Elbow compose BBC's Olympic theme

Another feather in the cap for the boys?...

Quote :

The band Elbow are behind the BBC's soundtrack for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

View article...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment_and_arts/

That's a great gig for the band - a real honour.

Congratulations to the band !

Cheers Errant !

My Bury Vest wrote:

That's a great gig for the band - a real honour.

Congratulations to the band !

Cheers Errant !

the olympics seems to be a big thing for them... from my point of view it was the 2008 European Championship & the Bejing Olympics that took Elbow from my little secret to arena touring status - the use of one day as the incidental music during that long summer was from what i recall the springboard...

i'm sure i've heard open arms used on something similar earlier this year too...

Thank you so much for sharing this GREEAAAAT news Errant! I'm so happy for the boys! Absolutely looking forward to it.

from guardian.co.uk :

Quote :

Mercury Music prize-winning band Elbow to provide the soundtrack to the BBC's coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games

Mercury Music prize-winning band Elbow will provide the soundtrack to the BBC's coverage of next year's Olympics.

The announcement of their involvement was made on Thursday as the BBC unveiled its plan for the accompanying London 2012 Festival and the Cultural Olympiad.

The corporation's plans include the Radio 1 Hackney Weekend, which is billed as "the BBC's biggest ever free live music event", a season of Shakespeare plays, and documentaries about artists including David Hockney and Lucian Freud.

Elbow, the five-piece act from Bury, are writing a specially-commissioned piece of music ahead of the big event. Frontman Guy Garvey said: "We are knocked out to be involved and it's been quite a challenge.

"We have feelings of real responsibility as we will be the soundtrack to so many images of personal sacrifice and endeavour while the nation roots for and celebrates with Team GB."

The band won the prestigious Mercury Prize in 2008 for their album The Seldom Seen Kid and were shortlisted again this year for new release Build A Rocket Boys!

Other highlights of the BBC's Cultural Olympiad include a series of films about London featuring contributions from Absolute Beginners filmmaker Julien Temple and Jools Holland, who will uncover the capital's history through its songs.

Around 100 performers including Tinie Tempah and Florence and the Machine will take to the stage in front of an expected 100,000 fans at the Hackney weekend.

BBC director general Mark Thompson said: "Coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games and the Cultural Olympiad represents the biggest single broadcast event in the BBC's history.

"We want to bring this unique sporting and cultural celebration to every household in the land.

"We are incredibly excited not just about our plans but about the many close creative and cultural partnerships that have made them possible."

I guess this is the big announcement Craig was hinting at on his Twitter feed a few days ago!

And talking about these "Cultural Olympiad" concerts, putting two and two together, I would imagine that elbow *might* be one of the headliners, what with having the Olympics feem toon an' all.

I wouldn't fancy having to endure Florence and the Machine first, though.

Wow!!! Amacing news!!!! Congrats!

What an honour for them this is such wonderful news!!

BBC America's article on the subject is a lot of fun.

I look at it this way -- we know now when we'll have new Elbow music.

Great news, well deserved!

wow, wonder how it will turn out ?
There must be additional pressure to come up with
something special - hope it's a stonker.

What a profile boost though. That's marketing money couldn't buy

i wonder if the link with danny boyle will see them perform at the actual opening cermony?!

That's amazing for them, it will be a hudge promotion, as I quote ""It should be just-about the most heard piece of music in 2012" "

Wow. I just hope they will stay the kind guys close to their fans we all know.
Too many celebrities who become too well known change and turn their back to fans and I'm just scared of that, because we also love the Elboys for their proximity with fans.
It's good for them if they manage to get a lot of new fans thanks to that but, who says too many fans says also too popular band, they may get big-headed and hard to reach :/

Well Anyway it's really awesome if Elbow manage to catch people attention thanks to this music.
I can't wait to hear it.

Guy talks about it a lot in Thursday's 6Music News podcast.

It's going to be about six minutes long.

We'll hear parts around the time of the torch relay in May, and then the full thing around the time of the opening ceremonies.

Guy says, and I quote, "it's not an Elbow song," and they're working with an orchestra. It's a "noble sort of anthem with moving string parts and some exciting drum work, Jupp was in his element."

