Campaign update

Last night, just as Tom Waits' main competition was being finalised on TV, I hit the airwaves to promote the campaign to get Tom Waits to Number 1 for Christmas in Ireland.

Una Mullaly was there too and besides Waits we discussed other alternative Christmas songs from the likes of Sufjan Stevens and The Flaming Lips.

If you missed the piece you can download it here (right click, save). Fionn, Zoe and co. were kind enough to wrap their programme up with the song too, although I didn't put that into the recording.

In terms of how well things are going so far, the campaign's momentum is continuing to grow. Last night the facebook group hit the 400 members mark (which is impressive considering it was only set up on Monday night) and the song itself hit number 29 in the Irish iTunes charts, based on Friday's sales only.

For one day's work that's a pretty solid performance and with over 4 days left of buying time left we can only hope the momentum continues.

If you've not bought already, please check this thread out for more information on where you can spend a few cent and have your purchased counted in the Irish chart. If you have bought already then make sure you tell everyone you know about the campaign and encourage them to spare a euro or so for the cause! You could also buy again in a different online outlet if you're feeling extra generous!

On Newstalk after 8pm tonight

I'll be on Newstalk tonight at around 8:15pm (Irish time) to talk about the Waits For Christmas campaign as well as other alternative Christmas tunes for those sick of what's normally on offer at this time of year.

Tune in on 106-108FM or listen online at www.newstalk.ie - be sure to text in with suggestions and comments!

Time to buy!

From today and until Thursday and purchase you make will be counted towards the charts for the 21st of December - the very charts that will be in effect far Christmas day!

So if you're looking to support the campaign to get Tom Waits to number 1 with his classic 'Christmas card from a hooker in Minneapolis' now is your chance to do so.

There are a number of places to buy the song from that will be counted by IRMA for their charts. Below is a list of links along with price and other information - if you find one that isn't listed please leave a comment and it will be added as quickly as possible!

Apple iTunes* - 99c, works on any iPod or iPhone (please note the link will launch iTunes)
Eircom Music Club - €1.20, works on any 'Plays for Sure' device / €1.40, works on mobile phone
Sony Connect* - €1.29, works on any Sony device (please note the link only works in Internet Explorer and you will need the SonicStage application to download song)
EasyMusic - €1.35, works on any 'Plays for Sure' device (please note you may have to change your location to Ireland before purchasing as the site's default is for the UK)
Wippit - €1.39, works on any 'Plays for Sure' device (please note you may have to change your location to Ireland before purchasing as the site's default is for the UK)


Please note that purchases from the one site will only be counted once so there's no advantage in purchasing the song many times from the one place. You could, however, purchase it once from a number of sites or purchase it once on every account you may happen to have with the service (which would almost certainly require multiple credit cards).

* Links marked with asterisk are to the page for the album on which the track appears. From there you can purchase the track individually.

Hello Irish Times readers!

Big hello to anyone making their way here on the back of the mention we got in The Irish Times' music/entertainment supplement 'The Ticket'.

Many thanks to Jim Carroll for giving us the mention too.

From today and until Thursday night, any purchase you make online or in a music shop will count towards the charts for Christmas day, so please do your bit for the campaign and buy a copy of 'Christmas Card from a hooker in Minneapolis' from anywhere that's counted by IRMA for their charts.

This would include Apple iTunes (this link will open iTunes), Eircom Music Club, Sony Connect, 02 Napster, Vodafone and Easymusic amongst others.

(The iTunes, Sony Connect and Eircom Music links all lead to the page for 'Blue Valentine', which is the album featuring the song. From there you can choose to buy the song individually for between €0.99c and €1.29)

Thanks!

Hello Phantom Phans!

A massive hello to anyone dropping by on the back of Phantom FM's coverage of our campaign - make yourselves at home!

Thanks to Una for giving the whole thing a mention and to Simon Maher for giving it his seal of approval - I figure if anywhere's going to appreciate something like this it's going to be Dublin's alternative music radio station!

If you're on facebook be sure to hook up with our campaign group and also be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed here - and hopefully between Friday coming and next Thursday you'll be up for sparing a mere Euro or so for a quality Christmas tune.

For anyone who missed the mention, I've taken the liberty of recording and uploading it here (right click and save) - hope that's OK with the folks at Phantom.

Facebook group hits 100 (Already!)

Sure, it's not a huge number in the grand scheme of things but the Facebook group for our campaign has just passed the 100 members mark despite only being around for just over a day.

We have a long way to go but it's still early days, and the facebook group is by no means representative of the amount of people supporting the campaign in general!

There are also a few international members in the group and that's great - maybe they can start their own campaign in their locality! Besides, you don't have to be Irish to support the campaign in principle, so even if you're not, join up!

Getting support

Thanks to all the bloggers who have posted about this campaign so far - it's already starting to kick off and hopefully the momentum will continue.

The important thing now is to get some support together so if you're a blogger please give us a mention on your site. If you're not a blogger maybe you can let friends of yours know about the campaign if you think it's their sort of thing - just point them in this direction or the direction of the facebook group.

To get into the Christmas charts purchases will have to be made between Friday 14th and Thursday 20th of December - not before and not after.

I'll be posting about that in more detail sooner to those all important dates!

So for now, go forth and spread the word!