AC/DC have become the bookies’ favourite to land the Christmas No 1 spot in the year of their 40th anniversary.
A Facebook campaign to get Angus-born Bon Scott’s hard-rock legends to the top of the festive charts has gained the support of more than 115,000 people in less than a week and bookmakers Ladbrokes have now slashed odds on it making the grade to 5-2 and have it as their favourite in the running.
William Hill have it as a close second to the as-yet-unannounced X Factor winner at 9-4 and Coral have also brought the odds down from 33-1 to 3-1.
A William Hill spokesman with 10 years’ experience covering the Christmas charts said there is “definite scope” that the campaign could be successful.
“We are pretty certain that the X Factor single will sell at least 150,000 copies so they start as the favourite,” he said. “In terms of ‘likes’, AC/DC are two thirds of the way there.
“If they get to 200,000-300,000, then they might go favourite as one in two people out of that would probably buy the single.
“Facebook is great but it’s all about people buying it. However, it has every chance and I certainly wouldn’t bet against it.”
Page organisers, understood to be a three-strong group of diehard AC/DC fans, say they have been left stunned but hope that the interest will turn into downloads come December 15.
The group said: “Well, 100,000 is all very nice but, to be a real contender, we need to keep these numbers going up and hope that all who have ‘liked’ the page do actually download the track.
“Facebook ‘likes’ are one thing but downloads are another altogether.”
Only time will tell if the song will see history repeat itself through rock fans protesting the pop charts but it is safe to say that, if it is successful, AC/DC fans all over the world will be enjoying a “Bon Nol”.