War Child CD to save the children

Did you know that 66 percent of people who die in conflicts are children? That is more than half the number of casualties. This glaring statistic led to the founding of War Child in 1993. This is an international charity whose mission is to protect children in war zones. These are kids who would otherwise be overlooked like those in the streets, the child soldiers and those in prison. War Child works in the most dangerous places, which nowadays include Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Record label EMI recently came out with Heroes, a very special CD in support of War Child. To do this, EMI made a sizable upfront payment to the charity for the release of the album on its Parlophone label. In turn, Parlophone is donating all its profits to War Child. It will take more than proceeds from the sale of Heroes to stop the wars but it will help alleviate the suffering of the children. They are indeed true heroes because they live everyday with the brutal effects of wars that are never of their own making,

Getting a copy of Heroes does not only mean doing a good deed though. The CD, War Child’s fifth release, has a very interesting concept. Legendary artists like Paul McCartney and U2 selected a music hero from the next generation to create a modern reworking of one of their classic songs. Sir Paul picked Duffy to do his Live and Let Die while U2 chose Elbow, the Mercury Prize winners at the Brit Awards and their song is Running to Stand Still. Beck was Bob Dylan’s choice to do Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat.

Thus Heroes is a clever mix of old and new. Take note though that nothing in it is a cover version in the way we know the meaning of the term. This is because the legends chose artists who are themselves originals and will not do anything imitative even when working with old songs by their idols. A good example is the title track by David Bowie. Heroes still rocks but not as much as it does now when performed by the band TV On The Radio. Have not heard any stuff by these guys before but they are said to be the most talented among the younger rockers right now.

One more thing that listeners will surely notice is that while some cuts are instantly familiar like, Stevie Wonder’s Superstition by the sensational Estelle and Call Me by Blondie now done by the hot band Franz Ferdinand, it also seems like they will hear others for the first time. Think Lily Allen and Mick Jones with Straight to Hell by The Clash or New York’s Scissor Sisters with Do the Strand by Roxy Music. Those songs were not hits when they first came out but have now been given another crack at the charts by Heroes.

The other featured heroes, new and old are; Hot Chip with Transmission by Joy Division; The Kooks with Victoria by The Kinks; Rufus Wainwright with a medley of Wonderful and Song for Children by Brian Wilson; Peaches with Search and Destroy by Iggy Pop; The Hold Steady with Atlantic City by Bruce Springsteen; The Like doing Elvis Costello’s You Belong to Me; and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Sheena is a Punk Rocker by the Ramones. Not everybody will like everything in in this CD but I am sure they will agree that the whole production is most interesting.

While we are on the subject of music icons and new albums and causes to make this world a better place, you might want to check out No Line on the Horizon by U2. This is the band’s first CD release in five years and it is every way as anthemic as we have always thought U2 music should be. First single out is the hot rocker Get On Your Boots. It really makes you get up and is a fitting, hook-filled follow-up to U2’s Vertigo from five years ago.

It has taken these lads that long because they had opportunities to make a difference and they took that instead. Take note of how the CD booklet with a photograph by the famed Hiroshi Sugimoto of Japan, enjoins fans to join Amnesty International, to support Aung Suu Kyi of Burma, to join Greenpeace and to fight AIDS and extreme poverty by joining the ONE campaign. That is what they, particularly frontman Bono have been busy with.