With just hours to go before the Christmas Number One is unveiled an unlikely collaboration of firefighters are in the running against the big hitters of the pop world.
The Fire Tones, who include two Northern Ireland Fire And Rescue Service, have released their own version of ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ to raise money for The Firefighters Charity Trust and the Band Aid Charity Trust.
And, even the Official Charts Company has them in the mix as the final countdown gets underway.
Patsy Begley, NIFRS Assistant Group Commander (Cookstown District), and Barrie Davies, NIFRS Station Commander (Lisburn Headquarters), were among 40 fire service personnel including stars from TV’s The X Factor and The Voice, to record their version of Band Aid’s “Do They Know it’s Christmas?”.
Patsy said they were delighted to be part of the project.
“It’s such a worthwhile cause, and whether we make it to number one or not we are delighted to be raising much needed money,” he said.
As a cousin to The Voice winner Andrea Begley, and nephew to the queen of country music Philomena Begley, music has always been part of Patsy’s life.
“I didn’t realise the scale of the production and the talent that would be involved. We wanted to honour the spirit of the original recording and get it all done in one day, just as they did with the original Band Aid single.
“We all drove or flew into Birmingham for a 12-hour recording session. It was incredible.”
Barrie, who worked in Wales before recently transferring to NIFRS, said he was one of the first to be recruited to the band. “I’ve been singing professionally for 18 years, so the organisers knew this was something I’d be interested in.
“I’ve also used the services of the Fire Fighters Charity at Harcombe House in Devon when I was injured a few years ago, so it was great to be able to give something back to such as worthwhile cause.”
The Fire Tones single can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon, HMV or Tesco.