The Official BBC Children in Need Medley
Introduction "'''The Official BBC Children in Need Medley'''" is a single by Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band. It is the official Children in Need Single for 2009, and was released on 21 November 2009.The song was shown for the first time on Children in Need 2009.The cover art is a parody of the cover of ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' by the Beatles. The single has sold over 452,000 copies in the UK, earning it gold status from the BPI.
History According to a news interview, Kay conceptualized the single while working with the director. The director said that he would "love to do something like that" but he and Kay regarded it mostly as a joke.After some time away from the subject, Kay brought it up again, this time with the actual intent to produce it. The director said that he and Kay "just sat down one lunchtime and wrote a list", with as many characters recorded on it as they could think of from their childhoods, as well as some modern favourites and US cartoon characters. The song was recorded at Hullabaloo Studios by the Voice and Music Company.The project was carried out in top secret at the request of executive producer Kay. Celebrities and voice artists who voiced characters' original vocals were brought in without being told details of the project. When contacted by Cartoon Network Studios, Casey Kasem agreed to take part on the condition that Shaggy was shown to be a vegetarian and asked not to be given credit as he was officially retired.The project took 132 hours to mix the vocals of the seven songs, eight months to animate, and around two years in total. Many of the original character models had been packed away, given to museums or cremated. Where possible the originals were found and transported to Chapman Studios in Altrincham from all over the world. In cases where the original models no longer existed, such as the characters from Camberwick Green and Trumpton, new copies of the original models were created.Because permission was not given by Royal Mail to use their more up to date logo, Postman Pat's van was a modified design with only the number plate PAT 4.The single raised at least £170,000 for Children in Need after more than 265,000 CD, DVD and download sales by mid-December 2009.
Composition The single is a medley of multiple songs played out in the following order:# "'''Can You Feel It'''" – originally performed by the Jacksons (1981) (0:00–1:08)# "'''Don't Stop'''" – originally performed by Fleetwood Mac (1976) (1:08–2:27)# "'''Jai Ho!'''" from the film ''Slumdog Millionaire'' – originally performed by A.R. Rahman and the Pussycat Dolls (2009) (2:12–2:41)# "'''Tubthumping'''" – originally performed by Chumbawamba (1997) (2:41–3:00)# "'''Never Forget'''" – originally performed by Take That (1995) (3:00–3:18)# "'''Hey Jude'''" – originally performed by the Beatles (1968) (3:18–4:30)# "'''One Day Like This'''" – originally performed by Elbow (2008) (3:37–4:30)
Chart performance The single entered the UK Singles Chart on download sales alone at number 18.On iTunes, the video was being downloaded almost three times as much as the single. Video sales are not included in the UK Singles Chart, so it was felt that the single might not chart as highly as expected, however it climbed to number one in its second week on the chart after it was released on CD and DVD. Although it peaked very highly on the UK Singles Chart, it peaked surprisingly low on the UK Downloads Chart, at number 30.The high physical sales of the single meant that it held off Jason Derulo's "Whatcha Say" in its first week and Rihanna's "Russian Roulette" in its second week. In its third week, the single dropped to number 2 after it was knocked off the number one spot by Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance". In the fourth week, the single fell to number 4 and then number 11 in its fifth week. In its sixth week, the song dropped 24 places to 35.The song entered the European Hot 100 at number 58; the next week it climbed 51 places to number 7, and peaked at number 5; the song then dropped to number 11 the next week. The song entered the Irish Singles Chart at number 25, then the following week the song moved up to 19, and peaked at number 6.As of November 2016, the song has sold 452,000 copies in the UK.
