Top UK Wedding Band Happy Hour Record "The Uncoverable Song"!

NEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYME, England, January 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

How can a young, successful wedding band stand out in a crowded market place and demonstrate genuine talent and musical ability in just one song? That's the challenge laid down by Alive Network entertainment agency to one of their popular wedding band's Happy Hour, with the result that the four lads have just recorded the ultimate 'uncoverable song', "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. What's even more amazing, no auto tune or pitch correction was used at all in the bands re-make of the Queen master piece!

It's a daunting task to take on the classic 1975 hit, with its complex mix of heavy rock and opera, but Happy Hour were more than up to the task. A four-piece party band based in Essex, Happy Hour have been providing top class wedding entertainment across the length and breadth of the UK since 2005 and were regional finalists at the Wedding Industry Awards 2014.

Happy Hour are part of the UK's largest live entertainment booking service, Alive Network, and work exclusively with the agency under their artist development programme. Alive Network provide the four Essex lads with everything they could possibly need, including recording studio time, photo shoots, website design, business development, performance workshops, business advice and promo video production.

The band is constantly pushing the boundaries with the promotion and marketing and of their musical services, so with this in mind, the band sought Alive Network's advice on what to record next. Band leader and founder Richie Cooper wasn't prepared for the response: "We knew we should really go to town and push ourselves musically for our 2014 promo materials, to maintain our position as one of the UK's most frequently booked wedding bands. Alive Network suggested we record an epic track which would also be filmed, so potential customers could see our personalities and hear our quality in a way which would make us really stand out from other less experienced acts.  However, when they suggested Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' - a song considered by many musicians to be "The Uncoverable Song" - we nearly fell over!

"It was a terrific challenge, with the operatic vocals pushing our harmony vocals to the extremes. Luckly all members of the band sing, and our lead guitarist Andy is a choir leader for 'Rock Choir',  described by Decca records as the largest and most popular contemporary choir in the world, so he helped us break the song apart and create an arrangement which really worked for us, and which stands up well alongside the original track!"

"The band are always so amazing to work with, full of enthusiasm, energy and ideas." says Tom Bishop, the recording studio engineer who recorded Bohemian Rhapsody with Happy Hour. "We knew this was going to be a real challenge, but the guys worked their socks off to capture an authentic sounding version of the song, and I was amazed when it came time to mix the track that we were not going to need any auto-tune or pitch correction to fix any of the vocal tuning. The public are so used to hearing perfectly tuned vocals on modern recordings, that's it's very rare to recored any any band without applying a little vocal tuning polish. This feat in it's self demonstrates the talent of Happy Hour, and this was a large part of the bands thinking in recording this track - to show off just how good Alive's function bands are. They certainly pulled out all the stops, and we're all really pleased with how great their version of this classic track sounds."

On its release in 1975, 'Bohemian Rhapsody" was the most expensive single ever recorded, and at almost six minutes long, considered unsuitable for radio. However, after extensive pre-release airplays, the single spent nine weeks at the top of the UK charts, selling over a million copies. Key to its success was its innovative promo video, which Happy Hour pay homage to in their own video.

Rich Hearn, Head of Artist Management and Development at Alive Network, is delighted with the results. "By challenging the lads to take on a iconic song and aim for the exceptionally high standards of the original, we've created a great showcase for the musical talents and exceptional energy of Happy Hour. We never wanted to recreate the original track or 'cover' it, more to give Happy Hour something exceptional to strive towards, and we are astounded with the results the boys have achieved. Happy Hour have absolutely no plans to release this as a single, we simply offer it as something for potential clients to watch, enjoy and appreciate that these guys are really good at what they do and would be amazing to hire for any party, wedding or corporate event!"

Happy Hour are available for bookings exclusively through Alive Network, and offer a complete wedding, function or party experience.

For more details, see http://www.alivenetwork.com/blogs/latest-news.asp?ID=225

Check out Happy Hour's awesome version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ0V6Z47Wzs

BOILERPLATE

Alive Network is the UK's largest live music and live entertainment service, with over 4000 experienced musicians, bands and groups on its books.

Specialising in corporate entertainment and function bands, Alive Network also offers a diverse range of musical styles, from classical to mariachi bands, Bollywood to big band, opera singers to bagpipers.

Customers can also browse a selection of the UK's best DJs and discos, plus an impressive range of entertainers from caricaturists to toast masters, and specialist suppliers for firework displays and PA hire.

Company contact:
Richard Hearn
rich@alivenetwork.com

Alive Network Ltd
Ground Floor Suite
Silk Mill Studios
Princess Street
Newcastle under Lyme
Staffordshire
ST5 1DD
ENGLAND

Telephone: +44-(0)845-094-9761
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