Morrissey has criticised the way the Official Top 40 charts is compiled.
In April, the charts were changed to include downloads and Gnarls Barkley’s ’Crazy’ became the first single in chart history to attain the top spot on the basis of downloads alone.
Speaking on fansite True-to-you.net Morrissey criticised this practice: “These absurd new chart rules will change soon, and it’s worth remembering that they were introduced on the week that ‘You Have Killed Me’ entered at Number Three, so you can’t blame me for thinking that someone is out to dislodge me.
“The song that ended up at Number One wasn’t even buyable (sic) in any record shop at the time! A very fair system ….”
The singer also explained why he had made the request at V Festival for fans to text in for the song via a number that appeared on the stage screen.
“I had made the download request at V because (record label) Sanctuary had asked me to, and they had suggested it because we were faced yet again with zero airplay and the unassailable competition of all the usual marketing devices that would pull the mid-week Number Six rug out from underneath us. It all seemed so unfair.
“We would be pushed out by ‘artists’ whose audience wouldn’t fill an average kitchen.”