Description

To mark the 30th anniversary of War Child and celebrate National Album Days theme of the 90s, War Child Records arereissuing the iconic 1995 charity album HELP on red and black smoke vinyl limited to 2,000 copies exclusively for NationalAlbum Day. Originally mastered by Brian Eno with artwork by John Squire and featuring images from the original recordingsessions shot by Lawrence Watson at Abbey Road Studios.The album is the perfect snapshot of a golden time for British music in the 90s with indie and underground acts taking over the mainstream. The 1995 album features tracks from Oasis and Friends, The Boo Radleys, The Stone Roses, Radiohead, Orbital, Portishead, Massive Attack, Suede, The Charlatans vs. The Chemical Brothers, Stereo MCs, Sinad OConnor, The Levellers,Manic Street Preachers, Terrorvision, The One World Orchestra Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, Planet 4 Folk Quartet Andrew Weatherall and David Harrow, Terry Hall and Salad, Neneh Cherry and Trout, Blur and The Smokin Mojo Filters PaulMcCartney, Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher.The HELP album was recorded in a single day and released less than a week later, in a time before WeTransfer, iPhone andemail. It raised over 1.25 million enabling War Child to bring emergency support to thousands of children in the Bosnianconflict. No charity album before or since has managed to achieve what HELP achieved and attract such a credible and stellarlineup to create such a relevant, respected and cool album described by Q magazine as the best charity album ever made.The HELP album is a phenomenal achievement made possible by an exceptional collaborative spirit. At a time when the chartswere dominated by the infamous race for number one between Blur and Oasis, even they were willing to come together to support War Child Well put aside our differences for the cause and its the only time youll see the two of us agreeing onanything Noel Gallagher said at the time in an interview.At the time the situation in Bosnia was drastically deteriorating. Hundreds of thousands had lost their lives, and the fighting haddisplaced millions from their homes. War Child looked to the music industry to raise much needed emergency funds to helpsupport as many children as possible. A music industry collective led by Go Discs Tony Crean, The Stone Roses and Manic Street Preachers publicist Terri Hall, Black Grape publicist Anton Brookes and legendary music PR Rob Partridge took immediate action opening their contact books and pulling together an unbelievable lineup of artists and support from the music industry.The album included several pivotal and poignant moments. Radioheads Lucky was a preview of what would eventually becomeOK Computer, the Manic Street Preachers first studio track since the disappearance of Richey Edwards, Oasis and Friends justweeks before releasing Whats The Story Morning Glory and the oneoff creation of the supergroup The Smokin Mojo Filters made up of Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller.In November 1995 and a more than fitting tribute for its impact Tony Blair attended the Q Awards to present a speciallycreated award to the album saying, At a time when there was a danger of the West turning its back on the war in Bosnia, ithelped put it back in the headlines and reactivate public interest. It helped us be aware of our responsibilities to other people.34The original ambition had been to try and raise 200,000 but the album went on to make over six times that amount, enablingWar Child to support thousands of children affected by the war in Bosnia. Today, the challenge is bigger than ever. Across theworld, 1 in 6 children are affected by armed conflict. All proceeds from this release will go directly to War Child to fund their mission to protect, educate and stand up for the right of children living through conflict. Various Artists Double-Vinyl is available for home delivery from Vinyl Records London, only £30 +P&P