Wyatt joins forces with Def Leppard, Black Stone Cherry and more for charity single
Our very own Wyatt has joined forces with rock royalty for a Planet Rock Allstars charity single raising money for mental health charity Mind.
The “rocked up” version of John Farnham’s 1986 global smash hit ‘You’re The Voice’ is the brainchild of Wyatt himself with his good chum Toby Jepson, of Wayward Sons and Little Angels fame, ably assisting.
‘You’re The Voice’ is released digitally on Friday 6th December, while a limited-edition CD version costing £5 will be available to buy throughout Wyatt’s epic 2000 mile Road 2 Rockstock 2 cycle trek.
Set to be premiered in due course, all proceeds from the single will go directly to mental health charity Mind.
The full list of contributors reads like a who's-who of rock:
Planet Rock Allstar band: Sam Wood - guitars, Dave Kemp - keyboards, Wyatt Wendels - drums, Nick Fyffe - bass, Toby Jepson - vocals and percussion.
Guest artist contributors:
Guitars - Doug Aldrich, Bruce Dickinson, Tyler Bryant, Rob Chapman, Phil Campbell, Soren Andersen, Paul Quinn.
Singers - Lzzy Hale, Dan Reed, Charlie Starr, Tim 'Ripper' Owens, Joe Elliott, Toby Jepson, Tony Wright, Nathan James, Andrew Freeman, Mollie Marriott, Chris Robertson, Justin Hawkins, Todd Kerns, Gill Montgomery, Whitfield Crane, Jared Johnston, Phil Campbell, Alice Cooper - Voice over
Additional bass tracking - Darren Redick and Dan Reed.
The Waterbear Choir, arranged and directed by Amber Tremain - Jodie Amos, Amber Tremain, Izzy Adams, Willow Pitt, Steven Speck, Raymond Roll, Finn Davidson, Tom Halliday, Erin May, Quilla Robinson, Sid Abell, Boudica Pepper.
Road 2 Rockstock 2 follows Wyatt’s gruelling Road 2 Rockstock ride in 2016 when he cycled 1000 miles to Planet Rockstock in just under a week and raised over £70,000.
A glutton for punishment, this time around Wyatt will be covering 2000 miles in 2 weeks, visiting landmarks and famous music venues on the way, whilst averaging 135 miles a day for 15 consecutive days. He hopes to raise more than £75,000 for Mind.
If you'd like to, you can sponsor Wyatt and donate to Mind via JustGiving!
You can also get a commemorative t-shirt here, with proceeds going to Mind.
In Wyatt’s own words, here’s the full story behind The Planet Rock All Stars’ cover of ‘You’re The Voice’:
It is amazing how a simple thought can just snowball into something so big!
Just a couple of months ago in August I was walking through a supermarket and the in store radio station was playing Chic – 'Good Times'. I love that track.
As I was fumbling through the lettuces and veg, I thought “Wouldn’t it be great if someone did a good rock version of this, maybe a charity song?”
As I wandered around the isles I thought about the fact that I knew I was going to do another Road To Rockstock, and again for a mental health charity.
What about the possibility of recording a song that had a words and meaning that would fit with the charity, but me putting it together?!
Then I thought of John Farnham’s 'You’re The Voice' and remembered how much I’ve always loved that song (handclap intro aside!)
“That would make a great rocked up song” I thought, carrying on my shopping “But it’s August, it would need to be out within four months, and this could just be a pie in the sky thought.”
I thought I’d run the idea by my old friend Toby Jepson. Not only is he fantastic musician and producer but a great sounding board for ideas.
He loved the idea...
Within 48 hours he had secured a studio to record the track and then we got together and worked through all our friends and contacts to figure who we could arrange to appear on the track and who would actually be available. I figured I’d give myself one less instrument to worry about by myself playing drums… dealers choice ;)
As you read this more and more people are either saying “yes” they can or simply “no” they can’t, usually for scheduling issues more than anything else, and more audio files are being received and edited and mixed by the day.
I can’t believe that not only is this actually coming together, but how quickly it's happening!
I started off with a working title of The Planet Rock All Stars but it is has stuck so that is what it is!
“You’re The Voice” will be released digitally on Friday 6th December. It will be UK chart single linked so we can at least try and get a Top 40 single!
There will be a VERY limited edition CD single available with a couple of alternative versions of the song.
They will be £5 each and if you can find me you can get them from Friday November 22nd and throughout the Road To Rockstock.
Anything left will be available at Rockstock and if anything remains after that they will go on the website, but when they are gone they are gone!
As for the guests on the track... The definitive cast can be confirmed early in November but as of now the track will contain members of Def Leppard, Blackberry Smoke, Black Stone Cherry, The Cadillac Three, The Temperance Movement, Wayward Sons, The Darkness, Tyler Bryant, Ricky Warwick, Dan Reed, Doug Aldrich, Mollie Marriott, Whitfield Crane, Todd Kerns, and more besides.
The are some special guests I’m REALLY hoping will be able to do it at the last minute so I don’t want to tempt fate by mentioning their names at this point… just in case they can’t!
All proceeds will go to Mind and I personally think the lyrics of the track are perfect for the cause…