One World - Grief never grows old

It was a great honour and privilege to be asked to produce the official record for the Tsunami Disaster Emergency Committee. As a record producer it was also a moving experience to be able to record with some of the greatest vocalists of all time. My personal thanks to the various artists, record producers, managers and engineers who have all pulled together to make this happen, giving their valuable time and talent free of charge Together we have produced a truly unique record. I really hope that it will raise a substantial amount of money now and in the future as it will take many years for the situation to revert back to something resembling normality.

Steve Levine January 2005

“With any fund-raising single of this kindthere must be a substantial nod in the direction of Bob Geldof and Midge Ure,whose phenomenal Band Aid project laid down a blueprint for subsequentcharity records.

Without question the harrowing and disturbing images that were transmitted across the world on Boxing Day made us all realize how vulnerable we are.  Everything I saw on the screen, the grief, the sadness, the hopelessness and the way that the lives of everyone involved would be changed forever, aligned with the words of a song that I’d written a while back and had sitting on the shelf. It had had the odd outing on stage, but Steve Levine and I though that it was too sad to appeal to a recording artist. Using it to raise money for the Disasters Emergency Committee seemed the best way of putting it to some practical use. It’s incredible that this project happened at all, as we had to record artists in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Culver City California, Colombo and London. Every singer, musician, producer and everyone else involved with this CD were so keen to help that it was quite unexpected and overwhelming. Without them these recordings just wouldn't have happened.”

Mike Read