Music video The group perform the Beatles' number one hit, "Hey Jude" and Elbow's "One Day Like This".The music video shows the Animated All Star Band meeting and recording the song in a studio, spoofing other charity songs in the style of Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas? ", with Big Chris, the character voiced by Kay in ''Roary the Racing Car'', first arranging the recording session and then leading the singing.The music video features over 100 cartoon characters from different production companies. Nearly all of the characters are voiced by their original UK voice artists including Ringo Starr (who was a member of the Beatles who recorded "Hey Jude", which is sung here) as Thomas the Tank Engine. One of the exceptions is Scooby-Doo who is voiced by Frank Welker since original voice artist Don Messick died in 1997.Most of the contributions are stop motion characters. Some appear on TV screens within the stop motion world "via satellite", including US cartoon characters Shaggy Rogers, Scooby-Doo, and Ben Tennyson. Roobarb and Custard, Peppa Pig, George Pig and Muffin the Mule are also included. Cartoon characters SpongeBob SquarePants and Angelina Ballerina appear on Big Chris' smartphone.The video depicts Big Chris at night talking to Postman Pat on the phone, saying he wants to get everyone together for the recording. Bob the Builder sings The Jacksons' "Can You Feel It", joined by Postman Pat, Fireman Sam, Teletubbies and other Characters. Next Station Officer Steele and other characters sing Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop", such as Ted Glen, The Koala Brothers, The Wombles, Aloysius Parker, and Peppa Pig. Fifi sings The Pussycat Dolls' "Jai Ho", accompanied by Penny Morris, Wendy, Marsha, Primrose, Big Christine and Nisha Bains. Ajay Bains joins their flash mob much to the disapproval of Fireman Sam, Elvis Cridlington, Station Officer Steele, Postman Pat, Bob, Big Chris, Mr. Carburettor, Virgil, Parker, and Brains. Ajay then realizes his mistake and joins Sam, Elvis, Steele, Pat and the other men for their new rendition of Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping", and then Fireman Sam and the entire cast sing a montage of Take That's "Never Forget", the Beatles' "Hey Jude", and Elbow's "One Day Like This". At the end of the video, Chippy Minton appears, only to be informed by Big Chris that they have just finished. ===Featured characters and voice actors===*'''Mattel Television/Hit Entertainment'''**''Fireman Sam''***Fireman Sam Jones (voiced by Steven Kynman)***Firefighter Elvis Cridlington (voiced by Steven Kynman)***Station Officer Norris Steele (voiced by David Carling)***Firefighter Penny Morris (voiced by Tegwen Tucker)**''Thomas & Friends''***Thomas the Tank Engine (voiced by Ringo Starr)***Sir Topham Hatt**''Bob the Builder''***Bob the Builder (voiced by Neil Morrissey)***Wendy (voiced by Kate Harbour)***Spud (voiced by Rob Rackstraw)***Scoop (also voiced by Rob Rackstraw)***Pilchard**''Pingu''***Pingu (voiced by Marcello Magni)**''Rubbadubbers''***Tubb (voiced by John Gordon Sinclair)***Terence (also voiced by John Gordon Sinclair)***Finbar (voiced by Sean Hughes)***Sploshy (voiced by Maria Darling)**''Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps''***Angelina Ballerina (voiced by Charlotte Spencer)* Other incidental characters from ''Bob the Builder''** 5 unnamed photographers** 1 cameraman** 1 man at mixing desk*'''DreamWorks Classics'''**'''Woodland Animations Ltd:'''***''Postman Pat''****Postman Pat (voiced by Lewis MacLeod)****Jess****Ajay Bains (voiced by Kulvinder Ghir)****Nisha Bains (voiced by Archie Panjabi)****Mrs Goggins (voiced by Carole Boyd)****Ted Glen (voiced by Ken Barrie)****Meera Bains***'''Chapman Entertainment'''***''Roary the Racing