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Classic Rock

18 January 2015 16:41

5 years ago we produced an album for Universal called Classic Rock; orchestral arrangements of rock anthems. We used rock musicians from Sweden and City of Prague Philharmonic. I know it was 5 years ago as I very clearly remember being fast tracked at Swedish passport control due to being heavily pregnant (with twins) and on crutches. At the time I was terrified they were about to tell me they wouldn’t allow me to fly but I think they were just keen to get me out of the airport and their jurisdiction as quickly as possible.

It turned out the English market was not ready for Kurt Cobain on a bassoon (who’d have thought?) and our CD was soon to be found in the bargain bucket at petrol stations nationwide. At least we got good distribution.

However, the story doesn’t end there. A year later it had gone Gold in Germany – they loved it and delighted in hearing Robert Plant’s voice represented by a trombone. Incidentally, we ended up working with him 2 years later and he was amused to hear how we’d depicted his vocals but I seem to remember he made us pick up the tab for his bar bill at the end of the day. Revenge?

The Universal guy who was behind that CD now happens to be the CEO of Deutsche Grammophon, based in Berlin. Well, we got the call at the end of last week and I’m delighted to report it’s time to dust off our leathers and string vests.