SPIZZENERGI have announced a very special Christmas single.
'Christmas In Denmark Street' is a lament to London's 'Tin Pan Alley', home to legendary hangout The 12 Bar Club, and a protest at the devastation of Soho at the hands of soulless developers and grasping landlords.
"The chorus for 'Christmas In Denmark Street' came to me on a cycle home on the 10th January 2015, explains Spizz. This was the final week of The 12 Bar Club’s existence in Denmark Street - closing down to make way for the controversial Crossrail project - and coincided with my birthday week. The atmosphere in the club was fantastic and I went every night. The 12 BAR was like a musicians social club with bands dropping in after playing at other venues in the area. We were told the club would be preserved as the Crossrail transformation started to bite.
"Following my creative cycle home that night, I met up with SPIZZENERGI guitarist Luca Comencini to develop the song and it was first performed in public when Luca and I were offered an acoustic slot performing as SPIZZOLOGY supporting James Stevenson's All Stars Band for his LP launch at The Water Rats, 17 December 2015."
The single was mixed by legendary producer Tony Visconti, who says, "I liked the song a lot when I first heard it. As I have lived in London for 22 years, the sentiments of the song, and hope that the street could be saved, struck a chord in my heart. Spizz is a great performer and his vocals made it very appealing to me. I’m so happy with the way it turned out. It’s commercial enough to be played on the BBC and I hope it gets lots of signatures on a petition to save the street for all our efforts."
Led by veteran campaigner Spizz, the band have gone through various line-ups and names since the 70s, including Athletico Spizz 80, Spizzoil and The Spizzles. They caught the nation's attention in 1980 with the Indie Chart-topper and punk disco staple 'Where's Captain Kirk?'. Alongside Spizz and Luca, the band currently features guitarist Phil Ross and bassist Ben Lawson.
Check out a video teaser for 'Christmas In Denmark Street'. The full video will be premiered exclusively with Vive Le Rock! next month...
Set for release on 18 December, you can pre-save 'Christmas In Denmark Street' here.