In 1838, when hundreds of thousands of Chartists met on Kersal Moor demanding democracy, a special song was written to encourage people to attend. It has the not-so-snappy title of A New Song on the Great Demonstration which is to be made on Kersal Moor September 28th, 1838 but roots band Edward II have re-discovered it, reggae-d it up and made it incredibly snappy and groovy, with the lyrics shining once again...
`The work has begun to be free or forever be slaves...
...The rich don't care, so let us be steady, determined and ready when we meet on Kersal Moor...'
The Kersal Moor song hadn't been performed in public since 1838, until the Manchester Community Choir sang it at the unveiling of the Kersal Moor plaque in 2010 (see here). Now Edward II are bringing it to a whole new audience, with a whole new beat and energetic vibe. The song also helped to re-form the band which began as a collective of post-punk musicians a few decades ago.
The original incarnation was Edward II and The Red Hot Pokers, and included former members of The Mekons and the Elvis Costello band searching for different kinds of music as the pop world went Stock Aitken and Waterman.
"Lots of people were exploring folk music and fusing it with rock, and these guys thought `Let's look at folk and Caribbean/reggae as it all comes from the same place'; it's all sea shanties basically" explains Gavin Sharp who has re-formed Edward II to re-focus on the current project.
The previous incarnation of Edward II had album deals with Cooking Vinyl, licensing deals in Europe and America, headlined the Avalon stage at Glastonbury for six years on the run and spent ten years on the road.
"Lots of the band were Rastafarians and when it got to 1999 they said the world was going to end and went off to Ethiopia, so we decided enough was enough, got proper jobs and got on with our lives" Gavin recalls "My job was at Band On The Wall but about 18 months ago one of the guys who works with us walked in and handed me the Manchester Ballads Song Book. The song for the demonstration on Kersal Moor is amazing. It caught my interest and I got in touch with all the guys left in the UK and asked if they wanted to do this as a project. It's an unusual band, fusing folk/roots/world/reggae. We pop up again and straight away we've got 15 shows booked."
The nearest gig is at Band On The Wall on 23rd April but in the meantime the first two tracks have been released the snappy Kersal Moor song, and a reggae version of Ewan MacColl's Dirty Old Town, to tie in with the Salford legend's centenary (see here). The classic definitely lends itself to the reggae makeover and is done in the spirit of its theme, being alongside other historical protest songs.
For Gavin, who back in the day lived in Broughton - near the Star Inn between Kersal Moor and the Liverpool Street gasworks featured in Dirty Old Town - the project is a voyage of discovery of old and rare songs from around Greater Manchester
"To discover this stuff all about my home town was remarkable" he says "As you delve into it you see the history..."
And to bring that history to a new ConDemn-ed generation, and with a new dancey style, has never been needed as much as now...
To download the Kersal Moor song on iTunes (79p) click here
To hear the Kersal Moor song and Dirty Old Town see Soundcloud click here
For further details on Edward II click here
See also the Edward II Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/edwardthesecondPage
Edward II play Band On The Wall April 23rd for details click here
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