Gloucester musicians produce World Cup song

News – Two local lads hope to score for England and Africa with a song penned to celebrate the forthcoming World Cup tournament.

Gloucester musicians Chris Nicholson and Paul Print have entered the race for a hit World Cup song, with hope to top the charts and develop the sport in Africa as a result.

Under the name of DiamondFormation, Nicholson and Print released a single entitled ‘SexyFootballBack/England’ at the end of May 2010, to coincide with the start of the World Cup competition in June.

Print is a local singer and songwriter and Nicholson has toured the world as a classical musician. He has had the honour of playing for royalty, as well as dignitaries such as the Dalai Lama.

Both musicians say they have relished the opportunity to team up and write a song in celebration of the most highly-anticipated event for football fans around the world and, arguably, of the entire sporting calendar.

Some of the poorest children in Africa are set to benefit from single sales, as Nicholson and Print plan to ensure a shipment of free footballs for them, in association with the charity Alive & Kicking. The charity has so far donated over 250,000 free footballs to the poorest areas of Africa, as well as creating jobs and working on a campaign targeting the HIV and Aids problems that are rife across the continent.

The song has cost the duo £1,000 to produce – having created and recorded it in Print’s shed-cum-studio, wryly named ‘Shabbey Road Studios’. Of their chart effort, Nicholson commented: ‘We wanted to produce the best England song we could – do our bit for the England team and give our support to a great cause.’

He continued: ‘Both Paul and I identify with the fact Alive & Kicking is working at grassroots level to establish a real World Cup legacy, employing local people to cut leather and stitch footballs and giving them to children in places where the cost of a football is well beyond the reach of most people. If ‘SexyFootballBack/England’ can hit the top spot in the charts and if England hit the back of the net and bring home the World Cup, it will be a fantastic summer for everyone.’

‘SexyFootballBack/England’ is available from iTunes at 79 pence per download and on CD at HMV, costing £2. For every 100 downloads of the song, a football will be donated to those most in need – the Gloucester hopefuls aim to donate around 300,000 footballs before the end of the World Cup tournament.

SoGlos.com
27 May 2010