The Help Album: Track by Track

OASIS AND FRIENDS
FADE AWAY

Noel was the first of all the artists taking part in the album to take to the studio. He kicked off proceedings at Maison Rouge in London at one minute past midnight. The friends on this re-recording of the classic 'Cigarettes And Alcohol' B-side, in case you were wondering, were Johnny Depp on guitar and his then beau Kate Moss on tambourine. We're still waiting for Noel and Liam to return the favour by appearing alongside Mr Depp in the movies. Now that would be worth seeing.

See what Johnny and Kate had to say on the Big Breakfast during the release of Help.

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BLUR
EINE KLEINE LIFT MUSIK

This instrumental track was, rather exotically, going to be recorded in Milan... but ended up being laid down in London.
It has since only appeared on an odd 1997 b-sides bootleg called If You Want More - Take This (Sounds Of The Other Side) which also featured the rather fine Pet Shop Boys' mix of 'Girls & Boys'.
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THE CHARLATANS + THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS
A TIME FOR LIVING

This cover of Sly And The Family Stone's 'A TIME FOR LIVING' was recorded at The Square Centre in Nottingham. The Charlies and The Chems were also, rather optimistically (considering Tom and Ed didn't show until mid-afternoon!), planning to cover Hawkwind's 'Silver Machine'. "Just so I can phone up Lemmy and ask for permission," claimed the Burg. Clearly he said no.
The Daily Telegraph was in attendance at the session and noted that: "By the time Tim is ready to record the vocals, it's already 5.45pm. One Pot Noodle (chicken and mushroom) later and he is ready."
The devil is indeed in the detail.
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THE BOO RADLEYS
OH BROTHER

THE BOOS recorded this completely new track for the occasion. The song is, apparently, about Martin Carr's twin brother who is a mountaineer. We have our doubts about the truth of that particular story. It was recorded at Dave Stewart's Church Studios in London's leafy Crouch End.
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TERRY HALL + MARIJNE
DREAM A LITTLE DREAM

TERRY HALL and MARIJNE from Salad performed this rather lovely duet In London's Metropolis Studios. Made famous by The Mamas And The Papas' Mama Cass in 1968, 'DREAM A LITTLE DREAM' was first recorded in 1931 by the improbably named Wayne King Orchestra with vocals from Ernie Burchill. Really, we couldn't make this stuff up if we tried.
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THE ONE WORLD ORCHESTRA
THE MAGNIFICENT

THE ONE WORLD ORCHESTRA featuring the massed pipes and drums of the children's free revolutionary volunteer guard, to give them their full name, are none other than The KLF. They provided this very fine track featuring the voice of the sadly-departed Bosnian radio DJ, Fleka. Robbie Williams almost appeared on the track but was, more’s the pity, on holiday in Turkey with his mum at the time. Bless.
The track not only went on to be the theme tune of Serbia's underground Radio B92, but the anthem of the democratic movement. Bill Drummond, in his book '45', says, "a track we recorded in a day, never released as a single, thought was crap and had forgotten about has taken on a meaning, an importance in a 'far off land' for a struggle I hardly understand."
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MANIC STREET PREACHERS
RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD

THE MANICS covered Bacharach and David's 'RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING MY HEAD' at Chateau de la Rougemont in Domfront, France. Which sounds rather lovely and probably is. The track has since appeared on last year's rarities album 'Lipstick Traces'. One look at the tracklisting of said album will explain why this lot are renowned for some inspired choices of cover. 'Raindrops' joins the likes of Wham's 'Last Christmas', Art Garfunkel's 'Bright Eyes', two Clash songs ('Train In Vain' and 'What's My Name'), Happy Mondays' 'Wrote For Luck' and a full throttle rendition of Guns N' Roses 'It's So Easy'. Marvellous stuff.
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MASSIVE ATTACK + BRIAN ENO
FAKE THE AROMA

MASSIVE ATTACK teamed up with BRIAN ENO at London's Townhouse Studios for a version of 'Karmacoma', called 'FAKE THE AROMA'. We all know about the NATO airstrike on Serbia in 1995, but did you know that only two out of 13 Tomahawk missiles launched hit the target? Nor did we. One, apparently, skimmed over the house of a small farm, straight up a track, through bushes, and exploded in the farmer's field, killing seven sheep, one cow and a goat. The farmer kept the missile nosecone as a souvenir. Like you do.
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SINEAD O'CONNOR
ODE TO BILLY JOE

A DAT featuring this cover of Bobbie Gentry's 1967 hit 'ODE TO BILLY JOE' mysteriously appeared at War Child HQ at 6pm on the day of recording. The parents of legendary US 60s siren, Gentry, divorced when she was very young and she spent her early childhood living with her grandparents on their farm in Chickasaw County, Mississippi Delta country. "We didn't have electricity, and I didn't have many play things," she recalled, "my granddaddy liked his possum stew, so whenever he caught one, he'd cut off the tail for me to play with."
Right you are.
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ORBITAL
ADNAN

ORBITAL turned round a new track, 'ADNAN', using samples from the TV news on September 4 while NATO launched air strikes against Serbian positions. Orbital recorded their track at The Strongroom in London's haircut capital, Hoxton. A long stone's throw no less from the very M25 after which they are named. The London orbital is 121.5 miles long, cost £7.5m per mile to build, has three service stations, an average of 20,000 trees per mile, 31 junctions (32 if you count 21a separately), nine of which are motorway interchanges.
Along with the Great Wall of China, it is one of the few man-made constructions visible from space. Then again we might have just made that last bit up.
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PLANET 4 FOLK QUARTET
MESSAGE TO CROMMIE

