Move over Simon Cowell, because the BBC has just created the next ‘Super Group’!
How many of us currently have that song now going round and round in our heads? We’re talking of course, about the Beach Boys classic ‘God Only Knows’ that the BBC has recorded with a substantial list of artists singing a line each. Many people are saying God only knows how they managed to get such a myriad of singers and musicians together to create the piece and shoot the video, but they did and it’s pretty darn good.
The BBC were launching BBC Music, their new platform to enjoy music from every genre imaginable and from all over the world by creating personal playlists, watching clips from all the BBC channels and finding out more about the music you love.
As you can imagine, there was a lot of secrecy but a lot of hype created over this first viewing of the music video. It was also a broadcasting first as it was shown simultaneously across all BBC television and radio channels. There must have been so much involved in getting nearly thirty singers, musicians and groups from all over the world in to the recording studio to do their bit, to film them all (some individually others together in groups) then there were the promotional photoshoots etc. The costumes were elaborate and the visual effects even more so, Paloma is on a giant swing from the clouds, Kylie is floating above the orchestra in a bubble and Brian Wilson seems to be sharing a piano with a tiger! A visual spectacle and one that you have to watch more than once to catch all the things you missed the first time.
In households all over the nation I should imagine that there were guessing games as the song was played as to who some of these people actually were. There were some obvious ones, Elton John (who, by the way, is the only one to have appeared in this one and the charity single ‘Perfect Day’ from 1997), and then a whole selection of classical, jazz, opera, pop, rock and indie musicians, something to please everyone.
The reason behind all this? Well, it’s to launch BBC Music, as previously mentioned, but more importantly all the proceeds raised from this single will be donated to Children In Need. All the artists involved donated their time for free. So yes it’s to promote BBC Music and yes the artists are also promoting themselves, but surely no one can begrudge a little bit of self promotion here and there if the purpose behind it is a good one and other people will benefit from it?
The video is fun and quite magical and the song, well, it’s a classic. If you weren’t singing it when you started reading this piece, I bet you are now!
Have a look at it here
