NEWS

All Together Now! Stars Re-record The Farm's Hit Song for Charity - Great Line Up on Record

November 04, 2014

ALL TOGETHER NOW!
STARS RE-RECORD HIT SONG FOR BRITISH RED CROSS AND THE SHORNCLIFFE TRUST

THE PEACE COLLECTIVE ALL TOGETHER NOW RELEASED 15TH DECEMBER
#alltogethernow
Text GET PEACE to 84222. Track sent on 15/12/2014
(Texts cost £1 + 1 standard rate msg. Help:0333 003 0580)

On the 100th anniversary of the Christmas Day Truce, during World War One, which inspired The Farm’s 1990 hit All Together Now, many of the UK’s biggest music stars have united as The Peace Collective, to re-record the song. The new track features a backing choir of schoolboy footballers from the Premier League and German Bundesliga. All profits from the release, out December 15th, will go to the British Red Cross and the Shorncliffe Trust.

Peter Hooton, lead singer of The Farm, says: “I wrote All Together Now about the extraordinary events on Christmas Day 1914 when British and German troops took part in an unofficial truce, singing Christmas carols, exchanging gifts and even playing football. It was a spontaneous act of humanity that transcended the horrors and barbarity of World War One and is a story which still resonates 100 years on. It is a story of hope and peace which should be told over and over again. I’m so very proud that so many artistes from all styles of music and the football authorities have come together to promote peace and reconciliation this Christmas and raise funds for the brilliant work carried out by the British Red Cross and Shorncliffe Trust.”

The new recording is being produced by Simon Britton, and executively produced by Suggs (Madness) – who produced The Farm’s original version – and Mick Jones (The Clash). Stars confirmed to appear on the new recording include Alexandra Burke, Guy Chambers, Gorgon City, Gabrielle, The Proclaimers, Engelbert Humperdinck, Holly Johnson, John Power (Cast), Jah Wobble (PiL), Jane McDonald, I Am Kloot, Shara Nelson (Massive Attack), Amelle Berrabah (The Sugababes), the winner of The Voice 2014 Jermain Jackman, and The Farm themselves, with many more to be confirmed. Strings and brass on the track are provided by the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA).

Mike Adamson, Chief Executive of the British Red Cross, said; “We are absolutely delighted to be a part of this exciting project and are very grateful to all the talented artists that have come together for this important cause. Many people are aware of the huge contribution and sacrifice Red Cross volunteers made during the First World War; transporting and nursing the wounded as well as finding the missing on the battlefield. A hundred years on, our staff and volunteers continue in their footsteps helping people facing crisis around the world. We hope that this inspiring song will raise both money for, and awareness of our lifesaving work.”

Chris Shaw, Chairman of the Shorncliffe Trust, said “We feel humbled and honoured to be included in this amazing project. This charity single symbolises the past, present and future and enlightens our understanding and perceptions of WW1. All together Now by the Peace Collective beautifully commemorates the spirit of the past on that December day in 1914. The monies raised will support the great work of the British Red Cross in the present but for the Shorncliffe Trust this about us creating an educational legacy for the future. We will be building an immersive learning experience for thousands of students from across the country and enable them to walk in the footsteps of their great grandfathers who marched from Shorncliffe camp to their destiny on the Western Front.”

The Christmas Truce was a series of widespread, unofficial ceasefires which took place along the Western Front over Christmas 1914. British and German troops ventured into ‘no man’s land’, exchanging food and souvenirs, singing carols, and, most famously, playing football. A hundred years on, British and German children have united to provide the backing choir for The Peace Collective, which comprises of sixty U12 footballers, 38 from Premier League Clubs and 22 from German (mainly Bundesliga) clubs. The children came to Liverpool for a weekend and recorded the song together at Parr Street Studios in a great spirit of togetherness. The boys sing in both English and German and appear in the video in their football club shirts.

Ged Roddy, Director of Youth at the Premier League, added: “All Together Now was the chief inspiration for the Premier League’s Christmas Truce Tournament in Ypres, where since 2011 we’ve brought young players from England, Germany, Belgium and France to play football in a spirit of peace and reconciliation.

“It’s been fantastic to work with the Peace Collective and have young British and German players sing on All Together Now. These lads are only a few years younger than some of the soldiers who met on those Flanders fields a century ago. It’s a wonderful message to send out that a 100 years on football and culture are still bringing young people together.”

