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Protest Against Nudity In U.S Charts

14th April 2008 | by Aidan Williamson

Radiohead have whipped up a storm of protest in the States after their song "Nude" entered the charts at number 37.

Many people see it as a cheat how the band accumulated the sales figures needed to enter the chart. "Nude" managed the position on downloads alone after they released the track with the option of also downloading the stripped apart version for the purpose of remixing.

Bass, vocals, guitar, fx/strings and drums were all available independently of each other, and many people are claiming that the chart system was counting each one as an individual track.

Apparently, the original version of the track sold 19,000 copies while each of the stripped down versions sold around 9,000 copies each.

This extra boost is what gave the band their highest charting position since "Creep" snatched number 34 way back in 1993. Regarding the controversy, Hot 100 director Silvio Pietroluongo explained: "Billboard abided by its long-standing remix policy in regards to 'Nude.' For the purpose of our airplay, Hot 100 and Hot Digital Songs charts, Billboard merges remixes with the original version as long as the music and/or lyrics of the remix remain true to the original."