For Argyll reported recently on the musical initiative by Helensburgh charity – Helensburgh Heroes: to record and release a commercial single of a community version of David Bowie’s Heroes. This past weekend saw the project well on its way – so over to our reporter with the earplugs…

‘I was delighted to be able to join in with the singing in the Victoria Halls yesterday. What a wonderful experience’. ‘I can’t believe how professional everything was’. ‘The most fun I have had in a choir’. These are some of the comments that organisers of this Saturday’s (24th January) ‘Heroes’ recording session have received in the past few days.

From ages 7 to 77, from Cardross round to the Peninsula, local people and musical groups turned out in force to lend their vocal talents to the Helensburgh Heroes recording of the classic Bowie track ‘Heroes’.

The Helensburgh based charity has embarked on an ambitious attempt to raise the profile of the artistic talent that resides within the area, through the commercial release of the single in late spring. Under the inspirational musical direction of Alan Craig, Musical Director at Langside College, the volunteer artists spent the morning rehearsing in groups, and then came together in the afternoon for a mass choir recording session.

Some of the volunteer artists will now join local professional musicians Kirsten Easdale and Kenny Hyslop (ex Simple Minds) back in the studios to record lead vocals on some of the lyrics.

One of those supporting the event was local resident Suzanne Simpson, ‘This weekend was proof of the talent that we have this area. The voices were superb and everyone seemed to have a great time. We appear to have produced our very own version of “The Choir”. And I can’t wait to hear the finished version’.

Musical Director Alan Craig concurred with this view ‘This weekend has been a real pleasure. I had originally envisaged recording the vocals in small groups of about 10 people, but the sheer quality and passion of the artists involved meant that we could record the entire group as a whole. If you had walked in and witnessed the rehearsals, you would not have believed that most of the artists had never met before, never mind sung together. We ‘d have given the London Community Gospel Choir a run for their money, it was that good’.

Helensburgh Heroes anticipate releasing the single, which will be available in both disc and download formats, at a big musical launch event in late Spring.

Jean Urquhart, a member of the Dorian Choir, commented: “I am so glad I was involved in the recording on Saturday. There was a marvellous feeling of unity, warmth and jollity throughout. Everyone gave it their all and many said to me they found it an amazing experience. As musical director Alan was just great; he communicated with such humour and inspired us to achieve what was needed. You could feel the energy among the singers”.

Melanie Andrews, a Heroes’ Director and owner of the Craigard Restaurant, performed two roles on Saturday. Not content with lending her voice to the record, she also spent the morning preparing food for the artists and crew. Melanie stated: “It was simply a brilliant day. It was incredible how everyone just gelled and came together so effortlessly. From the youngest member through to the oldest, we all just all got on and gave it our all. Alan Craig was unbelievable, he managed to motivate, encourage and unite us all within minutes. He deserves a medal.”

The entire day was filmed by a team of 6 operators under the direction of West Highland Photography’s Robert Bell, and the resultant footage will form the heart of an accompanying video. The project team will now spend the next two months filming location shots to the video, and mixing the final version of the song.

Gill Russell, who is managing all the logistics for the project stated, “We hoped that this project would capture the imagination and it appears that it has. We could not have hoped for a more talented group of people to have turned out for us on Saturday and I would just like to thank them all so much. It was a real pleasure to watch the session unfold.”

If you would like to get involved with the project or would like your group/organisation to be featured in the video, please contact the team.

Reporter: Phil Worms

Photographs supplied by Phil Worms with permission for their reproduction here.