Procol HarumBeyond
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Call for action … The Procols need YOU!
Procol Harum and fans were glad to learn that Radio 2, the BBC’s ‘adult’ pop music station, was poised to select the band’s new single Sunday Morning for its Play List.
The chances of Procol back in the charts, a public enthused about the new album Novum, and packed houses for the band’s UK tour dates seemed high.
Unfortunately it seems that not enough of us voted Sunday Morning on to the actual Play List.
We now learn from a source close to Procol Harum that Radio 2 liked the music but didn’t find that it ‘fitted’ … whether that means it’s supposedly too melodic, too subtle, or too unusual we don’t know.
Sunday Morning has been played, but as things stand it will not be going on to the heavy rotation list
So what can fans do?
Quite a lot ...
We need every single person – not just in the UK but overseas too, please – who would like to see Procol do well in 2017 to use e-mail, Twitter, phoning, Social Media and any other worthwhile channels they can think of, to contact the BBC and (in their own words) make some of the following points:
• One of Britain’s most distinguished bands is celebrating its fiftieth year
• Sunday Morning was the hit of the show at the sold-out Royal Festival Hall in early March
• It’s sung by the very same voice as wowed the world in 1967 with A Whiter Shade of Pale
• It’s a perfect radio single (specially for playing on a Sunday morning!)
• ‘Since Stuart Maconie played it in full, it’s been stuck in my head, and I need to hear it again’
• ‘Steve Wright played only half of it, during his interview with Gary Brooker MBE. Where’s the rest?’
• The BBC’s aim is ‘to instruct and entertain’ … the public deserves to hear this latest descendant of Whiter Shade, the most-played record on British Radio
• John Peel was a great champion of the band: there must be a discerning DJ who will play it in Peelie’s memory.
• The hard-working band is ardently followed in other countries: high time the UK acknowledged its own
• The words are by Pete Brown, lyricist of Cream … another superb British band
• It would be barbarous and Philistine to let this gem go unheard on the UK’s favourite radio station.
• Ten million people bought Procol’s first record: something special and unusual can still be a smash hit.
• Many new bands [eg The Lemon Twigs] acknowledge Procol as a major influence
• Gary Brooker MBE is a national treasure
• etc etc ...
Obviously don’t use ALL these points ... but choose a couple you like, and re-word them, adding something of your own.
How to contact Radio 2:
Their website contact
page is here.
But please also click on some or all the links below, and from each one choose a means of contacting prominent and influential broadcasters on this network.
In each case you should find a choice of SMS,
telephone number, e-mail address, Twitter and Facebook page.
Specially effective are personal stories, along
the lines of:
• My
boyfriend and I first made love with Procol playing •
My
grandfather’s funeral was so beautiful thanks to Procol Harum’s music •
They
make me feel insanely happy / they’ve
got me through some very dark times •
Procol Harum is a cornerstone of my existence, something I would
have a craving need for were it not here •
I remember doing my ‘O’ levels when they were at No 1 and they're
still just as great •
The first record I ever bought •
I have 14 copies of everything they’ve ever released •
If I went on Desert Island Discs •
My niece wore a Procol tee-shirt on the International Space
Station’ • ...
etc
etc.
Please don’t leave it to other people to contact
Radio 2 (links above).
Take action yourself … three or four minutes’
work/fun from each true PH fan could help persuade the station’s pundits to
rethink their recent error of judgment, and put Sunday Morning
Thanks for your energy and commitment! More about Novum | PH
on stage |
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on record |
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Twitter ...
@BBCRadio2
Facebook ...
http://www.facebook.com/BBCR2
Let's see a blizzard of polite, interesting pro-Procol messages engulf the
BBC: it's all about getting Sunday Morning on the Radio 2 playlist!
Get this fine record on the Radio 2 playlist, and then the song … and the
band … will do the rest.