverly-written than most.

I can't speak for Ladbaby in particular, but it's a very old and successful marketing technique to associate your brand with charity. Some sort of a popular gimmick can prove very lucrative indeed and, sad to say, 'charity' can be just as much of a gimmick as anything else.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 27/12/2021 13:05

If somebody stood on a street corner and asked you for £20, promising faithfully (maybe even providing proof) that £3-£5 of that money would go straight to a charity, with the rest going in 'costs', I highly doubt they would get a single punter.

However, do the same thing with a charity pop single, charity Christmas cards and the like - it looks like you the charity can really benefit.

DrSbaitso · 27/12/2021 13:13

@DrSbaitso, but that’s the point isn’t it? It’s not about the charity aspect is it? Why people are using that to defend a shit song by opportunistic people is beyond me.

The entire mad debate is about the charity aspect!

Yes of course they're using it to promote themselves, nobody's stupid enough to think otherwise. I just don't see how it's any less self-serving and more altruistic to hop on it just to berate people for not Doing More. Especially right after a day of massive unnecessary gift giving and eating (which I have no problem with either).

The TT got a shed load of money. They could have got much more if we had all spent our Christmas budget on them, but we didn't. Shitty novelty Christmas songs from people in showbiz are nothing new, and a good cause got a decent amount from it.

If the TT isn't offended about it, I don't think it matters who else is.

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