The good ole’ BBC is pretty good at turning promotional material into globe-conquering pop domination. Back in 1997 the British broadcasting giant gathered together a litany of pop and rock artists to perform a collaborative version of Lou Reed‘s “Perfect Day” that was originally intended as a mere TV ad plugging the station. But the resulting – and overwhelming – public response lead them to release it as a physical single that reached number 1 on the UK charts and sold more than 1.5 million copies; raising £2million for the BBC’s Children in Need appeal.
Fast forward 17 years later, and the network has gone back to the old familiar well. This time gathering another (contemporary) group of musicians and personalities for a rendition of the iconic Beach Boys track “God Only Knows.”
Again released as a charity single, the song doubles as promotional material for the launch of BBC Music – a new arm of the Beeb that the corporation describes as their “strongest commitment to music in 30 years.”
And the list of people involved is lengthy and rather impressive. Rather than pick out highlights, we’re just going to run the full list for you.
Along with the song’s writer and original Beach Boy Brian Wilson is the following: Sir Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams, Lorde, Florence Welch, One Direction, Kylie Minogue, Jake Bugg, Emeli Sandé, Chris Martin, Paloma Faith, Sam Smith, Chrissie Hynde, Brian May, Dave Grohl, Alison Balsom, Martin James Bartlett, Danielle de Niese, Nicola Benedetti, Eliza Carthy, Baaba Maal, Jamie Cullum, Jaz Dhami, and BBC personalities Zane Lowe, Lauren Laverne, Katie Derham, Gareth Malone, and Jools Holland.
It might be gratuitous network promotion, but the song is so damned wonderful that it’d be magnificent no matter who sung it.
