Jump to content

Inspired! Blood, Soul, Sweat & Cheers - Harmless Album For The Olympics

Inspired! Blood, Soul, Sweat & Cheers - Harmless Album For The Olympics magazine cover

We are about to witness the biggest sporting event of this century where an estimated 17,000 athletes, 20,000 journalists, 63,000 personnel and 500,000 spectators will all descend into London town in late July to witness the greatest athletic event of all time - the London 2012 Olympic Games.

A mind-boggling 4 billion plus people are expected to watch the various events on TV alone! Damn. And this is right on Harmless's own doorstep too! Opportunities like this don't pop up that regularly - the last time in London was in 1948 and Harmless wasn't around back then unfortunately.

So we had to do SOMETHING for the occasion but what....?

Bingo! What about an album which picks some of the greatest records about running, jumping, winning, losing, elation, heartbreak, inspiration and aspiration that have ever been ever made.......?

Then we'd be talking ay!

Even better, what if we heavily promoted the album to a world media which is always thirsty for great topical angles? Most of these guys would probably never even hear these records under normal circumstances in their entire lifetimes! So this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get some incredible music in front of the international media at the perfect time. How could we say no?

The opportunity of attempting to reach such a huge worldwide audience for such an iconic event that just happens to be on one's doorstep is obviously pretty enticing to those of us who are still in the business of selling music. So it was really a no-brainer.

Opportunist? For sure! Harmless WANT as many people as possible to listen to this album. It's probably the greatest sports compilation ever made for those with impeccable taste. Hand selected with love no less.

We trawled through the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's to dig out the gems and went through the usual licensing hell to present them here against a deadline that was set in stone and boy, was it worth it!

As with most Harmless releases we give a little bit of history about the songs in question and cheekily add a new section called 'programming opportunity' which suggests the circumstances where the song may work best. CD1 concentrates on some of the most brilliant inspirational and aspirational output from the late 1960's to early 1970's and CD2 covers the late 70's to the late 00's. This package spans the eras. Throughout the journey we take in numerous 60's RnB, Northern Soul, Modern Soul, Crossover Soul, Philly Soul, Funky Soul, Deep Soul and just all-time great Soulful gems from right across the last 5 decades. Numerous tracks have been widely unavailable until now, some are on legitimate release for the first time ever and most of 'em are in demand somewhere in the world right now. It's quite a journey so strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.

No one can accuse us of not getting in the spirit of things eh?

HURTXCD121 "Inspired! Blood, Soul, Sweat & Cheers" - Released 23/07/2012

sml_gallery_9434_6471_361338.jpg

Amazon Link

http://www.amazon.co...pd_rhf_se_p_t_1

CD1: Inspirational 60's & 70's Northern Soul & RnB

1. The MVP's - Turning My Heartbeat Up

2. N.F. Porter - Keep On Keeping On

3. The Steve Karmen Big Band - Breakaway

4. The Tempos - Countdown (Here I Come)

5. Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up

6. Archie Bell & The Drells - There's Gonna Be A Showdown

7. Roscoe Shelton - Running For My Life

8. Linda Jones - You Can't Take It

9. Dean Parrish - Determination

10. Willie Mitchell - The Champion

11. Lee Dorsey - Ride Your Pony

12. Tami Lynn - I'm Gonna Run Away From You

13. Billy Butler - Right Track

14. Major Lance - Ain't No Soul (Left In These Old Shoes)

15. Johnny Johnson & The Bandwagon - Sweet Inspiration

16. The Exciters - Reaching For The Best

17. Alice Clark - You Hit Me (Right Where It Hurt Me)

18. The Mike Post Coalition - Afternoon Of The Rhino

19. The Just Brothers - Sliced Tomatoes

20. Betty Moorer - Speed Up

21. Bill Moss - Sock It To 'Em Soul Brother

22. Jimmy 'Soul' Clark - I'll Be Your Champion (I'll Be Your Winner)

23. Gene McDaniels - Walk With A Winner

24. Chairmen Of The Board - I'm On My Way To A Better Place

CD2: Inspirational 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's Soul, Dance & RnB

1. LTG Exchange - Keep On Trying

2. Betty Swann - When The Game Is Played On You

3. Sly & The Family Stone - Runnin' Away

4. Sandra Wright - I Come Running Back

5. The Controllers - Somebody's Gotta Win, Somebody's Gotta Lose

6. The Spinners - Games People Play

7. New York City - Quick Fast In A Hurry

8. Joe Simon - Step By Step

9. The Intruders - (Win Place Or Show) She's A Winner

10. Michael Valvano's Contours - I'm A Winner

11. Larry Wedgeworth & Clique - No More Games

12. Average White Band - Let's Go Round Again

13. GQ - Standing Ovation

14. Kleeer - Keep Your Body Workin'

15. Aretha Franklin - Jump To It

16. Mousse T - Brother On The Run

17. The Heavy - How You Like Me Now

18. Des'ree - You Gotta Be

We're promoting the album heavily to Radio & TV over the next 4 weeks, so who know? With a bit of luck we may hear some decent tunes for a change!