Text GET PEACE to 84222. Track sent on 15/12/2014
(T&Cs: Texts cost £1. + 1 standard rate msg. Help: 0333 003 0580)

#AllTogetherNow
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peaceforxmas
Twitter: @PeaceForXmas (http://twitter.com/peaceforxmas)

- See more at: http://louderthanwar.com/all-together-now-stars-re-record-the-farms-hit-song-for-charity-great-line-up-on-record/#sthash.86pYgRTl.dpuf

ALL TOGETHER NOW! STARS RE-RECORD The Farm’s HIT SONG FOR Charity- great line up on record

Posted on November 4, 2014 by louderthanwar

- See more at: http://louderthanwar.com/all-together-now-stars-re-record-the-farms-hit-song-for-charity-great-line-up-on-record/#sthash.86pYgRTl.dpuf

http://louderthanwar.com/all-together-now-stars-re-record-the-farms-hit-song-for-charity-great-line-up-on-record/

BREAKING NEWS * Stars Come Together to Form the Peace Collective in a Bid for the 2014 Officials Singles Chart Christmas #1

November 04, 2014

Alexandra Burke, Guy Chambers, Gorgon City and Engelbert Humperdinck are throwing their hats into the Christmas #1 race, featuring a new version of The Farm's Top 5 Hit "All Together Now."

"I'm very proud to be part of this illustrious line up to support such a great charity as The Red Cross." - EH

Read the full article here:

http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/alexandra-burke-guy-chambers-gorgon-city-and-engelbert-humperdinck-for-new-christmas-charity-single-3261/

Engelbert Interview on Huffington Post

October 31, 2014

Engelbert talks about recording with Sir Elton John, Gene Simmons and Willie Nelson on his latest CD "Engelbert Calling"...and having lunch with HRH The Queen of England next week!

http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/engelbert-humperdinck-pop-singer/542c7cfe02a7604855000068

Engelbert Humperdinck: Sideburns Intact, Singer Back in Spotlight with New Album

October 30, 2014

The 1960s British invasion was at full cry when singer Engelbert Humperdinck, who had been struggling in England for more than a decade, broke through with a pop version of an old country hit, Release Me (1967).

The ballad shot to No. 1 in Britain and No. 4 in the United States.

Fresh from a career-changing makeover — the 31-year-old singer darkened his hair and grew long, thick sideburns — Humperdinck also exchanged his given name, Arnold George Dorsey, for a new, gimmicky stage moniker borrowed from a German composer best-known for the opera Hansel and Gretel (1893).

He offered dreamy easy-listening songs and billed himself as “The King of Romance.”

The revamp is still paying off.

Since then, Humperdinck has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide.

Now the 78-year-old singer — whose other hits include A Man Without Love (1968), Spanish Eyes (1969) and After the Lovin’ (1976) — has recently released an album, Engelbert Calling, and is in the midst of a North American concert tour.

He is scheduled to perform on May 10 at the Hard Rock Rocksino at Northfield Park in the village of Northfield, Ohio.

His first venture into recorded duets, the CD includes Something About the Way You Look Tonight with Elton John, Release Me with Wynonna Judd and Spinning Wheel with Gene Simmons.

Humperdinck also works with Charles Aznavour, Willie Nelson and Dionne Warwick.

“To have been in the same studio working with these people who are giants has

given me a new life, fresh blood,” Humperdinck said, by telephone from his Los Angeles home.

Born in Madras, India, the singer grew up in Leicester, England. His father was an Irish soldier in the British army; his mother, a half-German violin teacher with an operatic voice.

“I’m quite a mixture,” he said.

The singer has twice found it necessary to rebuild his career almost from scratch. Once came early on, when tuberculosis almost killed him, and the second came years later, as the result of an ill-advised business decision.

His breakthrough to success had come under the guidance of manager Gordon Mills, who had come up with the Humperdinck name, and also managed pop singers Tom Jones and Gilbert O’Sullivan.

Humperdinck, Jones and Mills were partners in Management Agency & Music, which included M.A.M. Records.

“My manager was very partial to Tom,” Humperdinck recalled, “and I got upset about that and decided to leave the company. It cost me millions and millions and millions of dollars. I had to remake everything.”

Besides Jones, Humperdinck also knew and was friends with another rival, Elvis Presley — who, he claims, swiped his long-sideburns look.

Humperdinck has had his share of highly publicized controversies, including a successful paternity suit against him and a failed libel suit against the National Enquirer for its report that his former mistress had alleged, falsely, that he was suffering from AIDS.

Through it all, he and his wife, the former Patricia Healey, have stayed wed for 50 years. They have four children, two of whom — Bradley and Louise Dorsey — sing with their father on the new CD.

The way Humperdinck tells it, his profession fell into his lap serendipitously.

At 17, working toward a career as a saxophone player, he sang an impromptu song at an English pub and got a standing ovation.

Working as Gerry Dorsey, singing and also doing Jerry Lewis impressions, he plugged away for a few years until, at age 25, he came down with tuberculosis. It stopped his career cold and almost did the same to his life.

Humperdinck did survive, though, and resumed his career. Thanks to Release Me, he became one of the music’s top acts almost overnight.

“What made me successful was the combination of changing my name, dyeing my hair and growing my sideburns,” he said, “and getting a song that was so universally appealing. With all those put together, I scored very heavily — and thank God for that.”

Engelbert Humperdinck: Sideburns intact, singer back in spotlight with new album

By Jane Wollman Rusoff

NEW YORK TIMES SYNDICATE • Thursday October 30, 2014 7:57 AM

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2014/10/30/sideburns-intact-singer-back-in-spotlight-with-new-album.html