Monday, August 14, 2006
Rage Kills The Top 50
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 Over the past twelve months I am sure you've all heard of high profile pop music shows in the UK going down the gurgler. It's been a time of sadness for those who love their pop music based television, a time of sadness which has now hit us all in Australia.
The people down at ABC TV's weekend music show RAGE have performed the unthinkable. They've gone and scrapped the traditional Saturday & Sunday morning format of The ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart to launch a new program entitled "jtv". Are any of you aware as to what jtv is? It's an "exciting" new show that successfully reduces Rage's once quite broad morning viewers to a much small number: struggling university students that listen to such nonsense as The Zutons, Thom Yorke and Youth Group.
The show is a Television spin-off, turning "youth" radio station Triple J into a Saturday & Sunday morning viewable extravaganza. Whilst I am not opposed to any of this happening (people who listen to shit music deserve to have a show of their own too, I am not denying them of this), it is the principal of the ABC and Rage totally deleting the Australian Top 50 chart from their schedule, to make way for a show that fobs itself off as something for the youth. Not everyone between the ages of 13 and 25 don only the blackest of clothes, so why are we being force fed a television program telling us they do?
For as long as I can remember, waking up at around 5 or 6am on a Saturday morning to watch Rage play Australia's top 50 singles was a weekend tradition. I remember being a young little tyke, going to bed ultra early on a Friday evening to wake up and video tape music clips by artists such as Felix, AB Logic, Belinda Carlisle, En Vogue and Shai. I recall being slightly older, waking up to dance around the living room to musical delights by Steps, Tina Cousins, Sash!, and the Spice Girls. I remember being much older, earlier this year in fact, waking up at 7:00am to view Girls Aloud's "Biology" video clip displayed as that weeks Number #26 single. I wanted to actually SEE the girls on an Australian Music Chart TV Show, and thanks to Rage, I actually could. I have a plethora of memories that involve Saturday Mornings and Rage. They are now simply that, memories, and nothing more.
The amount of emails I've received in relation to this topic has been astounding. No less that 23 of you felt that Rage scrapping the Top 50 in place of Indie Music Television was not on. They could have still left the Top 50 on a Saturday morning, surely? There is plenty of room to do so, is there not? It is so frustrating that they could not try and work something out in order to have pop and indie live together harmoniously, hand in hand on Saturday mornings.
Sadly it seems the broke Uni student with CDs by H.I.M. wins out over the guy next door who worships Christina Aguilera.
So what I'm asking all of you pop music lovers across this fine country is, rather than emailing me, why don't you contact Rage and tell them that they are behaving like fucking idiots. Over on their official website, "If you want to comment on the Top 50 issue, you can visit www.abc.net.au/contact" is placed just below the jtv press release. Obviously, they've gotten a few complaints already.
A few more is not going to hurt.
PLEASE NOTE: Nicola Mondays is returning... on Fridays. I've decided to move the weekly special event to Friday Mornings instead of a Monday. This week, Alyson from CFBGoesPop will be telling you all why Betty Boo's amazing "Hangover" should be the next song to be covered by our 'fantasy' solo artist Nicola Roberts.
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