Ian D :D




Members Comments

Recommended Comments



RE: the people who run the system don't think that there's anything wrong with the system and can't understand why I would get so upset

....... I know Ian didn't mean it to apply to this case .... BUT ... the above statement just about perfectly sums up the state of the UK banking industry at present.

Link to comment
Social source share

Hello Mr D! Great idea, well done :o)

We soul-punned the Olympics half to death on a drunken evening over on Facebook a couple of months back - some of my faves below to make you smile.

Free review copies to me at the usual address please ;o)

Tee x

Maxine Brown - It's Torcher

Little Richard - I Don't Want To Discus It

Landlords of East London - Cashing In

Invitations - Cross-Country Ski-ing In The Snow

Del-Larks - Job Opening Ceremony

Ron Grainer - A Touch Of Velvet A Sting Of Ralgex

Hop Skip & Jump Mahoney - Tennis (Don't Be So Blind To Love)

Paula Radcliffe - You Didn't Do A Turd

Judo Street - Shot

Benzine - Olympic Village Of Tears

Winstons - Love Of The Commentators

Johnny Nash - There Are More Equestrians Than Answers

Edwin Starr - Running Back And Forth

Johnny Howard - The (Steeple)Chase Is On

Marvin Gaye - Where Are We Rowing?

Willie Mitchell - That Diving Heat

Platters - With These Rings

Happy - Velvet Hammer

Edwin Starr - (Tug Of) War

Dana Valery - Judo Know If Your Drug Test Lies

Marvin Gaye - I Hurdle Through The Grapevine

Lou Pride - I'm Com"ží" 'neci In The Morn'un

Junior Walker - Shotput

Chairmen Of The IOC - Give Me Just A Little More Bribe

Tommy Hunt - Never Love A Robin Cousins

Melba Moore - The Magic Torch

Carstairs - It Relay Hurts Me Girl

LOL, that sounds like the sort of conversation we'd have on a Sunday night after a couple of all-nighters and an all-dayer circa 1974!

If I ever do a compilation of Soul puns I'll knock on your door!

PM me your address again and I'll send some summer cheer!

Ian D :D

Link to comment
Social source share

RE: the people who run the system don't think that there's anything wrong with the system and can't understand why I would get so upset

....... I know Ian didn't mean it to apply to this case .... BUT ... the above statement just about perfectly sums up the state of the UK banking industry at present.

You're so right Roburt. A lot of younger people get indoctrinated into systems from an early age, so they don't know any better. I go through this shit on a regular basis.

For instance, earlier today, I needed to make an online payment to a company. So I zapped into my usual process to make the payment in my lunch break on my work computer. However, it turned out that since I last visited the site, it's been blocked at my workplace. But instead of telling me that the site was blocked so I should forget it, I got some incomprehensible b*llocks about certification and I had to click a 'Yes' button to proceed. So I did as instructed and the site kept freezing every time I got to the point of paying. After an hour and half a dozen unsuccessful attempts to pay on my work computer, I gave up and switched to my i-phone. I pumped in the website and got going. When I got to the payment bit, I pumped in my card details and kept getting rejected with a message saying the security code was wrong. I then realised that I'd changed my card in the last 2 weeks because the old one was trashed and they'd issued me with a new one with different start/end dates andf a different security code. So I then had to change all my security details which involved me then having to remember my Apple password in order to simply get access to change my details. And then, once I'd done all that, I got to the final click and couldn't do it because the i-phone app box was bouncing all over the place and wouldn't stay still long enough to let me get the password in blah, blah, blah..............

I finally got through to the company's customer service centre, to be told that their website 'had technical issues' and that their i-phone app was 'clashing'. I asked them "clashing with what?" and the robot at the other end said, "clashing sir. That's what we've been told".

3 hours of my life which I'll never get back. I can't imagine my 81 year old dad having much truck with stuff like this. The only reason I put up with crap like this is because I don't have any choice.

