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21 Nov 2009 10:21
'Sing, sing, sing like a Womble'
November 2009
The Wombles are among the stars of this year's BBC Children in Need charity single, featuring children's TV favourites past and present.
Boasting "over 100 famous faces", Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band made its debut during Children in Need night on Friday, 20 November.
The single is a medley of Can You Feel It (originally by The Jacksons), Don't Stop (originally by Fleetwood Mac), Jai Ho (originally by Pussycat Dolls), Tubthumping (originally by Chumbawamba), Never Forget (originally by Take That), Hey Jude (originally by The Beatles), and One Day Like This (originally by Elbow).
Orinoco, Bungo, Wellington and Alderney appear in the Don't Stop segment, first singing around a microphone and then playing guitar alongside Pudsey Bear's guitar solo. They're also part of the final line-up singing Hey Jude and One Day Like This.
The audio version of
The Official BBC Children In Need Medley is available now from music
download stores including iTunes,
with the video version also available from iTunes. A CD and a DVD (with
a Sgt Pepper-style sleeve) will be in the shops from Monday, 23
November, or you can order them from Amazon, HMV or Play.com.
Comedian Peter Kay said: “Children, parents, grandparents - in fact everybody is going to enjoy this. I can’t believe it’s come together and I’m extremely proud of all the work and time everybody has given to the project.”
David Ramsden, chief executive officer of BBC Children in Need, said: “We are delighted that Peter Kay has assembled such an extraordinary line-up for this year’s official BBC Children in Need single. We have no doubt it will capture the public’s imagination and raise lots of money to help change children’s lives.”
You can watch the video and a behind-the-scenes video, and find out how to donate to the appeal, on the BBC Children in Need website.
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15 Nov 2009 18:04
'I was famous for the things that I did...'
November 2009Mike Batt is releasing a box set of his work, The Mike Batt Music Cube, which includes a few Wombles songs. The 16-disc collection celebrates his 40-year career as a singer, songwriter, arranger, conductor and producer.
The final disc is a new compilation, titled The Orinoco Kid, containing "Batt's own selection of early singles and Wombles curios". Mike Batt says: "I have even included Summertime City, which at the time of making I found completely cringeworthy, but which I now look back upon as a kitsch signpost along the road of my career."
The Wombles tracks are:
- The Myths And Legends Of King Merton Womble And His Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
- Nashville Wombles
- To Wimbledon With Love
- Wombling White Tie And Tails
- The Orinoco Kid
- Minuetto Allegretto
- The Empty Tidy Bag Blues
For more information, see the news and discography pages on Mike Batt's website.
The Mike Batt Music Cube is released on 7 December and is available from Amazon
, HMV, Play.com and others.
Watch Summertime City on Top Of The Pops in September 1975:
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31 May 2009 13:40
'Listen to the words of the Wombles' wise warning'
May
2009Great Uncle Bulgaria has relaunched a campaign to save British-made children's television in the UK. Despite the government and Ofcom agreeing that children's programmes are a vital part of public service broadcasting, new UK-made programmes account for less than 1% of all children's television in the UK, with imports and repeats increasingly dominating.
Great Uncle Bulgaria said: "Since I was last on telly, Britain is now much more diverse, so UK telly should have programmes that the children of today can relate to. We need to tell those Wombles in government to save British children's television before it's too late!"
Media regulator Ofcom, the House of Commons' Culture Committee and the Lords' Communications Committee all agree that this lack of home-grown children's programming needs to be addressed. Culture Secretary Andy Burnham stated in February 2009: "We want children to continue to have quality programming."
However there is widespread concern that no clear proposals for high quality children's services have yet emerged from the government's Digital Britain review.
Great Uncle Bulgaria is urging people to show their support for the campaign by writing to Andy Burnham and Peter Mandelson at britishkidstv.com (note: to type the @ sign in your email address on the form, you may need to press Shift+2 instead of the usual Shift+').
You can also follow Great Uncle Bulgaria's campaign on Twitter: @GtUncBulgaria
Watch last year's Badass Wombles Of Central Park video below, highlighting the risks that British kids face if this issue is ignored.
from the past six years.
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