College charity single chosen by Beatles Guru

MUSIC INDUSTRY professionals descended on South Devon College this week to decide the outcome of a student project which will result in the release of a charity single into the UK download charts.

College Music students have been working to create, mix and produce their own charity songs to raise money for British Armed Forces charity Help for Heroes. The four celebrity judges were: Tony Bramwell, former assistant to Beatles manager Brian Epstein and former CEO of Apple Records; prominent UK record producer Phil Harding; experienced club promoter and Mixmag journalist Kirk Field and local professional audio engineer and Education Manager at Plymouth’s Deep Blue Sound, Nick Trussler.

Bramwell - a school friend of Beatles Sir Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison - became the UK's first independent record promoter following the Beatles’ split, representing artists including Bruce Springsteen and coordinating music for films including James Bond’s Live and Let Die, Chariots of Fire, Dirty Dancing, and Ghost. His memoir, Magical Mystery Tours, has become one of the most popular books amongst Beatles fans and followers.

Harding, most famous for his work with song writing and record producing trio Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman, has produced for artists like The Clash, Matt Bianco, Bananarama, Rick Astley, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Boyzone and Kylie Minogue – including the number one single ‘You Spin Me Round’ by Dead or Alive and Christmas number one ‘Stay Another Day’ by East 17.

The College has a close affiliation with Help for Heroes, their Public Services programme has extensive links with the Armed Forces, including a current tutor – Colin Kirkman - serving with the Royal Marines in Afghanistan. They have raised a significant amount of money for the charity over the past year to honour Colin and our returning heroes, and hope to raise even more with this single.

The eventual winner was Christina Lloyd (20 from Torquay) with her track, titled ‘Hero’s Land’ really impressing the judges, including College Principal Stephen Criddle and the student’s own Music lecturer and seasoned producer, Pete Day, who commented:

“The students have worked really hard to produce some very professional songs that really impressed the judges,” said Mr Day, “They were both very excited and nervous to meet the judges and show their work, but they did themselves proud. We all really hope we can raise a lot of money for charity with what is a very good song.”

The track will be available to download online from iTunes and Amazon in September, for one week only. The music department needs to sell 25,000 copies that week to break into the top ten and ensure that a considerable amount of money is raised. For more information visit www.southdevon.ac.uk nearer the time.

For more information visit http://www.southdevon.ac.uk/