And it was the same with the banks back in the 90's for me. They made their own rules up and basically said, "tough shit. If you don't like it, then f*ck off". So that's exactly what I did in 1998.

Now, in 2012, they're finally paying me back for all the PPI charges they nicked from me from the mid 1980's to the late 90's because they've been forced to by law. Yet, for the last 20 years they tried to make me feel like a pariah because I questioned the morality of their actions.

But this should probably be in the banking thread Roburt.

I'm trying to promote an album which is all about inspiration. I don't wanna drag it down with Banking stuff old bean....... :lol:

Ian D :D

Link to comment
Social source share

Just a couple of weeks to go! Things are beginning to build nicely and will hopefully peak from the 27th July - 12th August. Some major plays are already coming in and we have a nice piece in the Times coming so anticipation is building nicely.

After the disappointments of Euro 2012, Wimbledon 2012 and the abysmal summer we're having, hopefully the forthcoming Olympics will provide some much needed inspiration for us!

Ian D :D

Link to comment
Social source share

Yippee! Just confirmed:-

Friday 20/07/2012 - Lead Review The Times

Sunday 22/07/2012 - Must Have Re-Issue The Culture, Sunday Times

This is the weekend before release and the opening ceremony for the London Olympics 2012.

OK, that's the highbrow audience, now let's get some red-tops!

Ian D :D

Link to comment
Social source share

Can you imagine THIS getting a play or or two over the next few weeks?

Absolute Soul perfection. Doesn't get much better than this for me!

Bettye Swann - When The Game Is Played On You

Ian D :D

Link to comment
Social source share

Will Banks on 'Soul prescription' just described this as something like "The most tenuous excuse for an album I've ever seen", but he was laughing when he said it, and he did play two tracks and admit that it was a pretty good collection.

Link to comment
Social source share

Ian's already compiled Volume 2 which will be released the next time we host the Olympic Games in this country.

:wink:

Link to comment
Social source share

Will Banks on 'Soul prescription' just described this as something like "The most tenuous excuse for an album I've ever seen", but he was laughing when he said it, and he did play two tracks and admit that it was a pretty good collection.

At least we're getting radio plays LOL! :thumbup:

Plus I just checked Will's recent playlists - he's been hammering "Holy Spirit" which is great.

In all honesty I think there's only 4 or 5 tracks on "Inspired!" which are very tenuous but they'll work brilliantly if used in the right context.

Ian D :D

Link to comment
Social source share

Ian's already compiled Volume 2 which will be released the next time we host the Olympic Games in this country.

:wink:

That's right mate. I'm furiously compilng albums which will go into a nuclear-proof bunker which won't be opened until 3000 ad. It's pretty difficult to figure out what they'll be listening to in 988 years though........

Ian D :D

Link to comment
Social source share

That's a good start. I just turned on 'Olympic's Most Amazing Moments' on BBC 3 and what's playing but The Heavy's "How You Like Me Now" - track 17, CD 2 (which does seem to be being used everywhere right now). Good. One down and another 41 to go LOL.....

The Heavy - How You Like Me Now

Ian D :D

Link to comment
Social source share

'Must- Have Reissue' in the Culture section of the Sunday Times today! Fame at last LOL.....

UKSoulScans-1.jpg

So along with Simon Rimmer plugging the M.V.P.s "Turning My Heartbeat Up" on Channel 4's "Sunday Brunch" this morning and Gordon Ramsey using "How You Like Me Now" on his new trailer, the mainstream is waking up nicely.

Now if only my favourite Mod, Bradley Wiggins can win the Tour-De-France today then we'll be really rockin'! :lol:

Ian D :D

Link to comment
Social source share

RE: Now if only my favourite Mod, Bradley Wiggins can win the Tour-De-France today then we'll be really rockin'!

... Ian, its a stone certainty that he'll win & end up wearing the yellow jersey !!!

Link to comment
Social source share

RE: Now if only my favourite Mod, Bradley Wiggins can win the Tour-De-France today then we'll be really rockin'!

... Ian, its a stone certainty that he'll win & end up wearing the yellow jersey !!!

Yep, but watch the way he does it! He's an inspiration to us all! Plus he'd love the album of course! :thumbup:

Ian D :D

Link to comment
Social source share

An inspiration, not according to my 'near neighbor' Mr Clarkson.

He says watching cycling is like watching a person think (no action) ....

BUT THEN, like most who live around Chipping Norton, he's a right plonker !!

Link to comment
Social source share





×
×
  • Create New...