PLANET 4 FOLK QUARTET are none other than Andrew Weatherall and On-U collaborator Dave Harrow. From his remix work during the Madchester era to a multitude of skwonky electro in a variety of guises, Mr Weatherall has led a fine career. Particularly fine was the swipe at the Mercury Music Awards on his Rotters Golf Club label site.
When Two Lone Swordsmen's excellent 'Tiny Reminders' album was overlooked in 2000, the site claimed: "the album keeps up a long-held tradition of not being nominated for meaningless marketing exercises or industry backslaps. The records competing for a reasonably large cheque are as follows: The modern dance music album with plenty of scope for ad and film licensing, the modern classical album for a hint of gravitas, the modern dreary aren't Radiohead amazing album, the modern fusion of world music and breakbeats album, the modern quirky singer/songwriter album."
We actually own a few of those records. Shame on us, eh?
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PORTISHEAD
MOURNING AIR (WAR CHILD)

Portishead take their name from a little town just south of their studio of choice in Bristol. Dating back to Roman times, the town's name means 'port at the head of the river', Which you probably could have guessed had we not told you. The town is currently undergoing a review of its refuse collection with the introduction of three bins - one for general rubbish, one for garden and household waste and one for recycling... there is a cheap joke to be had there, when it comes to us we'll let you know.
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NENEH CHERRY + TROUT
1,2,3,4,5

NENEH CHERRY and TROUT recorded an original track, '1,2,3,4,5' , although she was due to cover Janis Joplin's 'Ball And Chain', Which is a shame because she's no stranger to odd covers having guested on a version of The Judds' 'Love Can Build A Bridge', which also featured Chrissie Hynde, Eric Clapton and Cher. Classy. Cher's real name is Cherilyn Sarkasian La Pier. Get her.
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RADIOHEAD
LUCKY

Holing up in Marcus Studios, London, RADIOHEAD recorded a new track called 'LUCKY', which almost a year later went on to appear on 'OK Computer'. It featured as the lead track on the first of two 'Help' EPs. When said EP went to radio, one national station refused to playlist it because, and we quote, it was "too depressing". 'OK Computer' turned out to not only to be one of the greatest albums of the all-time, but it saw Radiohead becoming one of the biggest band in the world. Red faces all round then.
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STEREO MCS
THE SWEETEST TRUTH

STEREO MCS recorded this new track at Workhouse Studios on London's Old Kent Road. A remarkable feat not least because when it comes to taking your time between releases they make The Stone Roses and The Prodigy look positively pro-active. The gap between Connected and Deep, Down And Dirty? An astonishing 10 years. Completing a brand new track in just 24 hours must have been a superhuman effort for which War Child is very, very grateful. We can't even begin to imagine how hard the Stereo MC boys and girls must have worked. Like dogs probably and, once it was all over, slept like logs no doubt.

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THE STONE ROSES
LOVE SPREADS

THE STONE ROSES recorded this live version of the 'Second Coming' track at Rockfield Studio in deepest Wales. They were one of the very first bands to get involved in the album after John Squire agreed to do the artwork. Talk before the session was of the Roses recording a new song... what with it taking them five years to record their second album, a new song in a day was probably out of the question. And so it proved. Maybe Stereo MCs could have had a word?

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SUEDE
SHIPBUILDING

Ah, a cover of Elvis Costello and Clive Langer's 'SHIPBUILDING', a song made "popular" by Robert Wyatt, saw Brett interpreting the line 'Winter coat' as 'winter's coat' and he even invents a word - 'Skilding' - to replace 'skilled in'. Producer of SUEDE's version and co-writer of the track, Clive Langer, said: "I was going to correct him, but I like it."
The track was recorded at London's Olympic Studios, home to many a session - recording and probably otherwise - by The Rolling Stones.

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TERRORVISION
TOM PETTY LOVES VERUCA SALT

TERRORVISION pitched in with the oddly-named 'TOM PETTY LOVES VERUCA SALT'. Like most right-thinking people we spend much of our time taking part in quizzes about MOR stalwart Tom Petty. We recently came unstuck with this tricky question though: What tuning does Tom use for the song 'Blue Sunday' from the 2002 album 'The Last DJ'? Fortunately it's multiple choice - open D, open E flat, open E, normal tuning with a capo on the second fret. Hm. Anyone know? It's driving us m-m-m-m-mad.

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MOJO FILTERS
COME TOGETHER

Under the MOJO FILTERS moniker, Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher and Paul McCartney teamed up at Abbey Road Studios for a romp through The Beatles 'COME TOGETHER'. Seeing as Macca's on it, we're not sure if it's a cover or a re-recording... still. McCartney showed up at 2pm after Weller wrote to him asking if he'd come down and get involved. 'Sir' Noel was probably the hardest working star on the day - he finished the Oasis track at 6am, did breakfast TV interviews, popped into Abbey Road to play on 'Come Together', dropped off the Oasis track at Radio One and, finally, returned to Abbey Road in case he was needed.

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THE LEVELLERS
SEARCHLIGHTS

THE LEVELLERS covered Rev Hammer's SEARCHLIGHTS at Canning Street Studios in Brighton. Cue everyone nodding sagely at the mention of Rev Hammer. Who? Exactly. Well, he's of the folk rock ilk you will be unsurprised to learn. Born Stephen Ryan, his debut album - 1991's 'Industrial Sound And Magic' - was recorded for the princely sum of no
pounds and no pence in a cow shed in Essex. His backing band for the sessions? Wait for it... The Levellers. Well, if you can't help your friends, who can you help?

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