Car''****Roary the Racing Car (voiced by Maria Darling)****Big Chris (voiced by Peter Kay) ****Marsha (also voiced by Maria Darling)****Mr Carburettor (voiced by Tim Whitnall)****Rusty (voiced by Dominic Frisby)****Flash (voiced by Marc Silk)****Big Christine****Farmer Green (voiced by Tim Whitnall)***''Fifi and the Flowertots''****Fifi Forget-Me-Not (voiced by Jane Horrocks)****Mo****Stingo (voiced by Tim Whitnall)****Violet (voiced by Maria Darling)****Bumble (voiced by Marc Silk)****Primrose (also voiced by Jane Horrocks)****Slugsy (also voiced by Marc Silk)****Buttercup (voiced by Joanna Ruiz)****Daisy (voiced by Janet James)****Flutterby****''Raa Raa the Noisy Lion''****Raa Raa the Noisy Lion***** *'''Spellbound Entertainment Ltd'''**''The Koala Brothers''***Frank the Koala (voiced by Keith Wickham)***Buster the Koala (voiced by Rob Rackstraw)*'''Create Media Ventures'''**''Little Robots''***Tiny (voiced by Hayley Carmichael)***Stretchy (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) ***Sporty (voiced by Lenny Henry) ***Scary (voiced by Mike Hayley)***Noisy*'''BBC Studios'''** Muffin the Mule**''The Woodentops''*** Daddy Woodentop*** Mummy Woodentop**''Flower Pot Men''***Bill (voiced by John Thomson)***Ben (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert)**''Andy Pandy''***Andy Pandy***Looby Loo***Teddy**''Children in Need''***Pudsey Bear *'''WildBrain and Ragdoll Productions'''**''Teletubbies''***Tinky Winky (voiced by Simon Shelton)***Dipsy (voiced by John Simmit)***Laa-Laa (voiced by Nikky Smedley)***Po (voiced by Pui Fan Lee)**''In the Night Garden...''***Igglepiggle***Upsy Daisy***Makka Pakka***Tombliboos***Pinky Ponk*'''Cookie Jar Entertainment:'''**''Paddington''***Paddington Bear (voiced by Jonathan Kydd)**''The Wombles''***Alderney (voiced by Bernard Cribbins)***Orinoco (voiced by Bernard Cribbins)***Bungo (voiced by Bernard Cribbins)***Wellington (voiced by Bernard Cribbins)***Great Uncle Bulgaria**'''Entertainment One and Hasbro'''**''Peppa Pig''***Peppa Pig (voiced by Harley Bird)***George Pig*'''ITV International Media Limited'''**''Thunderbirds''***Virgil Tracy***Brains***Aloysius Parker (voiced by David Graham)***Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward***Alan Tracy****Gordon Tracy****Thunderbird 2**'''Smallfilms'''**Bagpuss*'''Cosgrove Hall Films Ltd'''**''Engie Benjy''***Engie Benjy***Jollop the Dog*'''Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network Studios'''**''Ben 10: Alien Force''***Ben Tennyson (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal)**''Scooby-Doo''***Scooby-Doo (voiced by Frank Welker)***Shaggy Rogers (voiced by Casey Kasem, uncredited)*'''Nickelodeon'''**''SpongeBob SquarePants''***SpongeBob SquarePants*'''Monster Animation & Design / A&B TV'''**''Roobarb''***Roobarb ***Custard**''Fluffy Gardens''***Paolo the Cat***Mavis the Pony***Small Green Thing*'''ITV Studios'''**''Rainbow''***Zippy (voiced by Roy Skelton and puppeteered by Ronnie Le Drew)***George (voiced by Roy Skelton)**''The Sooty Show''***Sooty (voiced and puppeteered by Brian Sandford)***Sweep (voiced and puppeteered by Jimmy Hibbert)***Soo (voiced and puppeteered by Brenda Longman)*'''Gordon Murray's Productions'''**''Camberwick Green''***Windy Miller**''Trumpton''***Chippy Minton***Miss Lovelace ===Missing Characters===*'''Mattel Television/Hit Entertainment'''**''Rubbadubbers''***Reg***Amelia***Winona Characters with an asterisk (*) after their names, appear on the cover montage but not in the music video itself.
Track listing
Charts ===Weekly charts===Chart (2009)Peakposition===Year-end charts===Chart (2009)PositionUK Singles (Official Charts Company)27
Certifications
Release history  Region Date Label FormatUnited Kingdom21 November 2009SonyDigital download23 November 2009CD, DVD
References