Guy apparently doesn't sing on it, but there are lyrics and they're sung by a choir. "We won't be performing the tune, as such," he says. "From day one, I didn't want it to be my voice, I didn't want it to be specifically sounding like an Elbow song."

allyngibson wrote:

Guy talks about it a lot in Thursday's 6Music News podcast.

It's going to be about six minutes long.

We'll hear parts around the time of the torch relay in May, and then the full thing around the time of the opening ceremonies.

Guy says, and I quote, "it's not an Elbow song," and they're working with an orchestra. It's a "noble sort of anthem with moving string parts and some exciting drum work, Jupp was in his element."

Guy apparently doesn't sing on it, but there are lyrics and they're sung by a choir. "We won't be performing the tune, as such," he says. "From day one, I didn't want it to be my voice, I didn't want it to be specifically sounding like an Elbow song."

Glad to hear that it's not going to be "an elbow song" as such. I think it's a difficult situation to come up with something to order, especially something anthemic and lyrical like One Day, which would be the obvious choice to accompany shots of winning athletes etc. (and will probably feature as well).
Any attempt to emulate One Day, to order, just wouldn't work, so I reckon they've got it right by making it more cinematic/abstract.
I bet it will sound great.
Nice one fellas.

Guy talks to 6Music about it here ...............

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/20111125_elbow.shtml

This choice of not singing is very humble from Guy Garvey. He could have used this huge diffusion to promote the Elbow band but he chose something completely different.
Very admirable. I really can't wait to hear that, I'm sure the choir will be beautiful.

I guess the anthems have already been there and have given us a great feeling over the last few years. I kind of think if there is no vocal we will have an opportunity to just have a rousing musical piece.

there will be vocals, but not Guy's voice. He plans to use a choir

Open arms wrote:

there will be vocals, but not Guy's voice. He plans to use a choir

So they think about us!!??
How about a fan choir...!?!?

ah ok, I see - should have listened to the clip

ElbowFreak wrote:

Open arms wrote:

there will be vocals, but not Guy's voice. He plans to use a choir

So they think about us!!??
How about a fan choir...!?!?

We should ask them, why not ? nothing ventured, nothing gained

I must admit, I have mixed feelings about this. There was a lot of bile spit at the Elboys in the comments of the guardian and I can't help thinking "why of all things the lovely unathletic Elboys?"
I really liked it when Guy said in an interview, that he gets stitches from scrabble or how he acted a bored yawn when he read the sports news at "the week that was"

In my opinion the Olympics are just a "the one who hides the doping best is winning" and even the paralympics are a bit fishy to me when I think, how poor Mr. Obama got angry reactions from disabled folks when he joked that he even could not join the paralympics because he's so unathletic, something that I feel absolutely the same without wanting to make bad jokes about disabled people. It just makes me slightly bitter because I always was the worst pupil in sports lessons in school, no matter how hard I tried and spoiled again and again my school certificates with that bad mark in sports. Only after I had to fight cancer people started to be more respectful about my weakness but who knows how long I will have that handicapped-ID after I won over the cancer but not over my useless muscles??

But to end that post in a conciliatory mood, I hope the song will be nice and the Olympics full of fair winners...

PS.
Sorry, I was quite depressed yesterday. The bad comments at The Guardian and some sceptical concert reviews drew me down. (I guess I need more medicine again)
After talking with my mom I decided to be happy for Elbow. Hey, it is cool that the olympic song will be no wanna be soul queen wailing about moments in time!! It will be an indie epic!!
ELBOW DESERVE THE SUCCESS!! I am happy for them and if there would be a "fanchoir" for the song, I'd love to join in too, of course

TamedLamia wrote:

I must admit, I have mixed feelings about this. There was a lot of bile spit at the Elboys in the comments of the guardian

Jesus I just went on the Guardian site to see how bad those comments are and I simply can't believe they're that bad.....Why are people so ruthless....They haven't even heard one bit of the song.
Poor Elboys.I guess they're under immense pressure now.They're probably the most down-to-earth and friendly people in the music industry yet when they're exposed to a bigger audience,all of a sudden they begin to get slagged off by people.I'm really disappointed by those people's reaction.Composing an Olympic theme does make Elbow bigger (and I'm so happy for the band) but now I see it also has its side effect.After all,you can't make everyone happy....